Well said. What I have been saying lately but did anybody believe me? Chocolate is a big no no.

 

You were believed, you weren't actually taking in what was said, that there is a known toxicity to chocolate for dogs and the amount suggested was no where near being remotely dangerous. People werent suggesting dogs be fed chocolate willy nilly but a small amount of mars bar for hypoglycemia

 

From a quick google, it says that a 50g, fairly large bar of milk chocolate could kill a small dog.

 

From a quick google you can find people who believe the earth is flat..................

 

Most chocolate bar the dark high content stuff, especially cheap chocolate, doesn't actually contain a lot of chocolate solids meaning the dog would have to eat large amounts in relation to their size. The reality is you don't hear many dogs dying from eating chocolate.

I remember Dexter eating a load of Easter eggs and other chocolate. It did worry and the vet just said keep an eye on him. He didn't even get diarrhoea and I had no flipping Easter eggs

 

You do have to be so careful this time of year...and its not even just people feeding their dog the wrong things, its also accidental ingestion (kids being less then careful, presents under the tree, etc).
And if you are somewhere very cold and icy/snowy you have the added worry of salt on the pavements too!:Wideyed:Nailbiting


My lot will be getting a little bit of christmas dinner on the day and then thats all!

 

Thank you for the reminder @Happy Paws

May we all have a happy, problem free Christmas.

 

There is a guide somewhere and i think in relation it is 8 squares of cadburys for a JRT. Though we work on the none is best principle, Pip prefers shredding the wrappers anyway. Don't forget it is toxic to humans too, 22 pounds will kill the average human.

 

Using this calaculator http://petsci.co.uk/chocolate-toxicity-calculator-dogs/ 50g would NOT be a cause for concern let alone kill a JRT

The average weight for a JRT ranges from 6.4-8.2kg according to google
Eight squares is about 50g of milk chocolate=117 so 19 per kg

The calculator states

Recommended Action:
Monitor your pet over the next 24 hours
The amount of theobromine your pet has been exposed to is relatively low. It is unlikely they will show any outward signs of theobromine poisoning. However, it is recommended that you closely monitor your pet incase symptoms develop, especially if the amount of theobromine per kg (shown above) is close to 20mg/kg. Symptoms of theobromine poisoning can take up to 6-12 hours to develop.

This is not to say I recommend giving chocolate to dogs, but there seems to be a lot of misinformation and confusion about the subject

 

Thanks, i'll bookmark that, not that i plan to give him any, but in case of emergency

 

Its handy to have, when we first got Dexter he stole a lot of stuff, chocolate included.

 

I was visiting vets yesterday & they've been really busy, lots of foreign body cases.
Can always ring vets for advice if unsure better than relying on google. My dog ate something containing raisins once & as we could get to vets within hour they just made her vomit, so wasn't costly.

 

Mind you thats was for milk and white, all the others where call the vet.

 

My mother's Cairn Terrier consumed a 2lb box of Thorntons one Xmas Eve. He was perfectly fine; I nearly killed him, but the chocolates did not.

 

I would be interested to know just how many dogs that do consume a lot of chocolate actually get ill. It seems that the more experienced dog owners on here have frequently had dogs steal a lot of chocolate with no ill effects. I have smaller dogs now and they have never had chocolate so I would be wary.

Why does the vet have to make the dog sick, why does the owner not just make the dog sick instead of wasting valuable time (and money) going to the vet if that is all that is needed. When I was working at a vet we always gave owners instructions over the phone to make a dog vomit if it had eaten something dangerous. I have to say chocolate was never mentioned though.

 

I would be interested to know just how many dogs that do consume a lot of chocolate actually get ill. It seems that the more experienced dog owners on here have frequently had dogs steal a lot of chocolate with no ill effects. I have smaller dogs now and they have never had chocolate so I would be wary.

Why does the vet have to make the dog sick, why does the owner not just make the dog sick instead of wasting valuable time (and money) going to the vet if that is all that is needed. When I was working at a vet we always gave owners instructions over the phone to make a dog vomit if it had eaten something dangerous. I have to say chocolate was never mentioned though.

I suppose part of it would depend on the owners. I wouldn't even attempt to make Phoebe sick myself unless it was an absolute emergency, but I'm sure there's lots of people experienced and confident enough to do it themselves at home.

 

Growing up, one of my dogs around this time of the year would be loving life. He would open up the various chocolate tins to get to the small chocolates inside. He would take one and run off and eat it. It wasn't behaviour we encouraged but naturally over the years he managed to get a few. He was never ill from it. We never took him to the vets for it.

He died of old age at the grand age of 16.

I am not encouraging people to go feed there dogs chocolates or any human food in fact but it's all about common sense and using your brain.

My current dogs love sharing a cookie with me every now and then, and I haven't been to the vets to get there stomach pumped or whatever... but then that is my mentality in general when it comes to animals and vets.

Depending on the symptoms will determine how I react. Prolonged or severe symptoms will often warrant a closer eye and probably trip to vet.

 

Not long after Sara came to stay, she managed to scoff half a box of Baileys choccy. My birthday choccies!

Tim phoned the vet, who did some quick calculations and said she should be fine...that she'd probably eaten far worse during her life on the streets. They told us what to expect and to monitor her. I was at work so Tim got that job! She was a bit hyper, had a grumbly tummy and the worse farts EVER! But she was fine the next morning, no ill effects.

