Chocolate poisoning is increasingly common in dogs over Easter, and vets are advising how to safeguard your pets from sweet treats this coming weekend.
Chocolate is notoriously toxic to dogs due to the chemical theobromine, found in cocoa powder which acts as an over stimulant to the cardiovascular, nervous, and respiratory systems.
Symptoms may take up to 24 hours to show and include vomiting, diarrhoea, and in more severe cases seizures and fatalities.
Veterinary surgeon Judith Monfort at The Vet in St Margarets said: “Death is quite rare, it is all weight related – if you have a big dog like a Great Dane that eats a tiny amount of chocolate it’s unlikely anything will happen, but if you have a tiny Chihuahua that eats the same amount, it could die.”
The National Library of Medicine reports that the lethal dose of theobromine is 100-500kg of body weight in dogs; plain chocolate contains 15-20mg, milk chocolate has 2mg, and white chocolate has 0.1mg, so for example less than 100 g of plain chocolate may be fatal for a 10kg dog.
Public holidays such as Easter are often a time for indulgence with food, and with the closure of many veterinary clinics during these periods, pets are more susceptible to gastrointestinal problems and producing higher vet bills.
According to dog welfare organisation The Kennel Club, in April last year chocolate poisoning was approximately 123% higher around Easter than any other time of year, excluding Christmas, as collated by Agria Pet Insurance, and animal emergency service Vets Now reported a 236% increase in cases in April 2022.
Monfort, who is expecting more dog casualties with food poisoning over the Easter weekend and the following week, advised preventative measures.
“Feeding a dog chocolate is usually accidental, so always put chocolate away in high places or out of reach as they love sugar.
“Any other kind of sweet is not necessarily healthy for them but not necessarily toxic.”
However, another popular Easter ingredient that is just as toxic for dogs as chocolate is a raisin, and raisins are typically found in hot cross buns.
Monfort said: “If a dog eats raisins, vomiting must be induced.
“The ingestion of white chocolate we just monitor, but if the dog has ingested dark chocolate or raisins, they need to come to us within an hour, up to three hours would be too late with the rate of digestion.
“Raisins are toxic for the kidneys and can result in kidney failure if dogs eat a lot of them.”
Monfort explained the levels of toxicity in these foods can be checked with a blood test.
Colleen Brennan, director and owner of dog groomers Bazil & Ruby Animal Empire and Pet Boutique in Twickenham said: “Some dogs are fine with sweets, then some have one and could die, you just don’t know so you never want to take the chance.
“What dogs eat on a daily basis doesn’t necessarily coincide with their ability to break down sugars- you can inflame allergies.
“When a dog has had their diet changed there will be an accumulation of yeast in their ears, which appear red or to have an infection; it manifests quite quickly in their bodies.”
Though a small chocolate treat or a single raisin may occasionally be harmless, alternatives such as ‘pet chocolate’ (without theobromine) or peanut butter (without xylitol/ sweetener) are safer for dogs.
- Safe treat recipes
- Advice for post-medical treatment or seizures, and ‘poison checker’
- For medical and statistical references, see here and here.
Featured Image- Milli, via Unsplash.
