If Your Dog Has Eaten Chocolate | Symptoms, and Treatment Options

Have you ever given your dog a small piece of chocolate, or let them lick the wrapper?

I know I have.

But I now know better.

Chocolate is poisonous to dogs and can cause serious illness, veterinarian bills, and even death.

Chocolate Toxicity Calculator for Dogs

Act With Urgency if Your Dog Has Eaten Chocolate!

Because chocolate is toxic to dogs, you must act with urgency and contact a veterinarian as soon as possible. If it is late at night or on the weekend – out of hours – don’t wait until the vet is open, call the emergency clinic. Your dog’s health and life depend on immediate action.

The vet will need to know:

• how much chocolate they’ve eaten
• when they ate it
• the type of chocolate – white, milk, dark, cooking, baking, etc
• the dog’s weight.

You will likely need to take your dog to the vet’s clinic; the above information will help the vet determine how to treat your dog.

It will also be useful if you take the wrapper with you if you have it so that the vet can determine how toxic the amount of chocolate your dog has eaten was.

If you cannot contact your local vet, call the animal poison control (1-888-426-4435 in Canada and the U.S.).

Symptoms A Dog Has Eaten Chocolate

Symptoms of chocolate poisoning usually appear within 6 to 12 hours of your dog eating chocolate.

• agitation
• diarrhea
• high blood pressure
• hyperactivity
• incoordination
• increased heart rate
• irregular heart rhythm
• nervousness
• muscle tension
• restlessness
• rapid breathing
• seizures
• vomiting

Chocolate is bad for dogs because it contains an ingredient called theobromine, a stimulant like caffeine, that is highly toxic to dogs.

If your dog has eaten chocolate, contact your local vet immediately. The longer the chocolate sits in the dog’s stomach, the more danger there is for your dog.

How Toxic Is Chocolate for Dogs

The amount of theobromine in chocolate is small enough that humans can safely consume chocolate without any ill effect – although some might debate that. But we are not here to discuss that.

However, dogs cannot break down, or metabolize, theobromine, which affects a dog’s central nervous system, kidneys, gut, and heart.

The severity of your dog’s illness will depend on several factors. Such as:

• Size, breed, and age of the dog
• Pre-existing health issues – pregnant, high blood pressure, etc
• Quantity of chocolate eaten
• Quality of chocolate – white, dark, milk, cooking, baking, etc
• How quickly you get your dog to the vet after they have eaten chocolate

If your dog licked chocolate off your finger then it’s probably okay. But don’t do this often as the dog may develop a taste for chocolate.

Are Some Chocolates Safer for Dogs Than Others?

NO!

No, because it’s not just the amount of theobromine in the chocolate that determines the toxicity to dogs, and it’s not only the quality and quantity of chocolate eaten.

The Darker the Chocolate, the More Toxic it is for Dogs

The darker the chocolate, the more toxic it is for dogs because dark chocolate contains high theobromine levels.

While white chocolate has the lowest levels of theobromine, it also contains high sugar levels, which is harmful to dogs. Therefore, combining the two ingredients means white chocolate is no safer to eat than other chocolate.

Milk chocolate is one of the most common forms of chocolate that a dog is likely to encounter. It is an ingredient in all sorts of candy – novelty bars, ice cream, chocolate-coated biscuits, etc.

Dark chocolate, including cooking chocolate, is more harmful than white and milk chocolate to dogs because it contains higher theobromine levels. Therefore, dogs are at greater risk from smaller amounts of dark chocolates.

Baking chocolate poses the most significant risk to dogs because it has the highest theobromine levels of all chocolates.

And as with white chocolate, baking chocolate can be fatal because of the combination of ingredients in the baked items, such as sugar, artificial sweetener, macadamia nuts, and raisins.

A dog that has eaten, or regularly eats, baking chocolate can experience all sorts of long-term health issues from chocolate poisoning. Which include:

• arrhythmia
• internal bleeding
• kidney failure
• pancreatitis
• Or a heart attack.

If Your Dog Has Eaten Chocolate

If your dog has eaten chocolate, you have four choices:

1. Do nothing and hope that s/he will be okay- not recommended!
2. Call your vet for their advice – recommended
3. Take your dog to the vet – highly recommended
4. Try to treat your dog yourself – not recommended!

Do nothing

In my opinion, doing nothing is not an option. Unless you know for sure that it was a minuscule amount of chocolate that your dog ate.

