Dog ate dark chocolate.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi there. How long ago did Munchie eat these? And is he or she acting unusual at all?


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Dr. Marie replied:

I just looked up these chocolate bars for you. A regular sized Hershey bar contains 41g of chocolate. I used the Chocolate Toxicity Calculator to determine whether this is a dangerous amount of chocolate.

According to the calculator (which I programmed myself), if a 12 pound dog eats 41g of dark chocolate there is the potential for severe toxicity. This is before we even consider the baby ruth and the butterfinger!

Those two chocolate bars are likely more sugar than chocolate. However, I'm really concerned for Munchie.

I've seen some dogs who eat a potentially lethal dose of chocolate who just don't seem to ever get affected by the chocolate. However, I've seen other dogs die because of what they have eaten. The chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine and these two ingredients can cause serious heart rhythm problems and possibly seizures. We don't always see the symptoms right away.

This is a situation where I would highly advise an emergency visit to your veterinarian immediately. They will induce vomiting and likely will give medication to help the body fight the effects of the chocolate and keep the body from absorbing more.

If you get to speak to your vet on the phone you can ask their opinion on whether or not you should induce vomiting at home with hydrogen peroxide. If you are able to get in right away it's usually best to have your vet do this as there can be risks associated with making a dog vomit with hydrogen peroxide.

I really hope everything is ok!

I will be online for just a few minutes more, but if you have more questions let me know.

Dr. Marie.

Dr. Marie replied:

OK, please let me know how things work out! To ease your mind a little, I find that a lot of chocolate that is labelled as "dark" really isn't much more than milk. And if that's the case he should really be fine. However, I would still recommend the visit!

Dr. Marie replied:

Great! Please do let me know how things work out. I'm heading to bed now but I will definitely check in on your question in the morning.

Dr. Marie.

Dr. Marie replied:

Thank you for the update. I'm so glad everything is ok!