As every dog owner knows, never give your dog chocolate. This treat can be a real deadly poison for your canine friends. The reason? The theobromine contained in cocoa seriously disturbs the nervous and cardiovascular system of the dog and can lead to death. To avoid this tragic outcome, discover in detail why chocolate is dangerous for your companion and how to react in case of ingestion.

La théobromine, un poison mortel pour votre chien

The theobromine is a plant alkaloid naturally found in the cocoa bean.  Its effects are combined with caffeine creating a most stimulating cocktail. Unfortunately,dogs (just like cats) are not able to properly metabolize these molecules. Even a healthy pet can die from chocolate poisoning. 

Depending on the amount of cocoa in the chocolate, the theobromine content varies. The purer it is, the more theobromine it contains. 

• Dark chocolate, above 45% cocoa

• Milk chocolate, between 30% and 45% cocoa

• White chocolate, below 30% cocoa

« Mon chien a mangé du chocolat, que dois-je faire ? »

First, it is important to contact your veterinarian urgently with all the information about the ingested chocolate (if it is a homemade cake, the chocolate packaging...). Only he or she can tell you what to d 

Namely, the lethal dose of theobromine for a dog is 100 to 250 mg per kilo of body weight. A dog of 10kg will be poisoned from 450g of milk chocolate or 60g of dark chocolate. 

There is an online tool Chocol'Intox created and developed by veterinarians to evaluate the risks of toxicity. This allows you to make an initial assessment before panicking. 

Les symptômes d'une intoxication au chocolat chez le chien

The symptoms associated with theobromine intoxication are in chronological order:

• agitation

• abondante salivation

• vomiting

• diarrhea

• increased breathing and heart rate

• fever

• convulsions

• muscular rigidity

• neurological disorders

• coma

• death

The first signs appear after 2 to 4 hours. 

Conduite à tenir à cas d'ingestion de chocolat par votre chien

Above all, don't make your dog vomit. Dogs don't have the same laryngeal reflex as we do. Not only would it do no good, but you are exposing yourself to the risk of making the situation worse and/or getting bitten. If the veterinarian deems it necessary, he will proceed with an injection of apomorphine, for example, allowingthe vomiting of your animal to be triggered by gastric spasms. 

Quel protocole le vétérinaire va-t-il mettre en œuvre pour sauver votre chien

The management by the veterinarian must be done quickly and is established in 4 steps:

1. Limit the absorption of the poison:within 2 hours of ingestion, the veterinarian induces vomiting by injection. 

2. Poison removal: administration of intravenous treatment to stimulate renal functions and thus improve blood filtration. 

3. Symptomatic treatment: stabilize the animal's condition by acting directly on the symptoms in case of digestive, nervous or stress disorders for example. 

4. Monitoring for the first 24 to 48 hours after intoxication: monitoring is installed to monitor cardiac activity and detect possible disturbances. 

Generally, after 24 hours of infusion, care and monitoring, your companion is out of the woods and can go home to continue his peaceful dog life!

Pour conclure avec le chocolat

Chocolate poisoningis a frequent reason for consultation but especially for concern for owners. However, rest assured, statistically few dogs succumb to it thanks to the medical intervention of veterinarians. 

So if you decide to treat yourself to cocoa beansKeep your precious booty safe from the greedy hairy ones, you will save their lives!