My dog found and ate half of a large birthday cake: should I worry?

[Molesworth]

Could there be serious effects?

Last night he got into dd's bedroom where she had left half of a large white chocolate birthday cake on the arm of a chair and ate the lot

He's looking very fat this morning, but hasn't been sick or anything. Should I be worried?

[madlentileater]

I'm not sure, but isn't chocolate bad for dogs?
maybe phone the vet?

[fruitshootsandheaves]

They have to eat a vast amount of rich chocolate to make them seriously ill AFAIK. I would have thought that he'd have been sick by now if it was going to affect him. My Spaniel ate a whole box of Belgium Chocolates once, I was really worried but he was ok.

[Molesworth]

Thanks for the reply MLE. Tbh he seems perfectly normal - he hasn't been sick or had diarrhoea or anything. Will ring the vet if he starts looking ill.

There was no real chocolate in the cake; I don't think white chocolate counts does it?

[Molesworth]

Thanks too FSAL. Just thought I'd post on here to check. There must've been about 1500 calories in the portion he ate - the kids said that it was almost unbearably sweet

[madlentileater]

Blimey it must have been sweet if the kids said that!
was it a shop cake?

[Molesworth]

Yes, I think it came from Tesco. I can't believe he ate so much of it!

[random]

My mutt polished of 4 double choc muffins ...Marks and Spencers ones tut ...he was fine

[MollieOolala]

Depends on how much chocolate. It contains theobromine that is toxic for dogs and can be fatal here.

[Molesworth]

Well, he ate the cake about 24 hours ago, and he was fine until this evening, when his stomach started to look very bloated and he seemed listless. I doubt he would have chocolate poisoning because it wasn't a chocolate cake, just a normal sponge cake with "white chocolate icing". I'll keep an eye on him and call the vet if he doesn't seem better tomorrow. Thanks for the replies, all.

[beautifulgirls]

Bloated stomach can be VERY serious. If you are reading this please call your vet URGENTLY.

[MollieOolala]

I would call the out of hours vet tonight, especially with the symptoms you've described.

[Hollyoaks]

My labrador are a 5kg bag of dog food and oven cleaner and she was fine lol

[hercules1]

I hope it isnt bloat. Agree with other poster. You need to call a vet now, right now.

[blinder]

I second the URGENT call to vet. Bloated stomach could be a number of things, some merely uncomfortable but some life-threatening. Don't want to worry you but at least phone the vet ASAP.

[Bella21]

Didn't see this last night. Hope he's okay.

If you ever suspect bloat, put the dog in the car and call the vets to say you're on your way. It's about as urgent as it gets for dogs, and will kill within hours.

More info:

here

[Molesworth]

Wow, thank you for posting the info about bloat - I'd never heard of it and would certainly have called the vet last night if I'd been aware of this condition. Luckily the bloating eased off and I took him out for a walk at 11.30 last night, at which point he seemed back to his normal self, and he seems fine this morning too.

Thanks again for making me aware of this for future reference. Needless to say, we will all be extremely careful in future about leaving food within reach (i.e. I have lectured the kids to within an inch of their lives )

[Bella21]

Glad he's okay, Molesworth - had a very busy day here but I was thinking about him all day

[Molesworth]

Thanks Bella

[Blondeshavemorefun]

bad dog!!!

sounds as bad as our thief of a puppy!!!

glad he is ok

[jkklpu]

when I was a child, we had a lab about as greedy as they get: once ate 5kg of cooked red cabbage and nearly gassed us all; another time ate a tea towel that had once been in contact with some gravy. Now that was might difficult to pass.