Chocolate poisoning:

You don't pay attention for a second, your dog and/or cat has already stolen the chocolate Santa Claus from the table - and then what? The sweet treat can be dangerous for our pets. Even though most cases are harmless, sometimes the enjoyment can be fatal for dogs and cats.

Veterinarian Anke M. treats chocolate poisoning in dogs and cats, especially at Christmas and Easter. Sometimes it was 200g whole milk, sometimes the gingerbread with chocolate icing, sometimes the baking cocoa. Most cases were harmless, but unfortunately not all:

What is healthy for us in chocolate, theobromine, is highly toxic to dogs and cats and can even be fatal. It depends on the amount of theobromine. The darker the chocolate, the higher the theobromine content.

There is virtually no theobromine in white chocolate. It is therefore not healthier, but it is not toxic to animals.

The content of theobromine in various products [ 1 ] is as follows:

  • 100g cocoa powder contains 1400 – 2600mg
  • 100g milk chocolate 150 – 200mg
  • 100g dark chocolate 500 – 800mg
  • 100g 70% chocolate 2000 mg
  • 100g 90% chocolate 2600mg
  • White chocolate is virtually free of theobromine.

When is theobromine dangerous for my animal?

In sensitive dogs, a dose of 90 to 250 mg per kilo of body weight can be fatal. When consuming 300 mg, the so-called 50 percent lethal dose is already reached.

This means that half of dogs die after ingesting this amount. This dose has already been reached or exceeded with one bar of dark chocolate as soon as a dog weighs 5.5 kilograms or less.

Smaller dog breeds, puppies and young dogs are particularly at risk.

However, 100 mg per kilogram of body weight becomes dangerous for some dogs. From 40mg per kilogram you should have the dog treated. Symptoms can already occur from 20mg/kg! [ 2]

A rough rule of thumb is: 150 g of milk chocolate, 15 g of dark chocolate (70%) or 10 g of block chocolate per kilogram of body weight have a toxic effect. This means that two bars can be fatal for a small dog.

By the way, this also applies to cats! For them, the lethal dose of theobromine is reached at 200 mg/kg of body weight.

My animal ate too much chocolate, what now?

GO TO THE VET IMMEDIATELY!

Go to the vet as quickly as possible so that they can induce vomiting within the first two hours of ingesting the chocolate. Additionally give charcoal tablets! The activated carbon binds the poison in the digestive tract and prevents theobromine from being absorbed into the body (dosage: 1g of carbon/kilogram of body weight). It's best to prepare an emergency ration so that you don't miscalculate in times of stress.

Attention: Medical charcoal does NOT replace a trip to the vet. Chocolate poisoning can quickly become fatal.

With this in mind: chocolate in people - and a few dog biscuits for the dog at Christmas!

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )