Is it time for the annual chocolate reminder?

[mooboy76]

Friendly reminder to watch those chocolate bars around your pups.

Our dog, a known chocolate hound, decided the best Mother's day gift was to eat a full chocolate bar (50% cacao, yeah!).

Everyone made out okay in the end, luckily.

The chocolate bars were hidden under the kid's cards to mom, so we didn't even realise that they were still on the table. Apparently, the dark chocolate is tastier than the salted caramel, because that is what was consumed - all 3.5 oz of it. It was fortunate that my wife found the packaging, otherwise we may not have know until the dog showed symptoms or started vomiting.

He did vomit some at our house, and some in the car on the way to the vet's.

If you haven't had the pleasure -and I hope you don't - this is the chocolate ingestion regime:

0. a)Call Pet Poison Control with credit card in hand; give your spiel, pay your $65, get your file reference number. Your vet may require this step, and reference number, before they will see your dog. b) If you figure they've ingested a toxic amount, then it's vet time! Remember, the darker the chocolate, the higher the mg/kg of theobromine, and the greater the toxicity.

Once they've been weighed, and while the computer is consulted:
1. Induce vomiting with a crushed, mostly dissolved pill of apomorphine by dropping the suspension into the eye conjunctiva; repeat until they spill the (cocoa) beans. BONUS: other dogs in the house? not sure who the culprit is? Everyone gets pill suspension in the eye until they are caught brown tongued.

2. Put it in reverse with an anti-nausea shot, and get some activated charcoal in there.

3. Start the 24 hour course of I.V. fluids

4. Monitor for heart arrhythmia, hyperthermia, electrolyte imbalance, convulsions, or seizures - treat if necessary

5. Get more charcoal in there at hour 6-8

6. Finish up 24 hours of fluids, and check heart/electrolytes.

7. Present hefty bill and , hopefully, a healthy-if-ornery pup.
8. Wag finger at dog who didn't learn a thing

[MikePal]

7. Present hefty bill and , hopefully, a healthy-if-ornery pup.

Since most people will learn from mistakes knowing, in general terms, what an event like this costs, might be nice to post that to.

Then keep that figure handy; to remind the offending member of the family who dare bring chocolate into the house again.

[Sharon]

Friendly reminder to watch those chocolate bars around your pups.

Our dog, a known chocolate hound, decided the best Mother's day gift was to eat a full chocolate bar (50% cacao, yeah!).

Everyone made out okay in the end, luckily.

The chocolate bars were hidden under the kid's cards to mom, so we didn't even realise that they were still on the table. Apparently, the dark chocolate is tastier than the salted caramel, because that is what was consumed - all 3.5 oz of it. It was fortunate that my wife found the packaging, otherwise we may not have know until the dog showed symptoms or started vomiting.

He did vomit some at our house, and some in the car on the way to the vet's.

If you haven't had the pleasure -and I hope you don't - this is the chocolate ingestion regime:

0. a)Call Pet Poison Control with credit card in hand; give your spiel, pay your $65, get your file reference number. Your vet may require this step, and reference number, before they will see your dog. b) If you figure they've ingested a toxic amount, then it's vet time! Remember, the darker the chocolate, the higher the mg/kg of theobromine, and the greater the toxicity.

Once they've been weighed, and while the computer is consulted:
1. Induce vomiting with a crushed, mostly dissolved pill of apomorphine by dropping the suspension into the eye conjunctiva; repeat until they spill the (cocoa) beans. BONUS: other dogs in the house? not sure who the culprit is? Everyone gets pill suspension in the eye until they are caught brown tongued.

2. Put it in reverse with an anti-nausea shot, and get some activated charcoal in there.

3. Start the 24 hour course of I.V. fluids

4. Monitor for heart arrhythmia, hyperthermia, electrolyte imbalance, convulsions, or seizures - treat if necessary

5. Get more charcoal in there at hour 6-8

6. Finish up 24 hours of fluids, and check heart/electrolytes.

7. Present hefty bill and , hopefully, a healthy-if-ornery pup.
8. Wag finger at dog who didn't learn a thing

Thanks very much. I'm going to print/save your post. The setter is smart ; the JRT is "let's try this."

[blasted_saber]

Im not advocating doing nothing, but one of our dogs ANNIHILATED one of those mega sized dark chocolate bars with high cacao content with absolutely zero health effects. I guess we made it out lucky?

[mooboy76]

Since most people will learn from mistakes knowing, in general terms, what an event like this costs, might be nice to post that to.

Then keep that figure handy; to remind the offending member of the family who dare bring chocolate into the house again.

The bill will vary by clinic, and whether you take the dog in during regular hours or after-hours emergency.

