Chocolate Toxicity

I think everyone here at the Bowmanville Veterinary Clinic looks forward to Valentine's Day. Our winter has been pretty relentless, and we can all do with adding a little extra chocolate and love to our lives! Most dog and cat owners are aware of chocolate toxicity as a problem for our pets. Chocolate contains theobromide, which is a caffeine like compound that can cause tremors, hyperactivity, seizures and even death if enough is ingested. People do not have the same sensitivity to this as our pets do. Luckily cats do not tend to be big chocolate eaters, but dogs certainly do enjoy chocolate in all its forms. The good news is that if your Labrador Retriever finds a single chocolate on someone's pillow, it is unlikely to be a problem. But if he comes across a box of chocolates, that could certainly cause trouble (not to mention that the foil wrappers may, ahem, plug things up!). Dark chocolate is more toxic than milk chocolate. And the chocolate baking squares and powdered pure cocoa are the worst culprits, so beware of counter surfing dogs when you are making that delicious chocolate cake!

I still have a very clear memory of my young son coming to my bedside early one New Year's Day morning, to tell me that he had been out to the living room, and had found our then 2 year old Jack Russell (he is now 16 and 1/2 years old!) snorfing down a bag of truffles that my darling husband had left on the coffee table from our party the night before. Sadly, since I am a veterinarian, it was my job to rush him to the clinic, and to spend the next hour of that very early morning inducing vomiting and then cleaning up after and bathing my poor little dog. Glad I did though, because the total amount of chocolate that he brought up was really quite remarkable, and would in all likelihood have caused some serious problems for him.

Please call our staff at the Bowmanville Veterinary Clinic anytime if you have any questions about chocolate toxicity!

Dr. Wendy Korver
Bowmanville Veterinary Clinic