What can't dogs eat chocolate.?

Answer 1

Why is Chocolate Lethal?
Chocolate contains theobromine. A naturally occurring stimulant found in the cocoa bean, theobromine increases urination and affects the central nervous system as well as heart muscle. While amounts vary by type of chocolate, it's the theobromine that is poisonous to dogs.

Symptoms of Chocolate Dog Ingestion and Poisoning
You can recognize that your dog has eaten a toxic dose of chocolate from the symptoms. Within the first few hours, the evidence includes vomiting, diarrhea or hyperactivity. As time passes and there's increased absorption of the toxic substance, you'll see an increase in the dog's heart rate, which can cause arrhythmia, restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle twitching, increased urination or excessive panting.

This can lead to hyperthermia, muscle tremors, seizures, coma and even death.

How Much Chocolate Is Deadly?
If a 50-pound dog eats a teaspoonful of milk chocolate, it's not going to cause serious problems. However, if that same dog gorges himself on a two-layer chocolate cake, his stomach will feel more than upset and soon it's likely he'll be vomiting or experiencing diarrhea.

To answer the question "How much is too much" is not simple. The health and age of your dog must be considered. Obviously if your dog is aged and not in top shape, his reaction to a plate of chocolate is going to be different from a young healthy dog of the same weight.

Another fact that must be considered is this: Not all chocolate is the same. Some has a small amount of theobromine; another type has a large amount and still another contains an amount that is somewhere in between. The quantity has a relationship with the weight of your dog. Small dogs can be poisoned, it is easy to understand, from smaller amounts of theobromine than large dogs.

Which chocolate is the safest, relatively speaking? White chocolate. It has the least amount of theobromine: 1 mg per ounce. Far on the other side of the spectrum is baking chocolate, which has a huge 450 mg of theobromine per ounce!

Answer 2

Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine.

Dogs are unable to metabolize theobromine effectively. If they eat chocolate, the theobromine can remain in their bloodstreams for up to 20 hours, and these animals may experience fast heart rate, hallucinations, severe diarrhea, epileptic seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding, and eventually death.

A chocolate bar can be sufficient to make a small dog extremely ill or even kill it. Large breeds are less susceptible to chocolate poisoning, but still are far less tolerant of theobromine than humans are.

Answer 3

You have several in depth answers which are correct... what they don't say is that once the dog develops clinical signs (ie: nervousness, twitching, racing heart, etc...) there is often nothing a veterinarian can do - there is no antidote, only supportive treatment, and many of them will die if it gets that far. If your dog has eaten chocolate, you need to call your vet immediately for advice, don't wait to see if it will get sick. And obviously... I don't mean that it ate 1 M&M or a single chocoalte chip cookie... if it eats a large volume of chocolate call for advice!

Answer 4

Chocolate contains a toxic ingerdient called theobromine. It is harmless to us, but the reason that it is toxic to dogs is because of the fact that they cannot metabolize it.

A small dose of theobromine will not kill your dog- but it does do some notable damage to the liver and heart muscle. Depending on the type of chocolate of course. Milk chocolate contains a much lower concentration of theobromine than dark chocolate. If a small dog were to eat half a candy bar composed of milk chocolate, it would not die. But if a small dog were to eat half a candy bar made from dark chocolate, it would probably die, or have sever muscle and tissue damage to it's heart and liver.

Aside from chocolate, there are a few other everyday foods containing theobromine that you should watch out for- onions, grapes (very small traces, but it is there) and raisins (slightly higher concentration than grapes).

I hope I've been able to help! ; )

Answer 5

Dogs can't eat chocolate because, it could kill them.

Answer 6

They can eat some becaus my dog gets a little each month and she has not died.But if you give them a lot it poisons their systems.

Answer 7

Too much caffene and if they eat too much it is deadly and their stomachs will need to be pumped to save them.

Answer 8

The short answer: it can cause seizures.

Answer 9

In addition to a high fat content, chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, two different types of stimulants that affect the central nervous system and the heart muscle, as well as increasing the frequency of urination.

Symptoms of Poisoning

If your 50-pound dog gets his paws on a single chocolate-chip cookie, it probably won’t cause him serious problems. However, if he gobbles up more – a pan of brownies, say – he may develop vomiting or diarrhea.

Once toxic levels are reached, the stimulants kick in, and this is when you really have to worry. Symptoms include: restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle twitching, increased urination and/or excessive panting. If your pet isn’t treated, he could go into a seizure – possibly even die.

How Much Is Toxic?

The amount of chocolate that it takes to poison your pet depends on the type of chocolate he’s eaten and his weight. White chocolate has the least amount of stimulants and baking chocolate or cocoa beans have the highest. Here is a list of the most common sources of chocolate and the amount that leads to toxicity:

• White Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 45 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe toxicity occurs when 90 ounces per pound of body weight in ingested. This means that a 20-pound dog would need to ingest at least 55 pounds of white chocolate to cause nervous system signs. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 27 pounds. Yes, that is twenty seven pounds! White chocolate has very little real chocolate in it. Therefore, the levels of caffeine and theobromine are very low. Tremendous amounts of white chocolate need to be ingested in order to cause toxic signs from chocolate. It is highly unlikely that white chocolate ingestion will result in the toxic neurologic signs but, the severe gastrointestinal effects from a high fat food develop with much less white chocolate ingestion.

• Milk Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.7 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 2 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested. This means that a little less than one pound of milk chocolate can be toxic to the nervous system of a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 1/2 pound.

• Semi-Sweet Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 1/3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 1 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. This means that as little as 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate can be toxic to the nervous system of a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 3 ounces.

• Instant Cocoa. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 1/3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 1 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. This means that as little as 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate can be toxic to the nervous system of a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 3 ounces.

• Baking Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.1 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 0.3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Two small one-ounce squares of baking chocolate can be toxic to a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 1 ounce of baking chocolate. This type of chocolate has the highest concentration of caffeine and theobromine and very little needs to be ingested before signs of illness become apparent.



Even if your pet doesn’t eat enough chocolate to induce toxicity, the candy’s high fat content may cause him to vomit or have diarrhea at much smaller amounts than those shown. If that happens, watch him carefully. If his symptoms don’t clear up within eight hours, call your veterinarian (if your pet is very small or young, call within four hours); aside from toxicity issues, you don’t want the animal to dehydrate. Try to be as precise as you can about the type of chocolate the animal ate, how much he took and approximately when he ate it.

The sooner you get help, the better off your pet will be. If the animal is showing signs of toxicity, he has a good prognosis if he’s treated within four to six hours of ingestion. The effects of the chocolate can linger for 12 to 36 hours, though, so your pet may require hospitalization.

Answer 10

It is poison to their systems.