Help! Dog ate a bar of dark chocolate

[onelanerode]

Our 9-year-old hound/GR mix ate about 3 ounces of dark chocolate (67% cacao) this evening at about 6. He weighs just under 60 lbs. and seems fine thus far.

Husband is quite upset, so I am hoping some COTHers have had similar experiences and all has been well. Obviously if he looks poorly we will head to the emergency vet.

Should we give him all or part of his regular evening meal, or is it best not to add anything to his digestive system right now?

Thanks, COTH. Since it was my chocolate he got into, I am feeling a bit stupid. He has never been a counter surfer in the 8 years we have had him though.

[BuddyRoo]

1. Call vet and get their opinion as I’m not a vet nor do I play one on TV.
2. Syringe with peroxide PO to induce vomiting. Keep in bathroom for this.
3. Monitor vitals regularly.

[SlabSided]

That’s unlikely to be enough for a dog that size. Call the vet, but I’ll bet he’s fine.

I once had a 65 lb lab eat an ENTIRE chocolate bundt cake with fudge frosting and half a batch of chocolate chip cookies - so about 12 ozs semi-sweet chips. She was a little wired and $h1t black for a couple of days, but was otherwise fine.

[arapaloosa_lady]

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control

[S1969]

I have no first hand experience but I suspect it’s not enough to be seriously harmful.

But, I would induce vomiting anyway, just in case.

Always good to call an emergency vet for advice as well.

[hosspuller]

[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8280131]

1. Call vet and get their opinion as I’m not a vet nor do I play one on TV.
2. Syringe with peroxide PO to induce vomiting. Keep in bathroom for this.
3. Monitor vitals regularly.[/QUOTE]

Syringe & fresh bottle of hydrogen peroxide is good to keep on hand. Had to dose the puppy when he chewed & ate a tube of cow meds. A few minutes after the dosing, it came up …

[Canaqua]

There is a calculator here:

http://kbunkvet.com/emergency-care/chocolate-toxicity-calculator.html

It doesn’t give the exact percentage of cocoa, wish it did, but estimate for 3oz of dark chocolate doesn’t seem like enough to poison a dog that size.

I agree with the others on the hydrogen peroxide. I keep a fresh bottle, along with an oral syringe and dosing instructions in a cabinet. I haven’t had to make anyone puke in a long time, but I did when the BC mix was young and got into things a few times. Dog will NOT like having the peroxide forced down their throat, but it works, usually in less than 10 minutes.

Just be careful not to induce vomiting for anything that is caustic. I resorted to it for chocolate and an identified mushroom eaten in the yard. Keeping it in the same place all the time allowed me to give my then teen instructions over the phone when he called me to tell me that he’d left a bottle of ibuprofen out and the dog had gotten into it. He got to it quickly enough that the pills were still whole and I could make him go through the vomit and count them ;).

[Horsegal984]

Peroxide works, however it’s not without its risks too. Aspiration, GI bleeding etc So always better to make the risks are worth the benefits. Generally three hours after ingestion is too late for vomiting to be effective.

[french_fry]

Not a vet, but 3oz of chocolate is extremely unlikely to cause any issues in a dog of that size except some potential mild GI distress.

Definitely don’t induce vomiting 3 hours later.

Next time, you can call just about any emergency vet even if you are not a patient if your regular vet is closed. They will advise you.

[Beckham03]

I know we have a chart in the ER and the docs will advise anyone who calls on what to do next. It’s usually not the GI upset they are concerned with, it’s the effects of the caffeine content on the heart. Dogs that come in after ingesting chocolate go on heart monitors.