For most owners, their dog is not just a simple pet, but rather a loyal friend and an important member of the family. Accordingly, the four-legged friends are often pampered and cared for.
First of all, there is nothing reprehensible about this. However, well-meant treats such as chocolate can seriously damage your dog's health.
In the following, we will explain why this is so, what consequences it can have when your dog has eaten chocolate and how you should act correctly in this situation.
If your dog has eaten chocolate, this can lead to life-threatening chocolate poisoning. This is due to the theobromine contained in the chocolate. Theobromine is an alkaloid that has a mood-lifting and stimulating effect, among other things.
At the same time, however, the intake of theobromine also has potentially toxic effects. In the human body, certain enzymes ensure that the theobromine is broken down comparatively quickly and no harmful effects occur.
However, dogs do not have these enzymes, so the breakdown process is much slower and it is very dangerous for your dog to eat chocolate.
From which consumption quantity your dog is actually in danger of death depends essentially on two factors. Firstly, the size of your four-legged friend plays a role and secondly, the type of chocolate your dog has eaten.
This is because there are very big differences in the theobromine content between the various cocoa products. In dried cocoa powder (28.5 mg/g) and dark chocolate (16mg/g), for example, the theobromine content is particularly high. Dark chocolate, on the other hand, contains only around 5.7 mg/g and milk chocolate just 2.3 mg/g.
The dose of theobromine in relation to the weight of the animal is ultimately decisive for the health effects. A lethal dose for dogs is 300 mg per kilo of body weight.
A Great Dane or a Mastiff will therefore probably not directly suffer life-threatening theobromine poisoning by eating a small amount of chocolate, while a Yorkshire Terrier can die from half a bar of dark chocolate.
If a dog has eaten chocolate, it takes about two to four hours before the first symptoms of possible poisoning appear. After 12 to 36 hours, the theobromine in the four-legged friend's body develops its full effect and the symptoms are fully developed.
Severe chocolate poisoning can lead to fatal heart failure in dogs. Older four-legged friends and animals that already suffer from problems with the cardiovascular system are particularly at risk.
If your dog has eaten chocolate, under no circumstances should you wait until the first symptoms of poisoning appear, but contact a vet or a nearby veterinary clinic immediately.
If the chocolate has not been eaten for too long, you have the option of preventing worse by giving him charcoal tablets. These bind some of the toxins before they can take effect in the body.
However, do not induce your dog to vomit. Because of its progressive weakening, there is a risk that the vomit will enter his lungs and choke him.
If it has been a while since your dog ate chocolate, there are no longer any sensible first aid measures you can take. In this case, concentrate on taking your pet to the vet as soon as possible.
To help the vet care for your four-legged friend, it is a good idea to bring the packaging of the chocolate that the dog has eaten. This will help the veterinarian to estimate how much theobromine is in the animal's body.
If your dog has eaten not only the chocolate, but also parts of the packaging, it is essential that you inform the vet. This is because the swallowed foreign bodies can lead to additional complications, such as dangerous intestinal obstruction in your dog.
Chocolate is highly toxic to dogs. As the owner, it is therefore your responsibility to protect your four-legged friend from it.
Educate all members of your family about this and make sure that chocolate and other products containing cocoa are always stored out of reach of your dog.
Never let your dog taste chocolate. Even though very small amounts are unlikely to poison him directly, they may make him taste it and increase the risk of him helping himself to it in the future in an unobserved moment.
This also applies to dog chocolate. This contains very little theobromine. However, your dog cannot distinguish it from normal chocolate. Instead, he will learn that this brown delicacy is delicious and that its consumption is basically allowed.