Sisu Care

Is chocolate really deadly for dogs to eat?

Eating too much chocolate can be harmful to a dog. The darker the chocolate, the more of the toxin theobromine is present. Baking chocolate is the deadliest, white chocolate is the least.

Signs of toxicity occur within hours after a dog eats a sufficient amount of chocolate. Signs include vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle tremors, seizures, and coma. If a high enough quantity of theobromine is eaten, the dog could die from cardiac arrest.

The approximate toxic dose of four types of chocolate for a 20-pound dog:
*White chocolate has very little theobromine, and the dog would have to eat more than two and half times its body weight to reach toxic levels.
*A little less than one pound of milk chocolate.
*As little as six ounces of instant cocoa or semi-sweet chocolate.
*Two one-ounce squares of baking chocolate.

If you know your dog has eaten a questionable quantity of chocolate, take it to a vet immediately.

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This entry was posted by vafnana on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 6:57 am and is filed under Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.