For example, your dog licked chocolate off your finger, there is not a high risk of chocolate toxicity from such a small amount.

However, if you are unsure or don’t know, why risk your dog’s health or life for that matter?

Contacting the vet

It is the recommended option because they can talk with you about the best treatment options. They are the best people to advise you on how severe the situation is.

If your vet is not available, call the animal poison control at 1-888-426-4435 in Canada and the U.S.

The vet will talk with you about whether they think you should bring your dog in for assessment and treatment or what you can do at home.

If your dog has only eaten a small amount of chocolate, s/he may only experience some diarrhea or have a delicate stomach for a few hours – maybe a day or two.

Your vet will advise how best to treat these symptoms, which may or may not involve a visit to the vet.

Visiting the Vet

It is the highly recommended option because the sooner your dog gets the treatment they need, the less severe the consequences. The longer the theobromine is in your dog’s system, the greater the damage.

Your local vet clinic has experienced and knowledgeable staff who know how to treat dogs for chocolate poisoning.

Your veterinarian also knows how to administer drugs to induce vomiting if your dog consumed the chocolate within the last hour or so – which is why it is essential to act with urgency.

If your dog has eaten a lot of chocolate, s/he may need to be hospitalized for the night for intensive care.

Before you call or animal poison control or visit the vet, it will be helpful to know:

• The amount and type of chocolate your dog has eaten
• When they ate it
• Any signs of unusual behavior or illness
• The dog’s weight.

Do it Yourself

While not recommended, there are situations where a self-help treatment option might be okay.

For example, your vet has given you instructions on how to induce vomiting – usually if the dog ate the chocolate within the last hour.

Making A Dog Vomit Can Have Lethal Complications

Generally, vets will only recommend this if there are no neurological symptoms (tremors), and after weighing up all the information, you were able to provide.

How to Inducing Vomiting

Making a dog vomit can have lethal complications and should only be attempted if the dog ate the chocolate within the last hour, and there are no neurological symptoms.

Take your dog outside, and give the dog a teaspoon of water and hydrogen peroxide (3%) mixed to a ratio of 50:50 using an oral dosing syringe.

Trying to administer this mixture to a distressed dog with a spoon is often tricky, and you end up spilling most of it.

Do not leave your dog alone for at least half an hour.

If your dog has not vomited after 15 minutes, give him/her another dose and keep them moving, it helps get things moving. And it’s better to be outside when the dog vomits!

If after this second dose, the dog has not vomited, call the vet. DO NOT give your dog a third dose as too much peroxide can be harmful to your dog.

NOTE: The risks of administering Hydrogen Peroxide to dogs include:

• Mild to severe esophagus and stomach irritation and inflammation
• The risk of aspiration (getting the Hydrogen Peroxide in the lungs, which could cause death)
• Bubbles can form in the bloodstream (also potentially deadly)

I’d rather have a trained professional at a veterinary clinic administer the Hydrogen Peroxide to my dogs, and they are in the best place if things do go wrong.

In The Absence of Veterinary Care

If you cannot get your dog to a veterinary clinic, administering activated charcoal may prevent the absorption of theobromine in the intestines.

However, I recommended that you only do this on your veterinarian or animal poison control center’s advice. Administering activated charcoal is generally considered a last-ditch method to mitigate the toxic effects of theobromine.

Activated charcoal is administered at 1 gram of charcoal powder mixed with one teaspoon of water per 2.2 pounds of dog body weight every 4-6 hours for 2-3 days.

The best way to administer activated charcoal to your dog is by mixing it with a little canned food. If your dog doesn’t eat it, call your vet.

Note: administering activated charcoal can increase sodium levels in the blood, which can induce tremors and seizures.

These tremors and seizures can often be mistaken for the neurological problems associated with theobromine toxicity.

And if you accidentally get charcoal in the dog’s lungs, that can be fatal.

Do not give a dog activated charcoal if s/he is vomiting or is experiencing tremors or seizures.

Summary

All chocolate has the potential to poison your dog. No amount is too small; it pays to err on the side of caution and call your local vet or animal poison control at 1-888-426-4435 in Canada and the U.S.

Your vet is the best person to advise if your dog requires medical intervention. And if the dog does require medical intervention, your vet’s clinic is the best place to take your dog.

Before contacting your vet or animal poison control, try to have all the relevant information at hand:

• How much chocolate your dog ate
• The type of chocolate
• When your dog ate the chocolate
• Your dog’s weight
• And the wrapper, if the dog didn’t eat that as well.

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