With Halloween this weekend and the holiday season just around the corner everyone will have more candy around the house than usual which is an invitation for curious pups to steal a snack. I am using Sparkle and Lilly as an example for what can happen if your dog eats too much chocolate. This scenario is not at all far fetched and in fact I am surprised it has never happened.
Sparkle and Lilly came in to Friendship after breaking into the Halloween candy stash one afternoon. Milk chocolate, which consists mostly of cream and sugar, is generally not a huge concern unless massive amounts are consumed but dark chocolate is another story. Among other treats there was a bag of dark chocolate M&M’s missing and we were not sure how much each dog consumed.
An injectable medication was used to induce vomiting in both dogs so we could empty their system of as much chocolate as possible. Sparkle was the prime suspect as her heart rate was in the 200 beats per minute range which is too fast and she was very agitated. Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which are both classified as methylxanthines. Unfortunately, dogs are sensitive to the effects of methylxanthines which can cause hyperactivity, increased heart rate, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, seizures and potentially death when ingested at a toxic dose.
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| Lilly |
Lilly vomited a moderate amount of chocolate but was not showing any clinical signs of chocolate toxicity. She was given activated charcoal by mouth, fluids under the skin and an injection of Pepcid to help settle her stomach. The fluids would help flush out his bladder which is important since the methylxanthines are excreted through the urine and can actually be reabsorbed if allowed to collect in the bladder. Lilly was sent home with instructions to take her out frequently to urinate and monitor for any vomiting or diarrhea.
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| Sparkle |
Sparkle vomited slightly more chocolate than Lilly but she was showing clinical signs of chocolate toxicity which required more aggressive treatment. We started her on IV fluids and gave her a medication to help slow down her heart rate. Overnight we checked her heart rate every hour in case it crept back up again and she needed an additional dose. Sparkle was also given oral activated charcoal to bind any of the chocolate that wasn’t expelled when she vomited. Other than being anxious and whining all night Sparkle did great and was sent home the next morning.
Happy Halloween from Friendship! We hope you won’t have a chocolate toxicity story of your own this holiday season but if you do we will be here to help your dog vomit.
As a side note Lilly will be dressed as a bumblebee and Sparkle as a pig on Sunday. Frank keeps trying to chew up his lobster costume so we will have to see how that goes. Poppy is refusing to keep on the costume I got for her, so instead she will be going as a very bad dog.
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