To think they should take him to the vets

[Huggyhuggy]

My mum and dads dog had a full box of ‘black magic’ dark chocolates yesterday and today has vomiting, wheezing, and is laid down looking very sorry for himself but they won’t take to the vets saying none will be open now

Hope you manage to get him sorted OP

You are doing the right thing getting him checked, but, just to add some balance to the comments that its "probably too late".

We went out for a Christmas do last week, we had gifts under tree (obviously didn't know what they were) and our dog got to a 22 peice Thorntons chocolate set while we were out. We didn't realise till next mid morning as we went straight to bed and had had a long lie in next day, so was about 15 hours later we discovered the chocolates and a big pile of chocolatey puke next to the treee. Our dog was fine and we kept an eye on him, seemed slightly sluggish in the morning but normal by end of the day. But had we discovered it straight away we would have likely got help.

And since then dog hasn't been allowed in the room next to presents on his own in case any have chocolate - lesson learnt!

Good point! Depends when the vomiting was.

Within an hour of ingestion - great!
12 hours later, not so great.

My Labrador ate some very dodgy looking berries (Lords and Ladies) when she was a pup, but her stomach was smarter than her brain and she regurgitated them within 15 minutes and was fine.

This pup sounds very poorly, so I’d definitely take him in.

Totally irresponsible, poor bloody dog!!

Why is OP disgusting and irresponsible??

She’s taken the time to post on here for advice and arranging for the dog to be taken to the vets.

She doesn’t have pets because she admits she can’t afford the vets bills.

I agree with you about the parents but it’s wrong to be rude to OP when she’s doing everything she can to help this dog.

I knew a dog who did something very similar and also with Thorntons. It wasn't as many, just a mixed bag someone had given me for Christmas and I thought I'd well-buried them. Alas no and he scoffed the lot. The vet was consulted and as they were milk chocolate and he was a medium sized dog with a stocky build, we were advised to keep an eye on him. He was absolutely fine. But had he been smaller, or had I the taste for dark chocolate I've got now, it might have been very different.

Please let us know how you get on OP
Thank you for looking after the dog x

As you can tell from my user name I have two dogs. A few years back one of them got to some chocolates, which had been left on the dining room table by my brother, despite me warning him of the danger to dogs from
chocolate, but it slipped his mind.

Unfortunately we didn’t know which dog had eaten them. This was on Boxing Day. When I realised what had happened both of them were taken to our vets who run their own emergency service.

Both of them were given an injection to make them sick not very pleasant but better than chocolate poisoning.

OP I hope your parent’s dog will be OK.

It’s time we had much stricter laws on pet ownership.

We had threads and threads about banning XL bullies and I’m sure we’ll have them again when the next status dog breed comes out.

Instead of trying ban breeds we just need to get strict pet ownership laws, get rid of the pet selling sites and restrict breeding.

It makes me sick how anyone can buy a living thing and let it suffer.

I know people who’ve had cats and moved away and instead of dropping them off at a rescue centre or leaving a windows open, they just locked them in the house with no food or water and left them to die.

I know people who’ve made dogs go without medical treatment and poor rabbits and Guinea pigs are constantly neglected.

What’s worse is that all of these people could afford to feed, house and get medical treatment for their pets, they just chose not to.

Poor dog, I do hope he'll be ok 😭

I do agree with this, at one time you needed a licence to have a dog but I don't think it stopped cruelty. Harsher penalties under law for neglect (which this falls under) or deliberate cruelty? People get banned for 5 years from having animals for the most horrific neglect. It should be a jail sentence at least.

Been thinking a lot about the dog... Please do come back and update us. Praying he'll be okay.

When did the dog eat them yesterday ? I thought the toxic elements are quite short acting, which is why the advice is to get them to a Vet asap ?
Did your parents witness the vomiting ? were there chocolates in the vomit ? Knowing Lurcher's they won't have chewed much !

The chocolate is toxic and can cause liver failure. The likelihood is he will need fluids and blood tests.
Lots of vets would be open today as usual. It's madness they left him.

The advice to go asap is so we can induce vomiting and the chocolate then has less liklihood to cause long term damage

@Dymaxion I think the half life of theobromine in dogs is much longer than in humans. OP's parents may be thinking the dog is just a bit off when severe damage is being done. This is my understanding but I'm not a vet. Maybe vets on this thread could shed more light. In the meantime, I hope this poor doggy is getting treatment. Death from theobromine toxicity is horrendous, slow and painful :(

I hope he is okay, well done for arranging for him to see the vet, please let us know how you get on.

Why do dogs dog owners keep something that is pure poison for their dogs in easy reach of their beloved pets?

This is awful 😞

We have the greediest dog in the world, we have things hidden away or up high and she’s still managed to get to them. I’ve always taken her straight away, even with small amounts eaten. Just get the dog in, let them treat it and think about the bill later

It's not totally incorrect at all.
Weight of 9 black magic chocolates is 174 g.
VPS recommends treatment at 3.5 g per kg for dark chocolate
25 kg dog can have 3.5 x 25 = 87.5 g dark chocolate.
Bearing in mind a chocolate from a box of chocolates is probably less than 50% actual chocolate - the middles are caramel, truffle etc - this dog is borderline for needing treatment.
It's clearly symptomatic but more than likely it will recover. Most dogs do recover even if they show symptoms. Theobromine does not cause kidney damage. You are just scared mongering

I advised to contact the poisons line to get specific advice - this is only what a vet would do. It's not irresponsible.

I mean if a dog presented having eaten this much chocolate within a few hours it would be safer to induce vomiting and give some charcoal than take the risk. But given it's been 24 hours or more, it's too late for that anyway. IV fluids and overnight care will be £1000 at an emergency vets.

@Huggyhuggy

you posted this 3 - three - hours ago

and not replied for over 90 minutes...

Has the dog been taken to the Vet !!!

The advice to go asap is so we can induce vomiting and the chocolate then has less liklihood to cause long term damage

Are the chocolates likely to still be in the dogs stomach if they were eaten yesterday ? Have no idea of how long it takes for food to travel from the stomach to the bowel in dogs ? ( or how that normal sized portion of food you feed them turns into a two hander with the poo bag ? ) OP said the dog had vomited after eating the chocolates ?

Thornton are mostly milk chocolate
Black magic are dark chocolate
Highly toxic

I must admit this is why I thought it was a wind up. I’ve not seen a box of black magic chocolates on sale in 30 years.

Ring a vet. Ring them now. It may be too late to even save them but you really want the dog to be in pain? It’s very irresponsible of them and given their attitude they shouldn’t have any more pets.

Ring the vets now, please. 🙏🏻