# HELP! I think Castro ingested some chocolate....



## jabellar (Jul 9, 2008)

We left Castro at home today, he's normally okay when we do.

When I got home, I saw some shredded magazine on the floor and astonished to find a 2oz package of Godiva milk chocolate covered strawberry empty, torn up, on the floor! No sign of the plastic or chocolate... I will try to figure out HOW he got to the chocolate later (it was about 4 feet up, sitting on a table... 

What should I do? Right now, Castro is feeling fine, he's sitting on the sofa chewing his flossy. I already got in touch with my vet, waiting for a call back.. 

Just searched the forum under chocolate and couldn't find anything that might help...

On a lighter note... I can say that Castro has good taste; there was another piece of chocolate on the same surface, which he didn't touch... 

Any help would be appreciated... I really don't want to rush to the vet hospital in the snow...


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I have no idea....post when you find what the vet says. 

It'll be interesting to hear how he got up to a place four feet off the ground to get the best piece of chocolate! Stinker!

Sheri and Tucker


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Figures he'd eat the good stuff! 

I hope he's ok and doesn't get an upset tummy.


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

Dusty ate some super dark chocolate fudge last Christmas. It was on the table and we caught her up there eating out of the pan. I was mad about the ruined fudge, and I was sure she would die and she didn't even get diarrhea. Milk chocolate is less of a problem than dark chocolate as I understand it. I would check with the vet if you are concerned.


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## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_chocolate_dangerous_for_dogs_to_eat
This might be helpful...


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## jabellar (Jul 9, 2008)

Thanks, Karla! I'm reading it now... 

Just got off the phone with my vet; she said it would take about 4 oz of milk chocolate to be toxic for Castro (he is 10 lbs). The entire package totaled 2oz of chocolate covered strawberries, and since I hate about 3 of those suckers, I'd say it was less than 1 oz of the package left... and as most of the weight is strawberries, we are guessing Castro had about half an ounce of chocolate. Based on the time he was alone, I would say he might have ate the candy about 2 hours ago. 

She said this amount would probably just cause him to have diarrhea and an upset stomach, but if he has seizures to bring him into the emergency room.

Will be watching him closely, and make sure to take him outside as soon as he lets out his "i gotta go out" moan. 

Thanks to all,


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

When Belle ate a king size caramello bar as a puppy (it was in my gfs purse on the floor and we found Belle shaking the wrapper!) My vet had me give her Hydrogen Peroxide immediately and she vomited all over the place. She was monitored overnight at the vet's office but I think she lost most of it within a minute of giving this to her. If you have to do it, I recommend doing it outside and not on your bed like I did! I didn't realize she would get sick so soon and I was just so nervous.

I hope he is back to himself soon.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Hope is OK!


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## Maxmom (Jul 22, 2008)

My friend came home to find out her Chihuahua had eaten nearly a whole package of Hershey Kisses. The chocolate was gone, but the puppy had had diarrhea all over the bedspread and floor. The puppy was very quiet for a day, but otherwise was fine.

Good luck! Get out plenty of puppy pads!


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## Lilly's mom (Aug 10, 2007)

Lilly has gotten ahold of milk chocolate several times nothing fazes her. ound: With that said every dog is different just watch him. Most likely nothing will happen it would have to be a chocolate with alot of cocoa in it which is usually the dark stuff or semi sweet etc. These neezers are like kids INTO everything. ound:


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Hope Castro is feeling ok today!


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Oh I wish I had seen this thread last night!! 
#1 Godiva chocolates are REALLY bad for dogs - the better quality of chocolate = the more concentrated it is and the worse it is for dogs.

#2 - when not sure of the amount eaten, I would ALWAYS give the hyrdrogen peroxide. 
Last year one of my "angels" -HAHA - got a large Hersey bar off the server in the dining room. Not knowing who had it, I automatically gave them ALL hydrogen peroxide. Well - they threw up fo 3 hours straight - all chocolate. My vet said that if I had not done anything, I definately would have lost Logan, as it appeared that he ate the majority of it - although he did share! 

If your vet was telling you to look for seizures, I would have automatically tried to get Castro to vomit, to at least get rid of "some" of the toxins.

I hope that Castro is ok today - please let us know. 
Laurie


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## EMarie (Apr 11, 2007)

For chocolate to be fatal for a dog they have to eat 10% of their body weight and it would have to be bakers chocolate. It takes even more for milk chocolate. So he should be fine. I hope he is feeling ok!!


