Humans love to eat chocolates. But it is not a good treat for your dog. Chocolate-related toxins may create severe health issues in dogs and lead to accidental ingestion. Chocolate is indeed bad for dogs, but the level of toxicity depends on the type of chocolate.
Different types of chocolates have different levels of toxicity, on how large the dog is and how much quantity it eats. Here in this content, you will learn what happens if a dog eats chocolate and what you must do to protect your dog’s health.
Why is Chocolate Harmful to Dogs?
Chocolates are considered toxic to dogs as they contain caffeine and theobromine. The metabolism of humans can easily digest theobromine, but dogs can’t. The digestive system of dogs processes caffeine and theobromine slowly, creating problems in their digestive system.
However, it should be mentioned that not all chocolates have the same effect. Giving less caffeine and theobromine contain chocolates will do less harm to them as they can easily digest them. Cocoa-based chocolates are more toxic than white chocolate, dark chocolate, or milk chocolate.
What Happens If A Dog Eats Excessive Chocolates?
The severity of the issue depends on the size of a dog and how much chocolate it consumes. If your dog is a medium-sized dog or a large dog who has consumed a small amount of chocolate, then you will notice signs of an upset stomach. It could be nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, etc.
To ensure your dog’s toral protection, you must install an electric dog fence around your house so that it does not cross the boundary line or intruders get into your house to harm your furry friend.
On the other hand, if you have a small size dog and it consumes a huge amount of chocolate, then it may develop the following signs of toxicity such as:
- Tremors
- Seizures
- Heart arrhythmia
- Internal bleeding
- Irregular heart rate
What Should You Do If Your Dog Eats Chocolate?
If you find that your dog has eaten chocolate or seen them eating, then you should not wait for long to notice the signs of toxicity in them; rather, you should immediately take him to your nearest veterinarian’s hospital. The sooner your dog gets treatment, the higher chances of getting recovered from illness. If you find that your vet is not available, you ask for emergency help from any veterinary clinic.
It is better to show the veterinarian the packaging of the chocolate so they can identify the type of chocolate the dog has eaten and what kind of medical treatment they should provide him. The type of treatment varies depending on the chocolate the dog has eaten.
What is the Basic Treatment For Treating Chocolate Toxicity?
There exist various types of treatments for treating chocolate toxicity in dogs. Firstly, veterinarians remove chocolate from the digestive of dogs. If your dog has eaten chocolate in the last hour, the vet will try to bring out the chocolate from the stomach through vomiting. But you should try to induce your dog to vomit at home without your vet’s supervision.
After the chocolate is washed out from the stomach, they start giving medicines. If your dog does not show any toxicity, it does not need much medication, and you can avoid staying in the hospital. But if the dog shows signs of toxicity, such as high heart rate, diarrhoea, etc., you may need to keep your dog in the hospital for some time.
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