My dog ate CHOCOLATE!

Question
Hi Patti!

My dog is a Yorkshire Terrier and I'm 13 years old.

It's been about a little over a month since Halloween passed.

Through the weeks, I've been noticing that the chocolates were missing. I've always thought it was my sister..

Just yesterday..I found a total of 15 candy wrappers: 7 hershy kisses, 6 tootsie rolls, and two sweet tarts.

I'm really scared. I heard that 1 pound of chocolate can kill a dog.

Why is chocolate harmful for the dog's health. I've heard about the Cocoa and caffeine in chocolates being bad. It's toxic for them...why?...

Answer
Hi Vivian,

The tootsie rolls and sweet tarts, aren't good for your dog, but the Hershey Kisses are the candy that might make her a little hyper for a couple of hours, and possibly cause some diarrhea.

Chocolate contains Theobromine which is toxic to dogs in sufficient quantities. This is a Xanthine compound in the same family of Caffeine, and Theophylline.

The good news is that it takes, on average, a fairly large amount of Theobromine (100-150 mg/kg) to cause a toxic reaction. Although there are variables to consider like the individual sensitivity, animal size and chocolate concentration.

On average, Milk chocolate contains 44 mg of Theobromine per oz.,  Semisweet chocolate contains 150mg/oz., and Baker's chocolate 390mg/oz.

Using a dose of 100 mg/kg as the toxic dose it comes out roughly as:
1 ounce per 1 pound of body weight for Milk chocolate
1 ounce per 3 pounds of body weight for Semisweet chocolate
1 ounce per 9 pounds of body weight for Baker's chocolate.

So if your dog ate 9 Hershey Kisses, that is equal to 41 grams, which converts to just under 1.5 ounces of chocolate, well under toxic levels. Luckily, your dog didn't even eat that much.

Baker's and dark chocolate pose the greatest risk to small dogs. About 2 oz. of Milk chocolate usually will only cause digestive problems.

Xanthines affect the nervous system, cardiovascular system and peripheral nerves. It has a diuretic effect as well. Clinical signs:

Hyper excitability
Hyper irritability
Increased heart rate
Restlessness
Increased urination
Muscle tremors
Vomiting
Diarrhea

There is no specific antidote for chocolate poisoning, the half life of the toxin is 17.5 hours in dogs. Induce vomiting in the first 1-2 hours if the quantity is unknown. Administering activated charcoal may inhibit absorption of the toxin. An anticonvulsant might be indicated if neurological signs are present and needs to be controlled. Oxygen therapy, intravenous medications, and fluids might be needed to protect the heart.

Milk chocolate will often cause diarrhea 12-24 hours after ingestion. This should be treated symptomatically (fluids, etc..) to prevent dehydration.

In the future, it's best to keep all human food away from where your dog can reach it. There are other huma foods which are toxic to dogs. Read about them here:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/167132/Human_Foods_That_Are_Poisonous_for_...

Best of luck,
Patti