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## Paradise Havs (Sep 25, 2008)

This such a timely reminder with Christmas so close! I haven't had this come up for a long time. How much hydrogen peroxide do you give them? I have been off the internet for a few days with a horrible stomach flu- wouldn't you know that this is the first thread I see this morning!


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Just checking in How is Castro doing?


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

How is Castro doing this morning? AOK?


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

I hope that Castro is doing ok this morning!!

Yes, Milk chocolate is better ( less toxic) so he should be fine, but I hope she posts at some point. 
As far as the amount of hydrogen peroxide, I just kinda open their mouths & by the time they realize its coming they probably get maybe 1 TBSP. Maybe a little more. I always have it available, but learned my lesson about my server. I thought it was high enough to be safe - but these buggers seem to smell food from a mile away!!


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## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

Hope Castro is okay this morning.

We came home one night with our previous dog to find just the wrapping for a large chocolate bar (size of a VCR tape) and the dog looking happy as a clam with a little chocolate mustache. Rushed her to the emergency vet, did the vomiting thing, paid the huge vet bill. When I went to bed that night, what did I find under my pillow? 90% of the chocolate bar (melted by now - ewwwww)! Gabby had had a little snack and then hid the rest for later!!!!ound:


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Jill in Mich said:


> Hope Castro is okay this morning.
> 
> We came home one night with our previous dog to find just the wrapping for a large chocolate bar (size of a VCR tape) and the dog looking happy as a clam with a little chocolate mustache. Rushed her to the emergency vet, did the vomiting thing, paid the huge vet bill. When I went to bed that night, what did I find under my pillow? 90% of the chocolate bar (melted by now - ewwwww)! Gabby had had a little snack and then hid the rest for later!!!!ound:


That's hilarious. When Milo ate the desiccant, the vet told me if I gave hydrogen peroxide it had to be within 15 minutes of ingestion for it to work. I ran to the store shaking the whole way, rushed home and force fed him a teaspoon as directed, more throwing it at him than anything (he was a puppy at the time). Aside from looking at me as if I'd lost my mind, he didn't throw up and he had no after effects of the episode, other than retaining his manhood. He was scheduled for his neutering the next day, which I cancelled, not willing to risk anesthesia at that point.


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

I hope Castro is okay. It doesn't sound like he got enough to cause any major problems. My folks had a cockapoo who ate almost an entire one pound box of See's milk chocolate one evening while they were out. No ill effects whatsoever. I amend that, the only ill effect was my parents panic. They had no idea how she got to the box. A few days later, after panic subsided my dad was sure missing his chocolate.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

ama0722 said:


> When Belle ate a king size caramello bar as a puppy (it was in my gfs purse on the floor and we found Belle shaking the wrapper!) My vet had me give her *Hydrogen Peroxide* immediately and she vomited all over the place. She was monitored overnight at the vet's office but I think she lost most of it within a minute of giving this to her. If you have to do it, I recommend doing it outside and not on your bed like I did! I didn't realize she would get sick so soon and I was just so nervous.
> 
> I hope he is back to himself soon.


Thanks for that tip! I am going to get some to have on hand just in case.
*I hope I never have to use it.*


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## jabellar (Jul 9, 2008)

*Thanks to all!*

Good morning, all! Thanks for everyone's concern and advise. I was very worried last night - the emergency vet clinic is uptown in NYC, and with the hubby out, I would have had to call a car service to take us, if necessary.

Not really sure what time he ate the chocolate, but Castro drank a lot more water than normal, and spent the evening doing a lot of RHL, and was plain ole' hornery - - he was "arguing" and then running away and would start chewing/playing with something that he normally left alone - - The sugar high, perhaps?

He 'crashed' by 11pm, lying on the ottoman, and we both went to bed around midnight. He woke me up several times to go out - at least he didn't make a mess on the floor.

My little angel (NOT) was back this morning; just following momma around while I got dressed.

I am STILL trying to figure out how he got to the chocolate; the candy was on the bar, which is 4 feet high!!!! Luckily, Castro just got the small box - aside from the bite size chocolates in a bowl, there were 3 large unopened bars of Spanish Chocolate. I guess I need to move the chocolates to a higher surface...

This is the culprit that got me all worried - - I was looking forward to enjoying them when I got home, but Castro beat me to it!


