Would choc digestives poison a dog?

[Dunlurking]

Would choc digestives poison a dog? Our doodle got hold of half a packet last Friday when we were out and has been sick off and on since, with some diarrhoea/green stools. May also be a rotten sheep carcase as he frequently scavenges when dh walks him out on the fells off the lead. What does it sound like to you?

2 1/2 weeks ago he was seen to crunch and gulp down some sheep bones and he spent about a week coughing without bringing any up the way he has before. Then he seemed to recover and I have checked that he hasn?t got abdominal tenderness or any blood in his stool or vomit.

He was a bit dehydrated on Monday but then had 24 hours without being sick and eating and drinking apparently normally, then I came home from work yesterday to 4 lots of sick and one of diarrhoea. Seems to have managed last night without being sick or any more diarrhoea in the house.

Have to say that dh away alot for work so it is really driving me mad that he blithely runs him off the lead when he is here (he?s a well trained dog when it comes to not bothering with live sheep, it?s just the dead ones), but I have to cope with the aftermath....Just wish I knew what it is that is likely to be doing this. Dh home tomorrow morning so I am tempted to make appt at vet for tomorrow morning and dh can take him!

Enough chocolate digestives could be enough to poison a dog, but iirc a doodle would have to eat an awful lot of milk chocolate digestives to be classed as in the danger range. My 19kg dog ate 130g dark chocolate for her to be classed as in the danger range and dark has 5 x more theobromine than milk. That said, there are probably a handful of dogs that are hypersensitive to theobromine.

From what you say, it sounds like he needs a trip to the vet whatever is causing it. Can you not get him there today, or are you working? Can you make him an appointment for when you get home?

Thanks for the advice about the chocolate MotherJack.

He is running around agitating for a walk right now, and has just wolfed down his biscuits so I would feel a little stupid if took him to the vet today and all was well, which is why I am tempted to make an appointment for tomorrow to see what happens next. Have just checked dh's timetable and he isn't off tomorrow so it would be me taking him regardless of when

My dog pinched a full easter egg and ate the egg and all the box and was ok.

A few years ago my other dog ate some rotten kebab meat which someone had chucked in the field. She was seriously ill and had to be put on a drip.

I would keep and eye on him and see how he is tommorrow

I doubt it... if we are ok then a dog should be somewhat ok,,, not that they are good for pets.

Theobromine isn't a poison to us, Jelly, but it is dogs at a certain level.

He does sound quite perky, Dunlurking, but I would never feel stupid for taking a dog to the vet if it put my mind at ease. Hope he feels better soon, whatever it is! .

that should have read that it is a poison to dogs regardless of level but at a certain level it can kill them.

Was seriously worrying he would need a drip on Monday fifi25. I even dug out an old syringe to try to get water in his mouth. But then the faking double crossing old hound perked up instantly dh arrived home from work and roared around the house while I was trying to convince dh how seriously ill he was

Thanks again MotherJack, jellyvodkas and fifi25. I knew chocolate could be poisonous to dogs but had no idea what it did to them, or how much it took to make them ill.

this explains the chocolate thing really well.

Lol at your double crossing old hound!

That link was really useful MotherJack. Think he may well have had some of those symptoms but looking at the halflife means we are probably over the worst, if it was the choc.

His tools were semiformed and more normal smelling and looking this morning as well He has also just had a good bark at the postman.....

stools even

Lol ruby!!!

ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/10/pets/chocolate-chart-interactive

Above (if I've done the link right) is a really excellent interactive chart to enable you to see what amount of chocolate is toxic for a given weight of dog. I'm a vet, and I doubt your dog's problem, OP, is due to chocolate, because last Friday is too long ago - chocolate toxicity is much faster than that. If anyone's dog has eaten a toxic amount of chocolate, the best thing is to get the dog to the vet ASAP - the vet can give an injection which will induce vomiting within a few minutes and empty the stomach effectively - it's expensive but IMO worth it. I had to give it to all 3 of my dogs not long ago, when the mobile phone company delivered a promotional bar of chocolate through the letterbox, in a plain wrapper, and the dogs found it before I did. It turned out the smallest one had eaten the whole thing, and would have had a toxic dose if I'd not used the injection - it really is a common danger and something to be very aware of.

That is a FANTASTIC link, Alice. Admittedly, being a bit dim, it took me a while to get that you pull the slider down on the left hand side of the pictures of the different chocolate until you see your dog's weight but after I worked that out, that is as clear as you can get.

Thank you for your advice Alice. what a really helpful link. Have added it to my favourites for future emergencies

Ruby meant to say I loved the silver lining comment.

Thanks again MotherJack for the support

when the mobile phone company delivered a promotional bar of chocolate through the letterbox, in a plain wrapper,

I don't suppose it even crossed their tiny minds that this was not a good idea. Just good luck you were a vet, Alice ... have you written to the company to tell them?