Why is chocolate bad for dogs?
Chocolate contains methylxanthine alkaloids in the form of theobromine and caffeine, that cause constriction of arteries, increased heart rate, and central nervous system stimulation. These effects can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, and increased urinations. More advanced symptoms of toxicity include excitability, increased respirations and heartbeat, stiffness, seizures and exaggerated reflexes. Certain types of chocolate contain higher amounts of methylxanthines, baking chocolate containing the highest and white chocolate containing the least. Dogs freely ingest toxic amounts of chocolate if it is left accessible. A potentially lethal dose in a 16 pound. dog is only one pound of milk chocolate. People stop eating chocolate before ingesting toxic levels. Cardiac failure, seizures, coma, and death can result if the chocolate ingestion is not found within four to six hours and treated appropriately.
Chocolate can contain high amounts of fat and caffeine-like stimulants known as methylxanthines. If ingested in significant amounts, chocolate can potentially produce clinical effects in dogs ranging from vomiting and diarrhea to panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death in severe cases. Typically, the darker the chocolate, the higher the potential for clinical problems from methylxanthine poisoning. White chocolate has the lowest methylxanthine content, while baking chocolate contains the highest. As little as 20 ounces of milk chocolate—or only two ounces of baking chocolate—can cause serious problems in a 10-pound dog. While white chocolate may not have the same potential as darker forms to cause a methylxanthine poisoning, the high fat content of lighter chocolates could still lead to vomiting and diarrhea, as well as the possible development of life-threatening pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition of the panc
Unfortunately for dogs chocolate tastes really, really good, but chocolate is not really poisonous, not like cyanide. That doesn’t change the fact that it can kill your dog. It is theobromine that is harmful to dogs, if you can find chocolate without it you’ll have the happiest dog in town. Theobromine is a stimulant found in the coca plant. People often get theobromine confused with caffeine, while they have similar effects, eating a piece of chocolate will not give a human the rush a cup of coffee does. Chocolate will still give a sugar rush, but don’t eat it if you’re up late studying for an exam. Dogs and horses are greatly affected by theobromine. Chocolate is a banned substance in horse racing because of the boost it will give to the horse. Of course a horse can still eat too much of it, like a dog, but they’re significantly bigger animals and it would take much more chocolate. Your dogs system will try to purge itself of the theobromine if it gets enough of it. One tiny piece wo
“Most pet owners realize that chocolate is bad for dogs, yet few could tell you what makes chocolate poisonous, or just how much is toxic to a dog. The truth is that chocolate contains theobromine, a compound in the same family as caffeine and theophylline. Dogs metabolize this class of drugs differently than humans. Once ingested, theobromine stays in the dog’s body a long time. Too much of it can cause illness and even death. The good news is that it takes a fairly large amount of theobromine (100 – 150 mg/kg of body weight) to cause a toxic reaction in a dog. The bad news is that some forms of chocolate do contain a large amount of this substance, with unsweetened baking chocolate being the most dangerous. Related Resources on Common Foods that are Toxic for Dogs: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals offers quite a bit of information about foods that are toxic to animals. Included is an article from Veterinary Technician magazine about the recently-discovere
Brownies? Not an issue at all. Theobromine is lethal to dogs in high concentrations but it takes quite a bit. Baking chocolate has a lot, milk chocolate only has a little. A big dog would need to consume a pound or more of milk chocolate for it to be harmful so like I said, a pan of brownies is no issue at all. A whole pan of brownies probably has less than an ounce of semi-sweet chocolate in it. This is the chart: * White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog. * Milk chocolate: 1 ounce per pound of body weight. Approximately one pound of milk chocolate is poisonous to a 20-pound dog; one-half pound for a 10-pound dog. The average chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 ounces of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog. Semi-sweet chocolate has a similar toxic level. * Sweet cocoa: 0.3 ounces per pound of body weight. One-third of a pound of
