Chocolate doesn't only affect dogs. Actually, some other types of animals like cats and horses can't eat chocolate too. That is because of an alkaloid known as theobromine.
The theobromine is contained in alcohol, too. Theobromine and caffeine belong to the same family. Both are mythylxanines and act as stimulating agents. Theobromine is quite effective in the stimulation of the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system, and slightly increases the blood pressure.
Dogs and some other types of animals like cats and horses, are unable to carry out the theobromine metabolism as fast as humans do; this makes the effects of chocolate more severe than it can be in humans. The side effects that are quite specific and notable in dogs are: vomiting, increased urination, excessive panting, diarrhea, muscle twitching, whining, hyperactive behavior, digestive disorders, dehydrations, rapid heart rates, and seizures. Most of the above mentioned symptoms, such as the rapid heart rate, can eventually be very lethal to dogs.
The intake of about 100-150mg/kg bodyweight doses of theobromine can be very fatal to dogs. This is the approximate theobromine content in 25g of chocolate:
- Milk chocolate is known to contain about 44-64 mg of theobrmine.
- Sweet dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate contains about 150-160 mg theobromine.
- Unsweetened chocolate used in baking contains 390-450 mg theobromine.
- Dry cocoa powder contains about 800 mg of theobromine.
The implication of this is that for a Labrador of around 30kg bodyweight, a very fatal toxic reaction should be expected if they consumed up to 1 kg of milk chocolate, 70g of baked chocolate or ½kg dark chocolate.
Treatments
There may be need for some professional attention if your dog ingests any chocolate, so get in touch with your vet centre as soon as you discover your dog has eaten chocolate. Theobromine has no known antidote. Mostly, the only way to handle such situation is to make your dog vomit, which is what your vet induces at the end of the day. On the other hand, your vet might decide to wash out your dog's stomach and feed it with activated charcoal which absorbs any more theobromine inside the dog's intestine. They may require some drips and certain medications to regulate the heart rate, seizure activities and blood pressure.