Teaching Your Pets to Do Tricks

If you have discovered that your dog has eaten chocolate, you may start to panic because you know it is poisonous for your canine companion. If they have just eaten the chocolate, take the actions below while waiting to take your pooch to the veterinarian.

Monitor Your Dog's Condition Carefully

One thing you must do after finding out that your dog ate chocolate is to monitor their condition. Even if you take further steps or are on the way to the veterinarian, you need to make their condition does not deteriorate rapidly.

Depending on your dog's size and how much chocolate they ingested, you may notice that they have initial symptoms ranging from vomiting to restlessness. If the chocolate they consumed contained high levels of methylxanthines or are relatively small, they could start having seizures or difficulty breathing. 

If your dog is displaying major symptoms of distress, do not wait to take them to the veterinarian. However, if they have not started exhibiting any symptoms or are having minor symptoms, take one of the two actions discussed below.

Make Your Dog Throw Up

When your dog eats chocolate, you need to help them get rid of the toxins as soon as possible. You can do this by giving them activated charcoal that serves two functions.

First, the charcoal will help make your dog throw up. While the taste alone may induce vomiting, the charcoal also has an irritating effect on the lining of the stomach. Especially if they only recently ate the chocolate, vomiting will help get it out of their system before too many of the toxins can be absorbed by the intestinal tract.

Second, the activated charcoal can absorb some of the toxins that have already been released in your dog's stomach. Then, when they throw up, the charcoal containing the absorbed toxins carries the poison out of your dog's system, reducing the amount that is readily absorbed.

Taking immediate action can help save your dog from the poisonous effects of chocolate. Even if you are able to induce vomiting in your dog, however, you have no way of knowing how much of the toxins were absorbed into their bloodstream.

You still need to take your dog to their veterinarian. Once there, the vet can then fully assess your dog's condition and take any additional action for treating your dog, such as starting intravenous fluids or giving them additional medication to get rid of the toxins. To learn more, contact a company like Oakton Animal Hospital.