Particularly with the holidays, there is plenty of food out for pets to get into. One of the more common foods that pets (especially dogs) get into is chocolate. Many people are aware that chocolate is not good for dogs and do a good job of restricting access to it; however, dogs can be very determined and get to chocolate in the most well concealed places.
The main intoxicants in chocolate that cause problems are methylxanthines. These include things like caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. Various chocolate types have differing amounts of these products with cocoa powder and bakers chocolate having the highest amounts and milk and white chocolate having the lowest amounts.
With low doses, you will only see gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea or vomiting. Higher doses is where the major problems occur with complications like heart arrhythmias, muscle tremors, and high blood pressure developing. If not treated promptly or properly, these can lead to death. For a typical 30 lb dog, he/she would have to get into around 8-10 ounces (less than 1/2 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips) to start to see changes in their heart rate and rhythm.
So, what should you do if you find your pet in the pantry. First, I would try to figure out the maximum amount of chocolate and type of chocolate they could have gotten into. After that, contact your veterinarian. Many times they can calculate the amount of methylxanthines your pet could have gotten into and decide the proper treatment. With high doses, we would typically first try to make your pet vomit up whatever they ate. Whether we can be successful with this is determined by the amount of time it has been since they ate the food. Typically, if eaten within 2-4 hours, we will try to make them vomit.
After decontaminating the stomach, we would then likely give activated charcoal by mouth to help bind up any remaining toxins that entered the the intestines. The liver does a good job of recirculating the chocolate components between the liver and intestines, so multiple doses of activated charcoal over 12 hours may be performed. During this time, your pet will also likely receive intravenous fluids to help flush any toxins out of the body. The heart rate and rhythm will also be monitored and if any complications are discovered, medications can be given to combat these.
The good news is that with appropriate and timely care, a majority of pets recover fine. If no problems are encountered within 24 hours of ingestion, then your pet should be in the clear. As always, it is much easier to prevent a problem then to treat it, so if you have a pet with a propensity for eating things he shouldn't, please make sure to have all food properly put away.
Happy holidays!
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