Written by Dr. Anna, Camden Pet Hospital
Boy, do I love a good chocolate truffle! Especially with raspberry, hazelnut or coffee flavors, yum! Melt-in-your mouth delicate rich indulgent chocolatey goodness. My willpower is frequently tested to not eat an entire box. With the chocolate-loving holidays fast approaching, there are many households that will have some of these decadent treats and sweets making their way onto the kitchen table or next to the end table beside the couch.
The trouble with chocolate is – nothing. Chocolate, especially good chocolate, is amazing, don’t get me wrong. The trouble with dogs is – they can’t have chocolate – it’s extremely toxic to dogs. The trouble compound is called ‘theobromine’ and it’s a kind of substance called a methylxanthine that is not appreciated in the body system of a dog (or most other pets). Caffeine is also a methylxanthine, also quite toxic to dogs and is in most quality chocolates.
When a dog eats chocolate, the caffeine toxicity hits first. Usually within the hour we start to see rapid heart rate, high blood pressures, irregular heartbeats and even seizures. A few hours later come the toxic effects of the theobromine which is metabolized much slower (it takes about 10 hours for the chocolate to reach peak toxic effects). What you see, is your dog initially acting like a complete spaz and drinking like crazy, but then he starts peeing all over and vomits all over your new rug. You look around and notice a heart-shaped box spilled and wrappers strewn about. Your next words are likely “Oh ****” as you make the connection of your pup’s odd behavior and the chocolate carnage lying before you. Now what? Call your vet!
Whenever possible, we want to get anything that’s still in their stomach out asap so no more toxic substances are absorbed. We have some spectacular medicines to make that happen. I love inducing vomiting with a student observing – it really seems like magic and their jaws usually drop in wonderment. We have a medicine that literally works seconds after a drop of the liquid is put along the side of their eye. It’s amazing stuff, works way better than hydrogen peroxide most of the time, but when all else fails, we also have an IV injection we can use that will also cause vomiting.
I’ll never forget one case I had a few years ago, a young German Shorthair Pointer named Axel who, after his magical eye drop, vomited up pile after pile of gelatinous chocolate goo and wrappers. I remember saying “wow, that must have been really good chocolate because even his vomit smells good” and sure enough, it was high-end Godiva, and a lot of it.
So how worried should you be if your furry friend has decided to indulge in some chocolate? Is an Oreo going to cause a seizure? How about a Snickers? A Hershey bar? Thankfully chocolate and caffeine toxicity is dose-dependent and we can pretty quickly calculate how much we need to worry about their toxicity level based on the amount and kind of chocolate or caffeine they’ve ingested and the size of the pet. Surprisingly, the heart-shaped box at the drug store doesn’t usually have all that much chocolate in it, nor does a bag of Halloween candy for that matter. Most of the time in those cases we’re more worried about the damage the wrappers cause in the case of a dog raiding the candy stash. When it’s dark chocolate however, rich baked cocoa powder-based treats, or baking chocolate we get real worried! These, and high caffeine things like caffeine pills or coffee beans, have a good chance of killing a dog if not acted upon immediately. They have a matter of hours before that toxicity may stop their heart, and breathing.
So let that be a warning to all you fellow chocolate lovers out there – when chocolate finds its way into your home keep it tucked away in a high up cabinet that no pet will get to and please call your vet right away when you suspect they’ve eaten chocolate!