Chocolate Poisoning in Dogs

The Dangers of Giving Your Dog Chocolate

Many pet owners are perplexed when it comes to their dogs and chocolate poisoning. They have heard the warnings but they either choose to disregard them because their dog likes it as a treat or because they are not sure if they are true. Unfortunately several dogs each year die because their owners all not informed on the dangers of dogs and chocolate poisoning. 

Valentine’s Day and Easter are two times of the year that your dog could be exposed to enough chocolate to be lethal to him. If you have unanswered questions about dogs and chocolate poisoning, then please read on. 

It is not the chocolate itself that is the culprit here but one of the naturally occurring compounds found in it. Theobromine is an alkaloid, used in humans for the treatment of high blood pressure and sometimes as a diuretic. But its effect on animals, including dogs, is potentially quite lethal. Humans can quickly metabolize, or change into energy, theobromine in an efficient manner. Your dog, however, cannot. The half-life of theobromine, or the time it takes for half of what has been eaten to be turned into energy in the body, is seventeen and a half hours. While your dog is having a hard time excreting the substance, its cardiovascular and central nervous system are under duress. This has the potential to kill your pet. Cardiac irregularity and gastrointestinal tract bleeding can also be a direct result of chocolate poisoning in dogs. Dogs with epilepsy are particularly vulnerable to theobromine, as it can precipitate seizures. 

In a variation of the old theme- it is not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog- it is the size of the amount of chocolate that your dog ingests that matters here. A pound of milk chocolate can kill a sixteen pound canine. Different kinds of chocolates are higher in theobromine levels. White, milk and hot chocolate are considerably lower than semi-sweet, dark and bitter or baking chocolate. While the “lesser” chocolates are not as high in theobromine, they are in fat, which could lead to vomiting and diarrhea.