Your unwrapping your favorite candy bar and your pooch lifts his ears and starts drooling just with the sound of that wrapper. He starts giving you the pup eyes and the excessive blinking in the hope that you are going to drop some candy for him.
So, what do you do I this situation?
Most of us will give in to the cuteness and the innocent display out of love. But if you really do love your dog, please don’t.
Chocolate is one snack you should avoid feeding your dog. This creamy, mouthwatering treat can lead to many illnesses and if fed in large amounts can even cause death.
Theobromine, a toxin in chocolate that digest very slowly in a dogs digestive tract, causing it to build up levels of toxin in their system.
“Oh! come on, a little bit won’t be harmful, would it? Yes, it would. Have you ever noticed your pooch with an upset stomach or the loosies after that little bit of chocolate you fed him/her? We recommend you do.
Theobromine levels differ with the type of chocolate, dark or cooking chocolate contains the highest levels, while white & milk chocolate contains lowest levels. Since dark chocolate has higher levels of theobromine, even 10g can poison a dog weighing around 19kgs.
Symptoms of chocolate poisoning
Diarrhea
Increased urination
Tremors
Vomiting
Seizures
Irregular heartbeat
Collapse and heart attack
What to do if your dog finds your secret stash?
Stay calm, call your vet and follow your vet’s instructions
Normal circumstances, your dog should throw up if not, try to get your dog to vomit, thus removing the chocolate.
The symptoms of chocolate poisoning can take up to 12 hours to surface, so please do not wait for symptoms especially if your pooch has eaten an entire bar!