My 24 lb dog ate a piece of dove dark chocolate. This was 10 minutes ago. Shes acting normal, no symptoms. Frankie and

Before I can start I need a little more information to make things clearer for me, so could you please confirm the following :

1. So Frankie only ate one piece, one ounce or less?

No problem regarding the phone call, I'm very glad to type up a written answer for you ...

I am typing up your answer right now.

My aim is to get an initial answer back to you within the next ten minutes.

I am sorry to hear about Frankie's problem, I know that you must be very concerned. Hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly.

Good news, I very much doubt if this incident is going to adversely affect Frankie very much, in fact, there are no special measures you need to take other than just keeping an eye on things. While chocolate can be toxic to dogs under certain circumstances they have to eat quite a lot, probably very much more than Frankie ate today before you would see any signs of toxicity. But let's talk things over in more depth ...

The rule of thumb which I apply is that with dark chocolate { Which is way more toxic than milk chocolate } mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.3 ounces per pound of the dog's body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 1 ounce per pound of bodyweight is swallowed. If you estimate Frankie's weight as being in the region of 24 pounds then you can see that your dog would have to swallow 7.2 ounces of pure dark chocolate before any symptoms would even start to occur.

Clearly, the amount of chocolate involved today is going to be very minimal by comparison, so no worries as far as chocolate toxicity goes.

That said some dogs might perhaps suffer a mild transient bout of vomiting and/or diarrhea, this can happen when a dog suddenly eats any sort of unaccustomed rich human food. However, should this occur it is likely to be very minor and in any case, it should soon pass on its own.

I am telling you the following just for your information as Frankie ate so little you do need to do anything and need not be too concerned.

The symptoms of chocolate poisoning would include vomiting and diarrhea as well as frequent urination, and restlessness in the early stages. This can then progress to cardiac dysfunction, tremors, and fits. Of course, you should call your vet without delay if any symptoms appear.

Having said that most dogs with chocolate poisoning will recover within 24 to 48 hours, particularly if serious symptoms do not occur. There is no specific treatment for chocolate poisoning only symptomatic treatment.

Here is a link to a very accurate article on chocolate toxicity in the dog, follow this to check the accuracy of my advice and read more on the subject: https://www.petplace.com/article/dogs/pet-health/chocolate-toxicity-in-dogs/

But in any case, I should be available online for you for the next four or five hours today so please do not hesitate to get straight back to me in the very unlikely event that Frankie's condition changes in any way or you would like to talk things over with me further.

Regards,

Dr. Scott
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No problem, I am very glad to be advising you.

But please let me know how Frankie gets on.

Kindest regards,

Dr. Scott

Hello again,

I am just checking back in to see how Frankie is getting on?

Regards,

Dr. Scott

Thank you for visiting JustAnswer, I hope you are happy with our service. But please let me know if you still need me to clarify anything or if you have any additional questions related to your current issue - I am always happy to help.

Kindest regards,

Dr. Scott