You thought of giving the girlfriend a puppy for your 1st month’s anniversary. Together with the $120/pound Godiva chocolate, the cuddly puppy was placed in a ribboned basket ready to be delivered. Apparently, the notion that dogs and chocolates is a bad combination is true. The dog has eaten every bit of the chocolates! Would you ignore the pet and rush to get another chocolate or would you take the dog to the vet?
People love chocolate thus this comfort food is always seen in most households. Thus, a lot of dogs are killed due to chocolate poisoning. Many pet owners are not aware that chocolates can poison the dog thus every time the family eats chocolate bars or Black Forest Cake, a bite will be tossed to the pet. Dogs are not only well loved pets, they are also considered as members of the family thus the dog will have a taste of the human family’s food. Many innocuous looking human foods though can have dangerous effects on the dog.
Humans can consume as much chocolate as they can. The worst thing that can happen will be the increase in the waistline. Chocolate is dangerous to dogs because the theobromine it contains cannot be digested by dogs. As dogs cannot digest this stimulant, ingestion of sufficient quantities will affect the central nervous system as well as cardio vascular system of the dog. A dog that has eaten sufficient amount of chocolates would have seizures and as the heart would have irregular beats, less blood will be pumped and the dog can die if no immediate treatment is given.
Chocolate toxicity is dose dependent. Because eating small amount of chocolates would not show any dangerous effect on the pet, pet owners will continue feeding the dog little bits of the chocolate bar, a slice of the chocolate cake. A bite of these delicacies would have no apparent dangerous effects so the owner would continue to give chocolates to the pet. The owner will realize that chocolates is poisonous if the pet has started to vomit and have diarrhea.
Restlessness and hyperactivity will be noticed. Before rushing the dog to a veterinary facility it would be best to give the dog first aid treatments. Activated charcoal can be given to the poisoned dog. Activated charcoal will bind with the poison and stop it from being absorbed by the bloodstream. A hydrogen peroxide and water solution can be administered as well to induce vomiting.
