What to Do If a Dog Eats Chocolate

There are plenty of opinions out there about dogs eating chocolate and its effects, though most of them, unfortunately, only confuse us further, since chocolate is bad for a dog but only in large amounts.

It is entirely false that a dog cannot eat chocolate, though it is true that in large amounts it can even prove fatal. But… what counts as a large or harmful amount? What should I do if my dog eats chocolate?

We are going to run through everything you need to know about chocolate and its effects on dogs, how much they can safely eat and what to do if they eat too much chocolate. What treatments exist and how to act at every stage.

Why Is Chocolate Toxic to Dogs?

Chocolate is made from cocoa, and cocoa contains a molecule called theobromine that is harmful to dogs. Theobromine is found only in cocoa, so a bar of milk chocolate contains far less theobromine than a bar of pure dark chocolate.

Theobromine is a central nervous system stimulant, practically harmless to humans but genuinely toxic to dogs in moderate amounts. What is more, chocolate bars generally also contain large amounts of sugar, which is harmful to dogs (and to humans). Here you can see the list of toxic foods for dogs.

Depending on the source consulted, the lethal dose (LD50) is between 100 and 200 mg/kg. Some sources place it higher, which suggests there is considerable individual variation. The reason it is toxic in dogs and not in humans may come down to how methylxanthines are metabolised (the group of compounds that includes theobromine along with theine and caffeine), since in humans the half-life is 6 hours while in dogs it is almost three times that: 17 and a half hours.

If the dog has eaten other methylxanthines (caffeine or theine) besides the theobromine in the chocolate, the toxic dose drops, since these compounds are metabolised through the same enzymatic pathway. Many chocolates can contain caffeine, so their toxicity would be higher.

A small amount of theobromine will do our dog no harm, but a large amount can even kill them. Taking pure dark chocolate as an example, between 2 and 5 grams of chocolate per kilo of the dog's weight is enough to start causing poisoning.

To get a more precise idea of the harm theobromine can do depending on its source, look at the following table:

Product type Methylxanthine concentration Dry cocoa powder 28 mg/g Unsweetened chocolate 16 mg/g Semi-sweet and dark sweet chocolate 5.4 / 5.7 mg/g Milk chocolate 2.3 mg/g Refined chocolate sweets 1.4 / 2.1 mg/g White chocolate minimal amounts

So… Can My Dog Eat Chocolate or Not?

It is absolutely contraindicated, for a reason already mentioned: individual variation in the lethal dose, beyond which the doses needed for harmful effects are far lower. Reaching an amount of 20 mg/kg of body weight is enough to bring on the first symptoms.

If a dog eats a little chocolate, it is likely that nothing will happen, but we should keep a close eye out for any symptoms that may appear. Chocolate is not toxic or fatal in small amounts.

As an example, for a dog weighing around thirty kilos, just 37 grams of unsweetened chocolate would be enough to reach the toxic dose mentioned above (20 mg/kg). Fortunately the lethal dose is considerably further off, and would need around 375 grams of the same chocolate to put their life at risk.

Nobody in their right mind would give their dog such a huge amount of chocolate (more than a whole bar). If the chocolate is milk chocolate, it would take more than 250 grams to cause poisoning and more than 2 kilos to put their life at risk (always basing this on a thirty-kilo dog, as an example), though we would also have to factor in the effects of the other ingredients, such as the huge amount of sugar and the lactose in the milk.

The harmful amount for a dog depends on their weight: knowing that from two grams per kilo it can become toxic, if our dog weighs ten kilos their maximum dose would be twenty grams. In other words, if our dog carelessly eats one chocolate through no fault of their own, nothing will happen — they will not die or anything of the sort — but we should still keep an eye on them, since the toxic dose is considerably low.

In the table below you can see the different theobromine doses and their effects:

Dose Effects 20 mg/kg Agitation, hyperactivity and gastrointestinal signs (vomiting and diarrhoea) >40 mg/kg Cardiac signs > 60 mg/kg Neurological signs > 100 - 200 mg/kg Fatal

Working out the toxic amount of each product is very simple: multiply each figure by the dog's weight and divide by the amount of theobromine per gram in that product (given in the table at the start).

To avoid having to worry constantly about amounts, the best approach is to avoid giving our dogs chocolate at all, and so avoid any risk. Even so, if they eat a small piece now and then, there is no need to panic, since absolutely nothing will happen.

Symptoms of Chocolate Poisoning in Dogs

If you think your dog may have eaten chocolate, you suspect it, or you simply are not sure because you could not keep track of how much they ate… the best approach is not to wait for symptoms to appear and take them to the vet as an emergency. Another option is to watch them closely over the following hours in case any of these symptoms appear.

The symptoms shown will vary depending on how much theobromine the dog has absorbed: the more they have absorbed, the more severe they will be (see the table above). These range considerably in severity, from hyperactivity with diarrhoea and vomiting to nervous system signs such as seizures.

Waiting for the most severe symptoms to appear before going to the vet is a mistake that works against our dog's survival and quality of life. We will have put them through a long period of agony and pain for the chance of saving some money on the consultation, since in advanced stages of poisoning, treatment becomes more complex and also more expensive.

Treatment for Dogs Who Have Eaten Too Much Chocolate

There are no magic solutions or home remedies for curing a dog who has eaten a lot of chocolate, so we must take them to an emergency vet without excuses, or our dog could die.

Depending on how much time has passed since ingestion, the vet will take one approach or another:

• If little time has passed (less than 2 hours) the vet will try to perform a stomach wash or induce vomiting.
• If several hours have passed, gastric lavage will no longer be of any use, since the chocolate will already be being absorbed by the intestines. In this case treatment will vary depending on the symptoms the dog is showing.

We need to give the vet all the information we can so they can help save our dog's life:

• How much chocolate they ate
• What type of chocolate it is (dark, milk and so on…)
• Whether they ate anything else besides the chocolate.
• The dog's weight
• The dog's age
• Veterinary history (allergies and so on…)

The vet will apply the appropriate treatment depending on how serious the dog's condition is, to try to save them. In these cases, acting quickly is essential, which is why we should go to the vet as soon as possible to treat the dog.

Your dog can die from eating too much chocolate — this is no exaggeration. Sadly, many dogs have not survived the hours following a large intake of theobromine-rich chocolate.

Why Is This Poisoning Talked About So Much?

The consequences of this poisoning are relatively well known in popular belief, for a number of reasons:

1. Chocolate strikes most of us as a very tasty food, which is why we want our dogs to share in it too.
2. Dogs find sweet flavours very appealing, which is why they like chocolate, but as we have already seen, the fact that they like it does not necessarily mean it is good for them. To give an example, car antifreeze also has a sweet taste and causes terrible poisoning.
3. This is one of the most common poisonings in dogs. According to a study in Kansas, 14.5% of poisonings in dogs were down to eating this product.
4. It is toxic not only to dogs, but to cats, ferrets and companion birds too. So for the sake of our animals' health, it is worth making it known that chocolate is bad for dogs.