We all love our dogs, don’t we? We love to give them a little delicacy sometimes as well. Some dogs are so charming when they beg for a bit of what you are eating, but the fact is that some foods that are alright for us to eat are not so good for dogs. This ought not come as much of a surprise as you would almost certainly be quite ill too if you ate a half-rotten rat that you found in the hedgerow.
The main human food that will kill your dog is chocolate or more precisely the theobromine in the chocolate. Some chocolate has more theobromine in it than others. For example, white chocolate has only 1 mg of theobromine per 28 g (1 oz) whereas baking chocolate has 450 mg per 28 g.
So how much theobromine does it take to poison a dog? Well, the answer to that depends on several considerations like age and health but most significantly the weight of the dog. Let us say that an average, knee-high, collie-type dog weighs 20 kilos (about 45 lbs.), then it would take about 250 kg (560 lbs) of white chocolate to harm him, but he probably would have exploded by then anyway having eaten 12.5 times his body weight in food.
However, the scenario changes quickly when we examine other types of chocolate. It would take about 1.5 kg (3 lbs) of milk chocolate to have the same outcome and about a third of that in sweet cacao or half-a-kilo (1 lb). The most hazardous substance is baking chocolate. It only takes just over 100g or four and a half ounces of baking chocolate to give a medium sized dog life threatening problems.
Therefore, the biggest danger would be of a dog eating a chocolate cake with chocolate icing or topping. Children are the worst, albeit innocent, culprits: they frequently give dogs cake at parties and it is one to look out for.
So, what should you do if your dog eats chocolate? It depends on the quantity and the quality and your dog. The safest thing would be to take him to the vet as soon as possible, but if you are confident you could wait for symptoms like vomitting, diarrhea, twitching, seizure, palpitations or undue wetting.
Theobromine attacks a dog’s central nervous system so not all dogs will react in the same way, but you will definitely discern that your dog is perplexed, befuddled and distraught.
If you decide to treat your dog yourself, the first thing you should do is stimulate vomitting all the while comforting your dog. A 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide should do the trick. Give your dog a teaspoon full if it is under 10 kg and a tablespoon if it is over 10 kg. Give every 15 minutes until it takes effect. After this, try to get some activated carbon into him to soak up any residual poison. Follow the directions on the packet.
If you live miles from anywhere or you think that your dog is at high risk (the school vacation season is the worst), you could get a pet’s first aid box from your vet. They are not expensive and have a long shelf life and you will not be caught out if someone gives your dog chocolate.
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on quite a few subjects, but is at present concerned with researching What to do if your dog eats chocolate. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at http://whattodoifyourdogeatschocolate.com.
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