What to Do for Chocolate Poisoning

Hi all, DogMom here.

I hope that none of you dogs or your moms, dads, owners or masters have to live through what Gomer, Opie and I went through over the weekend.

If you are a dog, STAY AWAY FROM CHOCOLATE!

If you are a dogmom or dogdad, put the chocolate way out of reach from your pets. Don't assume anything... locked in a suitcase on top of the counter is not a good enough barrier for a motivated dog (like Opie)! Their smellers are 100-1000 times better then ours...

Anyways, here's some advice pulled from several sources on the Internet and from the veterinarian that treated my boyz at the Affiliated Emergency Veterinary Services. (Thank you, Dr. Yantes!)

What you should know:

• Dark chocolate is worse than milk chocolate, because of the higher levels of theobromine.
• The truly worrisome guideline level of chocolate ingestion for dogs is 1 oz. for every 5 pounds of body weight. This is only a guideline... some dogs have a severe reaction at lower levels; some seem to be able to process more with less reaction.
• While vomiting and diarrhea are troublesome, the real danger is cardiac arrhythmia and nervous system disorders, including seizures. (Opie's heart rate increased from 84 to 160 in the course of an hour...)

What you need to do:

• STAY CALM. Not the easiest thing in the world, but if you can stay calm, your pet will stay calmer.
• Check their pulse. Normal pulse range for dogs is 60-120 beats per minute. If you need help on how to take a dog's pulse, see this site: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1670&articleid=1077. If the pulse reaches 150 beats/minute for a dog Gomer & Opie's size (50 pounds), call the vet and get them to the hospital.
• Induce vomiting. Get as much of the chocolate out of their system as quickly as you can to reduce the effects. You can use syrup of ipecac (available at pharmacies), which you should have on hand in your medicine chest anyways. If you don't have that, give 1-2 tsp. of hydrogen peroxide every 15 minutes until they vomit. (From experience, I recommend waiting till they vomit after you've given the hydrogen peroxide before you put them in your car...)
• After vomiting, administer activated charcoal, if you have it on hand... (It is recommended to be part of your poison control kit by several web sites. You may have to hunt for it; I asked my local independent pharmacy to special-order it for me.) Give 1-2 tsp mixed with water to the texture of slurry. If you don't have it on hand... get them to the vet! The charcoal absorbs the toxin and prevents it from getting into their bloodstream and nervous systems.
• Take them to the vet.

Stuff to have on hand:

• First Aid Kit: Deluxe
• Toxiban: Activated Charcoal
• Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook: First Aid/Medical Reference Book -- Poisoning Included. By: Dr. James Griffin

Here's another good web site for info... http://www.dogownersdigest.com/news/library/chocolate-poisoning-dog-care.shtml

Good luck and keep your puppies safe!

Until I bark next... DogMom