Help! My Dog Ate Halloween Candy, What Do I Do?
With Halloween on the horizon, grocery stores and households are filling up with candies and chocolates. While some dentists may see the joy in this, veterinarians do not.
With a natural sweet-tooth, dogs often find the smell of sweets, especially chocolate, irresistible. Add colorful ribbons, fancy foil, and curiosity to the mix and it becomes even more important to take extra precautions to protect your furriest family.
Most dog owners are aware that chocolate is a big no-no for dogs. However, the amount and the type of chocolate a dog ingests makes a huge difference in how your dog will be affected by it. While the random chocolate chip in a cookie is hardly ever an issue, certain kinds of chocolate are highly toxic to pooches.
Research shows that dogs are two to four times more likely to be exposed to chocolate during holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. Exposure to chocolate accounts for hundreds of vet visits a year and can result in death. That’s why Innovet Pet is raising awareness about what pet owners should do if their dog consumes chocolate.
“Small dogs and those under the age of four are most at risk of seeing serious complications due to chocolate exposure,” says co-founder Matt Terrill. “It’s very easy for both to consume too much chocolate and that’s why all pet owners need to know what action they should immediately take.”
If pet owners catch their dogs in the act or find they’ve eaten chocolate within the first few hours, they should immediately induce vomiting.
“We recommend that every pet owner keeps a syringe and a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide in their dog’s first aid kit. With the correct concentration of hydrogen peroxide, pet owners can safely induce vomiting themselves without causing any harm. Now, it’s important to know that only a certain amount of chocolate is dangerous to a dog which is based on their weight. If you’re not sure whether the amount they ate is dangerous, call ASPCA Poison Control or your veterinarian first.”
Due to some forms of chocolate containing more methylxanthines than others — the chemical toxic to dogs — pet owners will need to take into account the type of chocolate their dog ate.
Toxic Levels of Chocolate
- Baking Chocolate: 0.5 ounces per 10 pounds
- Dark Chocolate: 1.5 ounce per 10 pounds
- Milk Chocolate: 3.5 ounces per 10 pounds
- White Chocolate: 47 pounds per 10 pounds
If pet owners only notice their dog consumed chocolate after they’ve started vomiting it up, introducing vomiting with the H2O2 is pointless as the chocolate has already been digested. In this case, owners will need to immediately get their dog to an emergency clinic.
Innovet Pet offers STAT! Syringe which induces vomiting for a number of reasons including consumption of chocolate, walnuts, onions, alcohol, and medications. The syringe features weight dosage markers so dog owners can quickly find out how much H2O2 they need to give their dog based on their size. 3% hydrogen peroxide is an optional add-on as Innovet recommends owners changed it out once a year due to its shelf life.
About Innovet Pet – From tips to caring for your pet’s health to products that improve it, Innovet Pet (innovetpet.com) has put personalized pet care in pet owners’ hands for almost two decades. Since their inception, Innovet has made transparency, affordability, trust, and innovation the pillars of their company. This has made them the number 1 pet CBD company world-wide.
