What Happens When You Feed a Dog Chocolate?

Many owners feed chocolate to their dogs and have never noticed any adverse affects, but chocolate does poison dogs and some types of chocolate can be deadly. Although a dog may consume a little chocolate and beg for more, this does not mean that his body can handle chocolate. If he likes the taste, it just puts the dog at greater risk for poisoning if he ever has access to a dangerous type of chocolate.

  1. The Poison

    • In chocolate, the stimulant theobromine causes poisoning in dogs. Unlike humans, a dog's body does not have the ability to metabolize theobromine fast enough to avoid its dangerous consequences. Theobromine attacks a dog's heart and nervous system. It affects the heart muscle and may cause irregular heartbeat. Overstimulating the central nervous system, theobromine causes seizures, coma and eventually death.

    Symptoms

    • The first symptoms in a dog who has digested chocolate include vomiting, diarrhea and hyperactivity. As time goes on, restlessness in the dog increases, muscle spasms begin, his heart rate speeds up and the dog urinates more frequently. Eventually, he starts to have seizures, then goes into a coma and dies. The time frame and severity of these symptoms depends on the type and amount of chocolate eaten.

    Treatments

    • Dogs can die within 12 to 36 hours of eating chocolate, and there is no antidote for chocolate toxicity. RSPCA NSW chief veterinarian, Doctor Magdoline Awad says that a dog's best chance comes by inducing her to vomit. Ideally, the dog should immediately see a vet, but owners may induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide or syrup of ipecac. Then, activated charcoal should be administered to keep the dog's body from absorbing more poison. If the dog receives treatment soon enough, she may survive.

    Types of Chocolate

    • Theobromine levels vary in different types of chocolate. For this reason, a dog may eat some types of chocolate without symptoms and small amounts of other chocolates cause death. A dog would have to ingest 100 to 150 mg of theobromine per lb. of the dog's weight to react to the poison. Milk chocolate contains 60 mg of theobromine per oz. of chocolate, so it would take about 1 lb. of chocolate to kill a 20 lb. dog. Semisweet chocolate has 150 mg per oz. of chocolate and a 20 lb. dog would need about 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate to be killed by it. Baking chocolate contains 450 mg of theobromine per oz. Just 2 oz. of baking chocolate kills a 20 lb. dog.

    Prevention/Solution

    • Small amounts of chocolate low in theobromine will not hurt a dog. Only when dogs eat dark chocolate and baking chocolate or large amounts of milk and semisweet chocolate do poisonings occur. In order to prevent poisonings, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends that owners never give dogs any chocolate.