Chocolate is Poisonous to Your Dog

Chocolate is one of the most popular gifts under the tree at Christmas. Unfortunately, most chocolates contain caffeine and theobromine, which are toxic to pets!!!! Keep all chocolates and sweets out of reach of pets.

Milk chocolate contains about 1.5 mg of theobromine per gram. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains almost 16 mg per gram! The LD-50 (lethal dose) for theobromine in dogs is reported to be between 240-500mg/kg body weight. However, the death of a dog after ingestion of as little as 114 mg/kg has been reported. To reach a potentially lethal dose of 100mg/kg, a dog weighing 10 kg would have to ingest 63g (2.2oz) of unsweetened chocolate, or about 670g (1.5lb) of milk chocolate.

Clinical signs in dogs with theobromine toxicosis include:

• vomiting
• depression and lethargy
• diuresis
• muscular tremors
• diarrhea
• death