urgent - how toxic is chocolate to dogs

[ThatVikRinA22]

please can anyone help.

my dog has just been sick with a massive puddle of chocolate.

when quizzed the kids said when they got home from school the living room door was open, so dogs had gone upstairs.

my DD had a massive bag of factory seconds chocolate,(milk choc which i understand is less toxic than the dark stuff) which is now gone - not a trace of it,

ive rung vet and he said if it was 6 hours ago theres nothing i can do but sit up and monitor them. one of my dogs in particular is looking very green around the gills, the other is sleeping it off. neither of them ate tonight. (they are drinking absolutely loads which the vet said will be to sort the sugar out)
has anyone elses dog eaten a massive amount of chocolate and been ok?

they are my second babies and im really worried, DD has gone to bed crying. any help from anyone with experience would be great!
ta.

[Goober]

It is poison!

[comewhinewithme]

My dog ate an easter egg the vet said the same to us he puked up a few times and had very runny poo for about a week .

He was also very thirsty for a few days after but he was ok.

[BellaBonJovi]

It does depend on the cocoa % but vomiting is good and I'd be pretty hopeful they'll get away with just d&v, drinking & weeing excessively etc.

Best of luck x

[Goober]

My dog has never done this.

They will expell it rather quickly.

[EccentricaGallumBANG]

some dogs are affected really badly and it can be fatal.

mine has been known to consume an entire tin of quality street, including wrappers, without any problems (except from being extremely hyperactive for a day or so)).

[MmeGuisingt]

Not sure, but I hope that the dogs will be ok.

My parent's dog used to be a terrible thief adn on more than one occasion ate a selection box (before we knew that they were so dangerous for dogs). She would have a terrible dose of the runs but be ok afterwards.

[Amapoleon]

My dog ate all the chocolates on and under the Christmas tree, wrappers included and was fine.

[Stayingsunnygirl]

Our lab puppy got hold of a mars bar (ds3 thought he'd put it up high enough, but the puppy thought different). We phoned the vet at once, and were told to take her in, and she was given an injection to make her sick, to be on the safe side. He did seem to be saying that milk chocolate was less dangerous because it contains less in the way of cocoa solids.

Vicar - I hope that your dogs will be fine - from other people's stories here, it sounds like they will.

[RTKangaMummy]

I have googled it and found lots of stuff about the chemical in chocolate

it depends on type of chocolate and size of dog and amount eaten

Hope they are ok

fingers crossed ++++

[alwayslookingforanswers]

our dog used to eat all the Famous Names (chocolate liqueurs) that my dad didn't like (about 1/2 of them and he'd get loads of boxes a year - especially around Christmas).

After she died at the ripe old age of 15 (natural causes) we discovered that chocolate was dangerous.

[ThatVikRinA22]

god i could lamp my DH one i really could - he left the bloody door open.

i think my girlie cav has eaten the lions share as she is looking very very sorry for herself. and drinking tons.

she has just puked up 2 more huge puddles of choc...yuk

[BellaBonJovi]

Puke is good

[LadyThompson]

My dog once ate the chocs of the Christmas tree, foil and all. He was ok. Good luck.

[ThatVikRinA22]

well she is now on her 3rd bowl of water...im waiting for puke again....

hope she aims for the kitchen floor this time. i have a brand new rug, she could have picked anywhere but where did she pick? yep!

[GrimmaTheNome]

Oh dear. Better out than in - hopefully they'll sick most of it out.

I know how worried you must be - our dog once ate a whole houseplant which we then discovered was supposedly deadly toxic according to everything we read. (However, instead of developing renal failure he just happily scoffed the sloppy food I lovingly made to get liquid into him and showed no ill effects.)

Hope they get it out of their system and lots of water in. Good luck.

[ThatVikRinA22]

thanks.

i think i may be sleeping on the sofa tonight. ill give it another hour and see if we get more puddles.

my boy hasnt been sick, but is drinking a fair bit, but i bet he didnt get much of a look in. girlie on the other hand is looking like this crossed with this but dont think its envy she is feeling....

[Blondeshavemorefun]

very toxic

poor woofas

hope both are ok x

[ThatVikRinA22]

thankyou.

i think its gonna be a long night. and ive got work tomorrow. bugger.

[WriggleJiggle]

There is a good website somewhere which lists what the toxic limits are for particular breeds and types of chocolate. Googling chocolate toxic dogs is probably how I found it last time.

Being sick is a good sign.

On a positive note, a friend's dog (big setter) used to eat a bar of chocolate every day.
Our lab ate a huge oversized bar of dairy milk.
Our other lab regularly stole chocolate bars.
All were fine and lived to ripe old ages.
Definately not recommended though.

Hope tonight goes well.

[Mmmcoffee]

Hope this helps: the toxic dose is supposed to be 1oz of milk chocolate per pound of dog body weight. So a 20lb dog would need to eat 20oz. It takes less dark chocolate because there's more theobromine (the poisonous substance in chocolate) in darker chocolate. Vomiting is good as it means the dog is getting rid of the theobromine before it can be absorbed. Theobromine acts on the nervous system, so look out for twitching muscles, restlessness, hyperactivity and panting. Bad cases can result in seizures and coma - needless to say, that needs immediate vet help.

If your dogs haven't eaten enough for the toxic dose, they're probably vomiting because of the high fat content of the chocolate - they aren't designed to eat lots of fat. In that case just make sure they have plenty of water to combat dehydration.

Good luck, and poor doggies.

[ThatVikRinA22]

thankyou. ive no idea how much either dog ate - it was a very large bag of factory seconds that were like m&ms only bigger.

looking at them both id say she ate more than him.

they are both sleeping now. both of them seemed restless earlier, more so her, but she was mooching about waiting to puke up!

they are both drinking alot but her more so. vet said that will be the sugar.

im gonna sleep down here so im on hand with the mop....and to monitor them tonight. unfortunately im at work tomorrow but DH will be home about lunch time so he can monitor them.
i feel like waking him up by slapping him round the chops with the rubber gloves....

[PoppyIsApain]

My older dog has nicked chocolate before and been fine from it, not even sick, hope your dogs get better soon

[ThatVikRinA22]

ta very much. so do i, DD wouldnt forgive herself if anything happens to either of them cos of her secret chocolate stash.

[ThatVikRinA22]

god shes been sick a further 3 times. im desperate to go to bed but darent go. what a pain in the arse this is.

im not sure who im more bloody mad at, DH for being too lazy to shut the door or DD for hiding massive amounts of chocolate!

[BellaBonJovi]

How are they doing, Vicar?

Hope they're a bit better - and that you got some sleep