My birthday contentment was almost destroyed when I arrived back from a visit with my son to find my Bonnie had managed to break into our pantry and snaffled a chocolate bar and had been chomping away on it. As any vet will tell you chocolate is toxic to dogs..specially dark chocolate and this Picnic happened to be made with deadly cocoa and caffeine.. Frantically I checked online what to do. I got some good advice from your American Kennel Club. That advice was to immediately contact your vet..which I did and our family vet said to get her to his surgery asap where we have to induce her to vomit without delay before the poison starts working on her system. After half and hour of releasing the toxic substance that lined her stomach..my Bonnie was out of danger and boy was I and my son relieved. Three hours later she was happily munching on her din dins.
You've given a good warning there - I only heard about this around 25 years ago ! Was shocked to know the dangers of chocolate, sends a shiver down me spine Pleased everything worked out fine
I also knew about chocolate toxicity on pets Patsy. Does Bonnie tho after her ordeal. Do animals comprehend these things? It was a shock I can well do without.
She won't know, and who can blame her for wanting that chocolate You have to have eyes at the back or a swivel neck like an owl !
If you ever need to make your dog vomit, A tablespoon of Hydrogen Peroxide works instantly. Several years ago I caught one of ours eating Rat Poison. Peroxide immediately and then off to Cornell for Vitamin K and Charcoal treatment. Vet told us that the fact he was caught in the act and our immediate action saved his life.
Dont believe I have any of that in the house @Peter Renfro. My vet also had an immediate remedy.. putting a copper pellet like object in Bonnie's eye. Within minutes she was bringing up the chocolate.
I think I would've preferred just using Hydrogen Peroxide as @Peter Renfro mentioned. I would've been nervous about the pellet. Was it like a BB or what? I've never heard of such a thing.
Like I said I do not have any in the house. Isnt that the stuff used to dye hair blonde? Other than to induce vomiting the tablet/pellet was harmless. As it worked immediately it likely saved Bonnie's life. Only side effect was Bonnie's eye turned red then green and discharged green muck. This morning her eye is back to normal.
3% Hydrogen Peroxide is a very common first aid item in probably a vast majority of American homes used as an antiseptic. It has a foaming reaction,on simple surface wounds (road rash)it will float the nasties away. In the dog the sudden volume of foam induces the vomiting. The hair bleach is much stronger 6 to !0%, rocket fuel if in extremely concentrated form.
I've heard many horror stories of chocolate and dogs, never known how it affects them, had no idea it was deadly to them, now i know, must admit, i'm a real sap, started crying when i read this....sooooooooooooooo very happy she's alright, what a scare it must have been. I'm very lucky none of my three are food hunters. maybe i'm a little paranoid, anything that i think is harmful to my guys and grandkids are in high storage, good thing they're all short.lol. So happy again this scare had a happy end.
You have a good heart @Micki Pembroke. I am a sap too and teared up a little when I figured we may lose her... again when I knew we had saved her. Our pets are like family.