Is it true dogs can't eat chocolate?

Question

My dog just ate a little piece of chocolate that my daughter drop from a Kit Kat bar not a very big peice. He is 5 months old and is a Chihuahua, are there any signs I should look for or will he be fine?

Answer 1

dogs really shouldn't have chocolate but the same situation happened to me. i have two chihuahuas 3 yrs old and 9 months old. cinnamon who is the baby ate a piece of chocolate from a hershey bar that my daughter dropped on the floor. i freaked out. i right away made an emergency call to the vet. i talked to her and she calmed my nerves down right away. she said although chocolate isn't good for dogs a little piece from a candy bar like that isn't enough to hurt them. so i'm just passing the info along and i hope that it makes you feel a little better.

Answer 2

It is true. Keep the chocolate away. Too much chocolate will make a dog very sick and can kill it. My dog at a whole bag of Dove chocolates when she was young and became violently ill. I'm fortunate she lived. She was sicker when she ate the chocolate than when she ate the poisoned rat, if that gives you some perspective. A small piece of a kitkat probably won't kill a chihuaua, but it may make him vomit. Watch him tonight. If he seems to be panting or vomitting a lot, bring him to an animal emergency room (though I honestly don't think you'll need to do that) By the morning he'll feel better.

Good luck.

Answer 3

http://www.beaglesunlimited.com/beaglehealth_chocolatetoxicosis.htm

The symptoms of Theobromide poisoning are numerous and they appear within a few hours or up to a day after the chocolate ingestion. Chocolate stays in the animal's stomach a long time. As the Theobromide is absorbed into the bloodstream, the animal can exhibit the following symptoms;

1) Vomiting

2) Diarrhea

3) Diuresis (Urinary incontinence)

4) Hyperactivity

5) Rapid breathing/heartbeat

6) Muscle tremors

7) Seizures

8) Coma

Answer 4

He will be fine. A little bite like that shouldn't do a thing to him. Chocolate can make him sick though.

Pure chocolate is actually "the killer" (unless very large amounts of regular chocolate is consumed).

Signs to look for - lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, general ill feeling. Call you vet if you see any of these signs, although I'm sure you won't. Just let your daughter know that chocolate can be dangerous to pets.

Answer 5

One piece of chocolate isn't going to cause major problems in any dog, even a small one. However, chocolate is certainly not something you want to allow a dog to eat because it can cause potential health problems as they get older. Growing up, the dogs next door at chocolate quite a bit, and they lived fairly long, but lots of cataracts and one of them got cancer. I don't know if the chocolate caused any of that, but I won't risk it with my dogs. Carib is a good substitute for chocolate for dogs.

Answer 6

We've all heard it, "Don't give your dog chocolate it will kill him". We'll how true is it you're probably wondering. Do I have to rush him to an emergency vet if he ate one of my M&M's?

The truth is chocolate contains theobromine that is toxic to dogs in sufficient quantities. This is a xanthine compound in the same family of caffeine, and theophylline.

Toxic Levels

The good news is that it takes, on average, a fairly large amount of theobromine 100-150 mg/kg to cause a toxic reaction. Although there are variables to consider like the individual sensitivity, animal size and chocolate concentration.

On average,
Milk chocolate contains 44 mg of theobromine per oz.
Semisweet chocolate contains 150mg/oz.
Baker's chocolate 390mg/oz.

Using a dose of 100 mg/kg as the toxic dose it comes out roughly as:
1 ounce per 1 pound of body weight for Milk chocolate
1 ounce per 3 pounds of body weight for Semisweet chocolate
1 ounce per 9 pounds of body weight for Baker's chocolate.

So, for example, 2 oz. of Baker's chocolate can cause great risk to an 15 lb. dog. Yet, 2 oz. of Milk chocolate usually will only cause digestive problems.

Clinical Signs

Xanthines affect the nervous system, cardiovascular system and peripheral nerves. It has a diuretic effect as well. Clinical signs:

Hyper excitability
Hyper irritability
Increased heart rate
Restlessness
Increased urination
Muscle tremors
Vomiting
Diarrhea

Treatment

There is no specific antidote for this poisoning. And the half life of the toxin is 17.5 hours in dogs. Induce vomiting in the first 1-2 hours if the quantity is unknown. Administering activated charcoal may inhibit absorption of the toxin. An anticonvulsant might be indicated if neurological signs are present and needs to be controlled. Oxygen therapy, intravenous medications, and fluids might be needed to protect the heart.

Milk chocolate will often cause diarrhea 12-24 hours after ingestion. This should be treated symptomatically (fluids, etc..) to prevent dehydration.

If you suspect your pet has ingested chocolate contact your Vet immediately! They can help you determine the the proper treatment for your pet.

Answer 7

yes, it's very true... chocolate is toxic to canines.. oh I know, most of us have given pieces of chocolates to our dogs and they lived.. but that's because most of the chocolate bars and candies today is comprised of mostly wax substances and other ingredients, the chocolate is very diluted.. but pure chocolate is very very bad for dogs, for instance.. as little 1 ounce of pure chocolate could hospitalize a chihuahua.

Your puppy should be fine hun, like I said, most chocolate bars on the market today have very little chocolate in them... just keep an eye on him, he may get a bit of diarrhea. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

A small piece of chocolate is not going to hurt the dog, but do not feed your dog chocolate on a regular basis. Too much can kill them.

Answer 9

My dog ate a box of chocolates from off the counter and nothing at all happened. Before I heard of this, I occasionally gave my dogs chocolate and nothing happened, thank goodness!

Answer 10

Chocolate isn't good for a dog, but when my dog went looking for the Easter eggs b4 us he was okay, she had like a whole chocolate bunny and she was fine, she threw up and had gas for a while though, as long as your dog doesn't have any digestion problems it should be fine