Is my pit pup okay,she's 12 weeks old and has eaten some chocolate cake??

Question

I sat my chocolate cake down and she ate most of it.I've heard some horrible stories from a friend of mine and he says that chocolate is fatal to a dog,Is this true?should I take my pup to the vet? She's not acting strange or anything.

Answer 1

OK, I read what some of these hysteria-mongers told you. Don't buy it. There is in no way enough cocoa powder or baking chocolate in a single piece of chocolate cake. It takes about 100-150 mk/kg of theobromine to cause a toxic reaction. 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.

You would feel ripped off if you knew how little actual chocolate is in the average chocolate cake. Your dog is more likely to get diarrhea from it because it was eating something it isn't used to eating, so prepare for that instead. Some of the people who answered need to spend more time looking things up than trying to get people all worked up!

Answer 2

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.

Estimates of the smallest amounts that can be fatal are:
4 ounces of milk chocolate or 1/2 ounce of baking chocolate for small dogs, such as Chihuahuas and toy poodles.
8 ounces of milk chocolate or 2 ounces of baking chocolate for medium-sized dogs, like cocker spaniels and dachshunds.
8 ounces of milk chocolate or 4 ounces of baking chocolate for large dogs, including collies and Labrador retrievers.
Cats have much different eating habits and seldom are poisoned by chocolate.
While a very small amount of chocolate may not harm some dogs, it's safest to avoid giving it to them at all. If an accident occurs, a veterinarian should be consulted. Treatment may require inducing vomiting, stabilizing the animal's heartbeat and respiration, controlling seizures and slowing the absorption of Theo bromine. If the animal already is comatose, its stomach may need to be pumped.

Answer 3

It depends on the weight of the dog, and the quality of the chocolate. The more pure chocolate (chocolate bars, etc), the more dangerous for dogs.

Check out the ASPCA animal poison control website. It's not a bad idea to call the vet or a 24 hour vet service.

Answer 4

The kidneys can shut down. Call a vet and ask them. Don't play with this. A frickin' FULL GROWN GERMAN SHEPHERD I knew about nearly died from part of a chocolate bar. C'mon. Call a vet.

Another thing no one here talks about: the toxin in chocolate is cumulative. It never leaves the body, but accumulates the entire life of the dog. So while your dog may eat it once and be okay -- or 30 times and be okay -- you are killing it's kidneys and liver by allowing the chemical to build up in it. That's why these people here who say "I feed them chocolate all the time, and it doesn't hurt them" have no clue what they are doing to their dog. There's no excuse for this either, because the information is out there.

Answer 5

My 8 year old boxer ate chocolate, and got huge case of diarrhea. I would check the dog, how much chocolate cake and how big? Maybe call you vet
Good luck

Answer 6

Well for all you people saying its toxic, i have been giving my dogs chocolate all their lives and they lived to be 19 and 15 and they loved it & they never got sick. How many of you can say your dogs lived that long!!!!!

Answer 7

Chocolate is very toxic to dogs. Chocolate cake does not have enough real chocolate in it to do harm. She may have the runs though.

Answer 8

If it wasn't a whole lot of dark chocolate, she should be fine, but take her to the vet just to be sure.

Answer 9

It depends. If she is a small puppy and she ate most of a full size cake, you should call your vet and see if you can bring her in to have her heart rate checked.

You can also call animal poison control and they will be able to tell you what to do. They will ask you questions--what is her weight, what type of cake was it, etc, and they will be able to tell you if she needs medical attention.

Answer 10

depends on how big the piece was. chocolate is very harmful to animals. but sometimes they do ok. i would call your vet just to be sure though. more then likely she will have diarrhea. but definitely call you vet or an emergency clinic. good luck.