A couple of years ago she managed to pick a time when we were saying goodbye to a relative, and in that short time (like, seconds) she managed to make a dent in the gingerbread. She nearly got the mince pies but was too clever for her own good and flipped the tin and it landed upside down and foiled her thieving attempt, thank god! She is a ridiculous thief, and Christmas is her most successful time...we try very hard to Sara proof everything but with so much food around and people not used to her thievery she nearly always gets something. She's already got a biscuit and a slice of banana loaf this year!

 

This has been said a billion times on this thread and the last but the toxicity of chocolate ingestion depends on the size of the dog and the type of chocolate.

I have not induced vomiting in every dog I've seen this week that has eaten chocolate. For some the dose ingested has made it unnecessary.

 

This has been said a billion times on this thread and the last but the toxicity of chocolate ingestion depends on the size of the dog and the type of chocolate.

I have not induced vomiting in every dog I've seen this week that has eaten chocolate. For some the dose ingested has made it unnecessary.

and surely the type/grade?
for example
chocolate coins and advent calendars have very low grade chocolate, actually taste more like doggy chocs in days of yore
thunder, both last year and this [yes really i thought id found a foolproof place] showed us how much of a fool she isnt, by peeling the foil off of every coin in the bag she managed to consume, no vet visit needed, not only is it low grade, but shes 40kg so a small bag of coins isnt going to do much
had it been my 80% proof Ecuadorian chocolate, well even one of the little packets [20g] wouldve sent me to the phone at the very least

not that im saying ANYONE should be complacent when it comes to things like chocolate, grapes, mince pies et al
Please dont forget alcohol as well,
lots of us will have house fulls and many people have a tendency to put their beer, wine, spirits on low tables, or the floor near to where they're sitting, it only takes a split second for a dog to have a slurp or two

 

If you want a real life example of what happens of the dog ingest to much chocolate go to the hho forum and look up viszlak i think the user name is..il have to check the spelling.
Her two beautiful vizlas(so not small dogs) stole a lot of cooking chocolate and one ended up hospitalised for several days and was touch and go...its a toxicity.if the dose is high enough it can causes seizures and death.
Most dogs wont get a toxic dose thankfully but why take the risk when you can just make them throw it up.

Vets tend to use apomorphine for vomiting.it tends to be safe as it is is either injected or given in the eye...means you dont risk fluids going down the wrong way as you try and force feed a dog to make it vomit....or run the tisk of alkaline burns on the oesophagus like with dilute bleach. salt overdoses dont always work and can make the dog ill if large amount are ingested and not thrown up....so its not exactly risk free to tell the owner to give home remedies and its not actually that easy to make a dog vomit unless they are nauseous already...

Yes many people can be trusted to make their animal vomit at home...but not everyone can.
Given ive heard of someone being told to wash out a dogs mouth with water after they licked a toad by the vet...and said owner stuck a hose down the poor creatures mouth causing water to pump into the lungs ...drowning the animal...I can see why people are wary of giving advise over the phone now...not everyone is good in a crisis.

 

Apomorphine is fab - easy to give, reliable, doesn't last too long. Bloomin' expensive drug though!

 

Sara looked miserable after her dose! She'd stuck her face in a flowerbed laced with slug pellets and that was one situation where we'd rather be sure than wait and see. It worked a treat and she puked very quickly...much to her disgust, she does not do signs of weakness at the vet, and thankfully there were no slug pellets in there. She didn't talk to us for the rest of the day!

 

I have huge dogs. I don’t worry about them eating chocolate.
What I am obsessively careful about, especially this time of year are the numerous baked goods that have raisins in them. Treats that may have been made with some of the peanut butters that have xylitol in them.
Neither of my dogs are food stealers, but even though they’re good about not raiding the counter, anything like the above that may cause issues, I don’t take chances with, it gets put in the fridge or in a cabinet, not left out.

 

A little known fact but Chocolate is also toxic to people but fortunately in much greater quantities that it is possible for the average person to consume.
Duch will be having just a little bit of boiled chicken with her prescription diet tomorrow and nothing else. A proper xmas lunch with Turkey breast and veg which a healthy dog could have is just not possible. She does have some lovely chicken jerky chews to eat over the holiday and a very fluffy tiger toy to play with though which I am sure she will love. At last a cat of her own!

 

Well, I must admit, I had Milly at the vets for Chocolate poisoning after she managed to grab hold of a 3/4 box of mixed mini Toblerones, most of which were dark chocolates and still in the wrappers. I rang for advice first though, I didn't just panic and rush her up. Turns out I did the right thing because they calculated that she had consumed a toxic amount for her weight, though.

If
I'm honest, I was always more of a threat to her than the chocolates.

 

Blue cheese was on a list from KC or Petplan or somewhere I saw this year. I had never heard of blue cheese being toxic. In fact I have once or twice put a little left over in kongs before

 

I hope it's not, I put blue cheese on Dillons tablets it's the only way he'll take them, he dosen't seem to know there is a tablet wrapped in side it.

 

Blue had a shot of Apomorphine last year after swallowing a welly sock! £80 thank you!

Skyla has eaten an entire large bar of dairy milk before and not even as much as an upset stomach!

 

Roquefort and other blue cheeses contain a substance called roquefortine C, which is a substance produced by the fungus used to produce these cheeses. Dogs appear sensitive to this substance and in more extreme cases can cause dogs to quickly develop muscle tremors and seizures, which may last for up to two days.

 

Well that's the last blue cheese I give Dillon he'll have to put up with a little bit of Cheddar, which his had for years and I know that doesn't affect him.