As we all love our pets, we don’t hesitate to share our meals with them. But do you know some of our favorite foods are poisonous to them? Some of them are like garlic onion grapes, and especially the chocolates are bad for dogs.
However, as the toxicity of everything depends on the dose, toxicity to chocolate also depends on the chocolate type amount and the weight of the dog.
Even if they eat a little amount daily, you may have to face the long-term effects of dogs eating chocolate.
Why is chocolate bad for dogs?
Even though all the experts are proving facts, you can say that “My dog ate chocolate, and he was fine.” The reason is simple in everything in the world; the dose of certain components in the food makes it poisonous.
So what makes chocolate poisonous to dogs? Theobromine and caffeine are the most common components that can make chocolate poisonous.
These are in a group of a chemical called “methylxanthine”. These chemicals can enter into your dog’s blood serum but take many hours to break down after they reached the higher level. The issue is that chemicals in the “methylxanthine” group can activate adenosine receptors. This activation is the reason for many dog’s ate chocolate symptoms.
These make your dog feel sleepy, nauseous and cause vomiting, diarrhea. These can usually appear within 6-12 hours and will last for at least 72 hours. The enzyme that breaks down the “theobromine” is in the “cytochrome P450” group and it has the effects same as some medications like sildenafil ( Viagra).
So, these can cause elevated abnormal heart rate, hyperactivity, and a higher dose can even cause tremors, seizures, and possibly for your pet’s death.
As the risk depends on the chocolate type and the amount of chocolate consumed, it’s important to know what contains those components rather than thinking, Is milk chocolate bad for dogs? Can my dog eat dark chocolate?.
According to the reports, when adjusted according to the theobromine level, Cocoa powder, unsweetened bakers chocolate, Semisweet chocolate, Dark chocolate, and Milk chocolate came under this category.
Not only the types of chocolates but you should also aware of the amount of “theobromine” that can affect per kilogram. According to the statistics of ASPCA, 20mg/ kg can cause mild poisoning, and severe signs can start to occur at about 40mg/kg. Also, 60mg/kg can cause seizures and 100-200mg/kg is the lethal dose.
What do I do if my dog eats chocolate?
Rather than worrying about what to do if dogs eat chocolate, call your veterinarian immediately. But before everything pleases aware of the amount type and the time they consumed the chocolate. According to the symptoms, your veterinarian will recommend you to monitor your dog for more symptoms, or he may recommend you to bring the dog to the clinic.
Suppose your dog had eaten before a few hours. In that case, the veterinarian may induce vomiting and give your dog activated charcoal to remove toxins out of the body. For severe cases, he may administrate with respective medications.
