Gil has eaten some chocolate

[Sue Edwards]

Gil has eaten about 40-50g of milk chocolate this evening, vet says make him sick, we have fed him salt on bread and no sign of anything yet. Any ideas? He is now 36.5KG so it may not be too bad but we are seriously worried about him now.

[LouLou]

I'm sure I've heard soda crystals poured down the throat suggested. Not done it myself. Hope he is okay.


Poisoning

Unfortunately many dogs like nothing better than to eat toxic substances, such as rat poison, slug bait, plain chocolate or human tablets like Neurofen in nice shiny foil. In most cases it is best to make the dog vomit as soon as possible. Most poisons take a few hours to be fully absorbed from the stomach so inducing vomiting is useful up to 2 hours after ingestion. The best way to do this is to place a small handful of Washing Soda Crystals on the back of the dogs tongue and hold his mouth shut until he swallows it or starts retching. You may need to do it 2 or 3 times before any thing happens. If no washing soda is available, then you can try very salty water and mustard instead.
The only exception is if the dog has swallowed something that is caustic e.g. bleach, as this could damage the throat again on the way back up. In all cases, contact the vet with details of the poison and in what quantity it has been eaten. They can then check with the national Poisons Service to see what treatment is necessary.

from http://www.emersonvet.co.uk/content.php ... =First+Aid

[kathktwo]

I do hope Gil is ok xx

[Muriel]

I don't know how much 40gm is. If that's like a small bar of dairy milk or a flake he'll probably be ok as I know a GSD who had a flake every day. Milk chocolate is not normally too bad, it's the plain that's worst. He's a big dog. Cassie once found half a large bar of chocolate dumped and scoffed the lot, she was fine - that's the big one that often sells for about £1 at times. I'd be sick if I ate that, mind you I can't eat any chocolate nowadays.

If you really want to make him sick, either pour salt water down his throat or stick a couple of washing soda crystals at the back of his throat is what I've heard.

[Enzo's Butler]

I don't think that's a large amount for such a big dog but it also depends on the quality of the chocolate and amount of cocoa I think.

[Sue Edwards]

He has had mashed potato with salt and 3 salt sandwiches and his dinner and still not sick so spoke to the vet again who says watch him but he is likely to be OK. It was a little box ( half eaten) of chocolate flowers a client bought me. I will have no choc in the house from now on, we have been running around after him scared to death the last hour and a half. Will sleep on the sofa with him tonight just to make sure.

[Lisa Coull]

1 small soda crystal will be sufficient to induce vomiting - please don't use a handful

Everything crossed such a small amout with a big dog will be fine - they all metabolize the theobromine at different rates. I would imagine he would need a much larger amount than he's stolen - TBH I'd be more concerned about the salt he's had TBH

[Jean]

My first and very best advice is to stop panicing. I know easier said than done.

Dogs vary on their tollerance to chocolate in a similar way to humans and peanuts and several other things. Mostlty they can or they can't. If they can't reaction usually sets in very quickly and you would be very aware.

A soda crystal shoved down the throat will usually induce vommiting.

If you've given salt sandwiches then he is likely to be very and unusually thirsty. If he were mine I would curb his drinking a bit so that he has little and often for the next 12 hours or so.

[Barbara M]

When Louie ate a couple of cigarettes (when my back was turned and the cigarette owner was in the shower) the vet rang the poisons line (not sure what its actual name is) and they rang back a bit later to say watch him but he should be fine. I also rang on behalf of a freind who's smaller dog (about the size of a small, not overweight lab) ate half of a half pound bar including the foil - again once they'd worked out the ratio they said watch her but she shoud be fine. If Gil has eaten 50 gms I think he should be alright really - that's a fifth of half a pound roughly...and I don't think I'd give him anything more to try and make him sick...like Lisa I'd be more worried just now about the amount of salt! hope he is okay . ..what a norty boy

[speediepup]

I am sure it is on here somewhere but the forumla for calculating how much theo.... is int he choc and weight of the dog is there somewhere,

Belle ate dark choc and lots and she was just below the limit. TBH unless he looks ill I would leave well alone. Milk choc does not contain that much theo in it - if it was 70% etc then I would be worried.

Hope he is ok
xxxxx

[Sue Edwards]

He has had a fair amount to drink but is not overdoing it, he is not manic about it but I am making sure he has plenty as he drinks less when there is a full bowl for some reason, has done since we had him. I don't keep washing soda in the house so it had to be salt. He has the chocolate around 7.30, and has shown no ill effects now other than salt induced drinking. We will keep a close eye on him and I am so off chocolate as a result of this. It was at the bottom of my bag, and he had everything out and left the tiny little box on the sofa. Scary.

[Liz]

Hope he's OK. Mine have all stolen chocs in the past with no ill effects.

[Jean]

Hey...mine ate almost a complete tin of Quality Street (wrappers too) the only affect was shiny bits in their poo which glistened in the snow.

DON'T beat yourself up about this. It has happend with most of us so chill, relax, watch the boy and a new day tomorrow.

[sally m]

You can induce vomiting with salt but it has to be a teaspoon of salt at the back of the tongue - not on any food otherwise it has no effect. Do be careful with salt though, as too much can be just as bad as the choc!
Another is hydrogen peroxide - the weak stuff (thinks its 3%) - again a teaspoon will induce vomiting after about 5-10 mins. I can get some of mine to vomit easily but others seem to tolerate anything - they are usually the ones that eat the forbidden stuff. Arwen ate loads of yew berries and I couldn't make her sick so to be safe we took her in and they injected her - there was a bowl's worth of berries and a large bill!

[Sue Edwards]

After 4 hours Gil's most obvious effects are from the salt - he is drinking for Britain and several other countries. My significant other has volunteered to sleep on the sofa after staying awake as long as he can, because Gil's renal condition means that he drinks a lot anyway, so there may be a number of 'outs' for Gil before the night is over. Gil's secondary effects were psychological from the amount of attention he was getting - 'there must be something wrong with me because they're fussing'. That's one to be aware of, I think.