Our 3,5 month old lab puppy managed to steal a whole chocolate bar (180g milk chocolate) while we moved christmas packages around and ate it whole.
We force-fed a handful of salt to him immediately after noticing what had happened and he vomited almost all of it out. I called a vet and got instructions to give medicinal coal and monitor closely if any symptoms appear.
It’s been several hours now and he’s pretty much back to normal, a bit beaten up due to vomiting and upset stomach, but at least so far seems like nothing permanent happened. He’s got a vet scheduled anyways in few days for other stuff so he’ll get checked up at the same time.
I believe “medicinal coal” is activated charcoal. This stuff is always good to keep on hand for various reasons. If someone goes to the ER for an overdose, I believe this is often what they give as it absorbs everything. (It’s also really messy.)
Yup. I ended up in the ER drinking some activated charcoal slurry that time I overdosed on acetaminophen (I’m fine, except for really liking trains now). It’s gross.
Messy is an understatement. I use it in my aquarium and when it spills it’s a fuckin disaster.
Coal/carbon/graphite was used to make ink. It’s still a good pigment called carbon black. Also a big part off the “lead” in pencils. And still used for drawing as is. Might have been the first thing humans used for drawing for that matter.
Yeah, it’s really good at staining and marking things.
I got pills, which wrapped in a sausage were easy enough to give. They also got some kind of powder which was ment to be mixed in water and I can imagine that’s going to colour everything black. But it’s still just coal, so other than being potential mess it’s not that harmful to spill around.
And as the packaging was meant for humans, there was warnings that it’ll neutralize all other medicine, so yes, it absorbs pretty much everything.
August of '24 one of our cats knocked a chocolate pastry off the counter. My daughter’s dog ate it unbeknownst to anyone at the time. My wife and I went out for the day, or son realized she had eaten it. The dog was vomiting blood. I had to rush her to an emergency vet (2 hours drive). She spent 3 days there. She is doing well now and we keep all chocolate in the fridge or locked in the cupboard.
This is such a problem is, getting ingestions around the holidays. Managing pet safety slips and suddenly the dog is drunk or poisoned by foods they shouldn’t have.
Training for a positive relationship with a muzzle saves lives and I wish more people did it
Sounds the cure is worse than the disease!! Several of my dogs ate chocolate… and survived. I’m not sure they would have survived a „handful“ of salt ! Milkchocolate is mostly milk and sugar.
Several of my dogs ate chocolate… and survived
Because back in the day people ate real chocolate, and that will kill a dog
Modern popular chocolate (especially in America) is “chocolate”
The cocoa is what kills dogs. And that’s expensive. So now a large dog could be fine after eating a whole Hershey bar, but if it gets a small piece of fancy schmancy chocolate it could still die.
It leads to a very dangerous scenario where people start underestimating the danger or believe their dog is unique and can eat any chocolate.
Just play it safe and never let a dog have anything “chocolate flavored”, there’s a line somewhere where your dog can’t handle the cocoa content. Don’t find out, because there’s only one way to see what’s too much.
fancy schmancy chocolate
The kind (Fazer blue) our puppy got is not really fancy by our standards, but it’s still 30% cocoa and (according to vet) if left untreated death was at least a strong risk and it can cause permanent problems with the heart and other stuff. Vet recommended immediate visit unless the dog vomits and they could’ve induced vomiting with some medicine, but the sooner it gets out of stomach the better so the salt did what it was supposed to.
Obviously it’s not pleasant to the dog, but feeling ill for a while is still way better outcome of this.
it’s still 30% cocoa
Yeah, that’s 3x a standard Hershey’s…
Plus being a puppy too, you did the right thing calling.
Interesting, I’ll have to delve into this some more, but being cocoa is the real concern then yea, most “chocolate” (that is treats people buy) is fairly low in cocoa, being milk chocolate.
When it has a lot of cacao, it’ll be right on the label: 40%, 60%, etc.
It’s good general advice, but I’ve seen many dogs eat chocolate and be fine (worked with a vet for a while, and trained dogs). So there’s a lot more at play than just dog+chocolate.
Time to go read about cacao. Thanks!
I’ve seen many dogs eat chocolate and be fine
At least in here you can get ‘chocolate’ treats spesifically for dogs and they obviously don’t have any cocoa in them. Apparently they taste quite a bit like chocolate, but I haven’t tried myself and I think it’s a bit questionable to teach a dog that it’s fine to eat “chocolate”. Obviously our lab doesn’t really care as he eats everything (couch, drywall, mouldings, chair legs both wooden and steel, socks, shoes…) but as a principle in my human thinking it feels weird.
I believe “chocolate”-y treats for dogs are made with carob, not cacao. Carob is safe for dogs. If you want to make chocolatey treats that will be safe if dogs consume them, and are tasty in their own right, you can use carob instead.
Edit to add: here’s a random link explaining that it’s the theobromine and caffeine in cacao that is toxic to dogs. Bonus, carob is a healthy alternative and packs quite a few nutrients for both humans and dogs: https://www.petscare.com/news/post/ultimate-guide-carob-dog-treats
