Damn - how much chocolate vs, dog?

[lukasahero]

I just caught my 45 lb pup eating a malted milk ball (thick chocolate coating). I know chocolate is poisonous just don't know how much/how fast and what to watch for. Open to advice while I go Google. Not really up for a trip to the ER tonight.

Thanks,

[flvegan]

1. What kind of chocolate?

Meaning how much of the coating is actual chocolate?

45lbs should be fine on such a small amount.

[lukasahero]

3. Milk chocolate - high quality candy

These aren't the grocery store mmbs. It looks like that's the "best" kind if she's going to get into any. I should be used to this but to me, she's a really small dog (last one was 110+).

From what I've read, it's not going to kill her but do you know what I should watch for? Obviously we didn't know she was getting into it until it was half way down so I'm assuming she only ate one but...

[Cabcere]

2. I am not a vet, but when our 19-lb dog ate half of a dark chocolate candy bar,

our vet told us to give her hydrogen peroxide to make her throw up. :shrug: She didn't show any signs of being agitated or really affected by the chocolate at all, but since it was a pretty substantial quantity of dark chocolate (which is more poisonous than milk chocolate) especially for a small dog, we were really scared. It took a few tries, but my mom & dad finally got her to throw up and she was fine. I hope your pup will be OK. :hug:

[lukasahero]

4. Thanks

She's bigger than yours and it was milk chocolate (and ate a lot less than yours ate - yikes!) so I think she's going to be fine. She's just a lot smaller than my old dog and I didn't know what to watch for. Thanks for the input. Makes me feel better.

[Cabcere]

6. That's good to hear.

:) I had a feeling that she would probably be OK because of her size and the fact that she apparently didn't eat very much, but I just wanted to throw my experience out there in case it might help. (My dog ate the dark chocolate bar while we were at church on Christmas morning - we put it on the table where she couldn't get to it, but apparently the cats knocked it onto the floor. I suspect a conspiracy.) ;) Anyway, best wishes, and I'm glad it looks like your pup is going to be fine. :hi:

[lukasahero]

7. Well, yeah, I still have to deal with what the mmb was doing within her reach

to begin with...

It looks like I have to watch her for the next couple of hours and she'll probably have diarrhea tomorrow but everything I'm reading (and hearing) points to she's big enough that it's not going to be a big problem. She does have a pretty iron stomach - I don't want to tell you what I've seen her eat - so maybe tomorrow won't even be too bad.

Thanks again. I think I really just needed someone to say "it's ok". :)

[cynatnite]

5. oh, nevermind. Just read up on it.

I didn't know that could be given to dogs.

[Resuscitated Ethics]

8. Bigger doses needed for poisoning

I am not a vet but found this on the internets. I thought it was the caffeine in chocolate so this was informative for me. If your pup hasn't passed out you are probably ok but always best to phone the emergency vet/poison control (pets) or your animal critical care center, depending upon your resources.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/129497

"Estimates of the smallest amounts that can be fatal are:
4 ounces of milk chocolate or 1/2 ounce of baking chocolate for small dogs, such as Chihuahuas and toy poodles.
8 ounces of milk chocolate or 2 ounces of baking chocolate for medium-sized dogs, like cocker spaniels and dachshunds.
8 ounces of milk chocolate or 4 ounces of baking chocolate for large dogs, including collies and Labrador retrievers.
Cats have much different eating habits and seldom are poisoned by chocolate.
While a very small amount of chocolate may not harm some dogs, it's safest to avoid giving it to them at all. If an accident occurs, a veterinarian should be consulted. Treatment may require inducing vomiting, stabilizing the animal's heartbeat and respiration, controlling seizures and slowing the absorption of Theo bromine. If the animal already is comatose, its stomach may need to be pumped.

Theo bromine does not completely leave the dogs system, as do some foods, my research informs me that Theo Bromine has a half life of 17.5 hours. This means that half of it has gone in 17.5 hours; in 35 hours another half of the half that was remaining will have gone. We can go on and on forever and ever getting less and less, to be silly about it, it never gets to zero!"

[lukasahero]

9. Thanks - you know, I should know to call poison control

Doh! Thanks for the reminder.

The info you found matches what I had found. We're going to keep an eye on her.

[XemaSab]

10. I wouldn't worry about that

The time my dog ate TWO POUNDS of chocolate?

We went to the vet. x(