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## avonleahavanese (Mar 20, 2008)

*Chocolate chart*

Hi, Everyone:
A few weeks back, I found a chart by NationalGeographic.com that is very complete. It is interactive, and you can check just how much ingested chocolate is harmful to your dog, depending upon the weight of your dog and the type of chocolate ingested. Very handy. I don't have the link, but I bet you can find it by going on the site and entering a search.
I had a Bichon Frise years ago eat chocolate and literally "bounced off the walls". Other dogs once ate chocolate out of the Easter baskets and lived to tell the other dogs about it  A friend just told me her Lab ate 6 lbs. of chocolate and was fine - go figure...

 Phyllis


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## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

Lola ate an ounce of dark chocolate a month ago. I did not discover it until 6 hours later. What I did learn in my frantic late night research is:
--the damage happens when the chocolate gets into the intestine and the toxic stuff leeches out of the ingested chocolate. Hence the fact that you need to induce vomiting soon after ingestion or it will not help. If you don't know, go with the hydrogen peroxide.
--Dark chocolate is much more toxic than milk. The darker, the more toxic. 
--All dogs react differently, but you can be assured of a bonkers night, probably due to the sugar, restlessness and then probably diarrhea. 
--All dog owners should have HP or another vomit inducer on hand as a part of your doggie first aid kit.

Lola had the bonkers, but not the diarrhea. But not as bonkers as when she ate a few chocolate covered coffee beans! That time I was surprised she didn't run into the wall and knock herself out.


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## EMarie (Apr 11, 2007)

The amount of Peroxide we used to start with for small dogs would be about 5 cc. Just start shoving it down their throat wait about 2 min and repeat. When they have had enough they will throw up quickly and not stop until all is out of their stomach. It is not fun to do but it works well...

My girls are 10 pounds so they would need to eat about 1 pound of bakers (dark) chocolate to fell the effects of it to kinda give you an visual. It would have to be even more for milk chocolate. The Pitt at 80 pounds would have to eat 8 pounds of the stuff, I don't know about you but I don't have 1 pound of chocolate in my house let alone 8 pounds and no bakers chocolate!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

this is such good information. Glad Castro is back to his same old self.... I would like some chocolate covered strawberries right now.


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## bellsmom (Jan 16, 2008)

My havanese ate a large size bag of peanut m&m's and I was told if I did not get her to the dr even though it was 230am it would of been very serious if not fatal.


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

Phyllis- Thanks for the clue to the NatGeo chart. Here it is:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/10/pets/chocolate-chart-interactive


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## herrick51 (Mar 4, 2008)

*Poison Info!*

Hi,

Here's a link to the National Animal Poison Center site information on chocolate. Please conside bookmarking this site as a resource in case of toxic ingestions.
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_faq#chocolate
I spent almost 25 years as an RN in a poison control center (human), which handled many calls for pet owners. Consider keeping your poison control center number handy, also. The number works like 911 to route you to your local center : 1-800-222-1222.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks!


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## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

Thanks for the link to the web-site. Thank Goodness none of mine have ever gotten into Choc-probably because I seem to never leave it out-have to eat it right away and never buy the nice chocolate-

Last Christmas season Mr Roman finished off a small glass of Bailey's Irish Cream that I was enjoying on a cold winter night-did not effect him other than he slept really good that night.

Pat


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## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

Seems I talked too soon-my friend send me some Chocolate-Ghirardelli squares and today while I was at work somone got into the box-my hubby came home to chocolate squares in the family room-he right away checked the weight of the box-then weighted what was left-only less than an oz was eaten-he watched all the "kids" the whole afternoon and we have not seen any problems-I just don't know which one to blame-Miss Paige said SHE DID NOT DO IT-and the other two aren't talking.

Pat


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

I was visiting DD today; she owns a wacky lab. Seems Max got into a whole bag of smaller bags if M&M chocolate candies that she bought for party favors for her son's 2nd b-day party. Max ate the whole bag! In a panic she rushed Max to the vet. They tried several things to get Max to vomit, with no success, so finally sent them both home with orders to watch him carefully for the next day or so. She said Max was a little frantic that day, running around like a nut. But later that night the small bags started coming out the other end........intact! He had swallowed the bags whole, that's why they didn't bother him, other then giving him an upset stomach. So she just cleaned the bags off and used them at the party (NOT). What a lucky thing Max ates so fast!


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

My Pom once ate a large bag of Hershey kisses. All that was left were little wads of silver paper all over the floor. Scared me to death ~ but didn't bother her at all. Cicero gets a couple of plain M&M's each night with his Daddy. I talked to the vet about it and she said the milk chocolate would not hurt him in that amount....just make him love his Daddy. She's right!!!


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