How Much Chocolate Can A Dog Eat Before He Gets Sick
So a 20 pound dog has to eat about 250 pounds of white chocolate before getting sick but only about 2 ounces of baker s chocolate can cause toxicity in the same dog.
How much chocolate can a dog eat before he gets sick. This is well above the toxic dose of 20 milligrams per kilogram and close to the potentially lethal dose of 100 milligrams per kilogram. When a dog eats chocolate it is possible that the dog can get very sick and need to see the vet. Sometimes however depending on the type of chocolate the amount eaten and the size of the dog only mild symptoms are seen. Some dogs can eat chocolate and then appear perfectly fine.
They will eat as much as they can get ahold of. Semi sweet and dark chocolate toxicity falls somewhere in the middle. Baking chocolate includes baker s chocolate callebaut ghirardelli guittard lindt menier scharffen berger and valrhona. This can dilute the harmful chocolate in the system and reduce the potency of the thebromine.
And unlike most cats which don t have a sweet tooth dogs will eat almost anything. Chocolate is toxic to dogs and depending on the type and amount of chocolate consumed and the weight of your dog it could cause a serious medical emergency. If you know your dog has eaten. Mild clinical signs of chocolate poisoning can be seen when a dog ingests around 9 mg of methylxanthines per pound of body weight.
As a vet i have seen many dogs get sick from eating chocolate. Approximately 0 5 ounce for a 10 pound dog 1 ounce for a 20 pound dog and 1 5 ounces for a 30 pound dog all require a call to the vet. Baker s chocolate is the most toxic type of chocolate for dogs while milk chocolate is the least toxic. Dogs much like humans sometimes tend to develop taste a taste foods that are not good for them.
If a dog ingests chocolate and does not show clinical signs it s simply because they did not ingest an amount of methlyzanthines the active ingredients in caffeine high enough to cross the toxic threshold says dr. More severe problems occur when dogs get into 18 mg per pound body weight or more. Chad harris chief of staff at north austin animal hospital. Using the calculator found above we can see that for a dog of georgia s size 3 ounces of baking chocolate delivers a dose of 73 33 milligrams per kilogram.
Requires knowing how much a dog weighs what type of chocolate he got into and how much he ingested. A 10 pound dog can easily eat a pound of chocolate cocoa shell mulch. Symptoms of chocolate toxicity in dogs signs of toxicity occur within hours after the dog has eaten chocolate. Early signs of chocolate poisoning in dogs include.
The toxic dose for theobromine ranges from 9 mg to 18 mg per pound.