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Why can't my dog eat chocolate?

by January 4, 2009 6 Comments

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Your dog can actually eat a little bit of chocolate, but if they eat about an ounce of milk chocolate per kilogram of body weight or as little as a couple of mouthfuls of cocoa mulch, there will be trouble. At that quantity, dogs may experience seizures. These effects are due to the caffeine and theobromine that are in chocolate. In the case of chocolate, the theobromine is more of a factor. Theobromine (which is also called xantheose) is a water soluble alkaloid that is metabolized in the liver. The byproducts of its metabolism are methylxanthine and then methyluric acid. Theobromine blocks the breakdown of cyclic AMP, thus acting as a stimulant through a mechanism much like caffeine. In humans, theobromine has less of an impact on the central nervous system than does caffeine and may also be responsible for the aphrodisiac qualities attributed to chocolate.

In dogs, however, theobromine is metabolized much more slowly than in humans, prolonging its effects on the central nervous system and smooth muscle. The first symptoms experienced by animals with theobromine poisoning may be a result of vagal nerve blockade and include increased of heart rate as well as disruption of the smooth muscles in the digestive tract. Later on, dogs can suffer from seizures due to loss of vagal nerve activity and the stimulatory effects of accumulated cyclic AMP. These symptoms can lead to death in serious cases, although early treatment is usually successful.

Interestingly, cats would also suffer from the negative effects of theobromine poisoning, but they do not have sweet taste receptors and are rarely drawn to ingest chocolate.

    

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  • http://www.buy-dog-food.com/ Phoebe

    Thanks !! very helpful post!

  • http://www.chocolate.webpromall.com Nicholas

    Thanks for sharing. That was EXACTLY what I had in mind.

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  • Kathi

    My dog, a border collie-beagle-lab mix, recently devoured a small bag of malted milk balls...I was frantic..and that is before I read this article!! I called the emergency vet and the vet told me that since the milk balls were covered in milk chocolate and there was a light coating on the milk balls my dog would not be in danger. The vet would have been more concerned, as your article indicated, if the dog had eaten a full bar of dark chocolate. The vet suggested that I watch for signs of hyper-activity and there were none so all is well with my mixed breed.

    The sad fact is that he loves chocolate!! I can't have it in the house as he devours it if he can get it!!

    Thanks for your article! We now buy vanilla Oreos so he is not deprived of his favorite treat..a cookie!!

    Kathi
    Brookline, PA

  • Rachel J. Eubanks

    My question is , my dog is a 1 year old minature dashund and at night before bed he loves to eat about 4 to 5 peanut m&ms he weighs about 9lbs. Is this still in the safe range or not and does eating the chocolate also have a long term effect on them . You advice would be gladley appreciated.

  • Molly Nickerson

    Hi Rachel,

    Peanut M&Ms have a lot more candy coating and peanut than chocolate. The chocolate is therefore probably not having too much of an effect on your dog. However, your dog might like another bedtime snack just as well. Perhaps a little natural bacon treat (or something less human-contrived) would taste even better to him...and be better for him in the long run.