Our bill was less than expected at $820. Two dogs received apomorphine and exam; only one dog went through the whole rigamarole.

[MikePal]

Our bill was less than expected at $820.

Thanks, well worth copying, enlarging and posting this pic on all entrance doors to my house ;

[mooboy76]

Im not advocating doing nothing, but one of our dogs ANNIHILATED one of those mega sized dark chocolate bars with high cacao content with absolutely zero health effects. I guess we made it out lucky?

It is weird like that.

I like to read up on current literature for a lot of stuff, and the toxicity is a bit inconsistent.

There is no standard amount of theobromine/kg for different chocolates either, just typical ranges. Chocolate descriptors also vary by country. So, 100g of one 'dark' chocolate does not have the same content as some other brand or country's 'dark' chocolate. Bigger dogs can typically ingest more chocolate since it is dose-dependent toxicity.

There are really only a couple of papers, plus a report by the ASPCA that the severity levels are based on. I'm hoping part of calling Poison Control is to track dosages and effects for better understanding of this toxicity.

It becomes an odds thing. There are usually some effects starting at 20mg theobromine/kg dog; at 50-100 mg/kg there may be transient effects like muscle spasms, convulsions, vomiting, hyperthermia, racing heart or arrhythmia, and may be fatal; at 100-300 mg/kg you can usually count on some of those other symptoms and it can be fatal for one in four or one in two, depending on the study; 500 mg/kg can result in permanent heart damage, coma, and usually fatal for at least one in two dogs.

Those are based on untreated cases, so prompt treatment greatly decreases the likelihood of damaging symptoms. Most dogs treated prior to the onset of symptoms do okay, the closer to ingestion the better (within 2-4 hours). Symptoms typically manifest 6-12 hours post consumption, but that varies too.

Here is some of the reviews for the subject, including other common toxicants. Apparently this stuff is toxic to cats too, but the one paper suggests that the reason we don't hear about that is that cats generally don't like chocolate. When you read the articles, you can see there is quite a range for toxic levels. Certain breed lines may be more susceptible as well.

Common questions in veterinary toxicology

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...sap.12343/epdf

Household Food Items Toxic to Dogs and Cats.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4801869/

Chocolate intoxication (ASPCA)
http://aspcapro.org/sites/pro/files/...ief_0201_0.pdf

[mooboy76]

There are numerous online calculators that have you input the dog's weight, the type of chocolate, and the amount consumed. Then it gives you a scale of slight/moderate/severe toxicity rating. They all pointed to severe for our little dude.

[mooboy76]

Thanks, well worth copying, enlarging and posting this pic on all entrance doors to my house ;

I'm pretty sure the dogs will be living outside before that happens in our house.

[Sharon]

It is weird like that.

I like to read up on current literature for a lot of stuff, and the toxicity is a bit inconsistent.

There is no standard amount of theobromine/kg for different chocolates either, just typical ranges. Chocolate descriptors also vary by country. So, 100g of one 'dark' chocolate does not have the same content as some other brand or country's 'dark' chocolate. Bigger dogs can typically ingest more chocolate since it is dose-dependent toxicity.

There are really only a couple of papers, plus a report by the ASPCA that the severity levels are based on. I'm hoping part of calling Poison Control is to track dosages and effects for better understanding of this toxicity.

It becomes an odds thing. There are usually some effects starting at 20mg theobromine/kg dog; at 50-100 mg/kg there may be transient effects like muscle spasms, convulsions, vomiting, hyperthermia, racing heart or arrhythmia, and may be fatal; at 100-300 mg/kg you can usually count on some of those other symptoms and it can be fatal for one in four or one in two, depending on the study; 500 mg/kg can result in permanent heart damage, coma, and usually fatal for at least one in two dogs.

Those are based on untreated cases, so prompt treatment greatly decreases the likelihood of damaging symptoms. Most dogs treated prior to the onset of symptoms do okay, the closer to ingestion the better (within 2-4 hours). Symptoms typically manifest 6-12 hours post consumption, but that varies too.

Here is some of the reviews for the subject, including other common toxicants. Apparently this stuff is toxic to cats too, but the one paper suggests that the reason we don't hear about that is that cats generally don't like chocolate. When you read the articles, you can see there is quite a range for toxic levels. Certain breed lines may be more susceptible as well.

Common questions in veterinary toxicology

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...sap.12343/epdf

Household Food Items Toxic to Dogs and Cats.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4801869/

Chocolate intoxication (ASPCA)
http://aspcapro.org/sites/pro/files/...ief_0201_0.pdf

Are you sure you're not a vet in hiding?