Did you know that chocolate is poisonous to dogs?

Question

Surprising isn't it, something that we find so delectable, but it is deadly poison to them.

Answer 1

Any kind of chocolate in a high enough quantity is toxic to all dogs - even milk chocolate. There are no dogs that chocolate is not poisonous too in high enough quantities. Because the toxic compound is much more dilute in milk chocolate, most dogs have to eat ALOT of milk chocolate, but it can still be poisonous. And yes, I have seen a dog die from eating too much chocolate and have seen a few others get treated soon enough and survive. If you have a large dog, and he eats a candy bar or a bag of M&Ms, he will probably be okay (a neighboors dog ate a pan of brownies - not alot of pure choloate in there so he didn't have a problem). If a large dog eats a few ounces of baking chocolate, he could likely serious complications. Small dogs obviously need smaller amounts of cholocate before they have problems.

FYI The 'chocolate' at the pet store is actually carob, which tastes similar but has none of the toxic compound in true chocolate.

Answer 2

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. It's also the reason chocolate is addictive to both us and animals fed it!
Symptoms of Chocolate Poisoning
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 is too much? that depends on many factors, the dogs own suseptability to it, body weight, age and general health of the animal so the simplest way to look after your dog is DON'T GIVE IT ANY!
Dog chocolate is made of carob (no theobromine) so if you must feed it use that!
I nearly lost a dog to this IT WAS MILK CHOCOLATE, he stole off the Xmas Tree! Only prompt treatment by a Vet saved him, that was over 20 years ago and I've never allowed any animal to have chocolate in any form since.

Answer 3

It is toxic. Some dogs are less sensitive to it, and bigger dogs can handle more. It isn't an allergy. Milk chocolate has less cocoa and less of the toxic substance so it can take a lot of milk chocolate to make some dogs sick, but dark chocolate is more dangerous and bakers chocolate even worse. There is no point to give chocolate. It is fatty and sugary, and it just puts unnecessary stress on the liver even if the dog isn't sick. There are much better options for treats!!

Answer 4

I have heard this , too. Tonight while my children were eating brownies at the kitchen table, our 3 year old dropped some crumbs in the floor. Our dog was trying to eat them from under the table and my 11 year old son was freaking out and trying to sweep them up real fast because he was afraid the dog would be poisoned.I am curious to now if anyone has ever lost a dog due to this kind of thing.

Answer 5

Yes, i had a dog that ate 1 chocolate and any time he smelled it he went crazy, so i found chocolate for dogs,at the pet store, sounds nasty but i tasted it and it tasted just like regular chocolate.

Answer 6

YES IT IS TRUE!
Every week my mate bought his dog chocolate as a treat from when it was a puppy until it died at the age of 16.
DEADLY POISON!
lol

Answer 7

What a load of rubbish. Chocolate is only slighlty poisonous to dogs.

Its like saying humans should drink alcohol because its a toxin. Ignore these people who say it is, feed your dog chocolate and believe me - it wont drop down dead.

Answer 8

Yes, but you could not tell my dog Cinnamon that. I had to hide my chocolate. If I had some in my purse, she would pull everything out to get to it. I had a plastic M&M ball with rubber arms & legs with a plug in the ball to get to the mini's. She took the plug out without tearing ANYTHING up and ate every one of the m&m's. I had her for over 10 years before losing her. The vets and my friends would freak out when I told them about her "chocolism".

Answer 9

hi yes it is a known fact but let me clarify it more for you...DARK chocolate is what is bad for dogs ...not milk chocolate...i had had a Beagle of whom I loved more than life....he got into EVERYTHING !!! I had a box of those Whitman's chocolates around the holidays and i set it on the couch for maybe 10 minutes while I gathered my coat Etc...and in that time he ate the WHOLE box (the big box) I panicked and called the vet...she said to just give him 2 tblsp of pepto bismal and watch him but milk chocolate is not what hurts dogs it is the dark chocolate...the most of what could of happened to him is he would of had to of had his stomach pumped.....but he made it through on his own..pooped it all out...for 3 days...but it was scary at first...so no worries..it's not al chocolates...

Answer 10

No - I have heard the saying that "one man's meat is another man's poison" but animals don't concern me so much.
However now that I know I may buy a few bars of chocolate and see if I can feed them to some of these dangerous dogs that attack our children and mess up the parks too.