A vet has taken to TikTok to share her tips on what to do if your dog has eaten chocolate.
Dr Nicole, from Melbourne, Australia, is a vet who owns Shy Tiger – a pet care company. She posted the video online where it racked up 282,000 views.
She explained that different types of chocolates could have varying impacts on a dog’s health – and said certain types were much more toxic for a pet than others.
She started the video by saying: ‘Let’s go through what to do in a chocolate emergency.
‘Everyone panics if their dogs eaten some chocolate, but did you know that some types of chocolate are more toxic than others?’
Dr Nicole, from Melbourne, Australia, took to TikTok to share her tips on what to do if your dog has eaten chocolate
‘So the first thing to do when your dogs eating some chocolate is figure out what it is.
‘Is it white chocolate? Is it milk chocolate? Dark chocolate? Baking chocolate? Because the type of chocolate will dictate how serious an emergency it is.’
She continued: ‘If it’s white chocolate – relax. It doesn’t really contain the theobromine that is the active ingredient that we worry about.
‘Theobromine acts a little bit like caffeine does to us, accelerates heart rate, things like that.
‘Dogs and cats are really poor at metabolising this toxin, so it builds up in their system and can create really serious toxic effects, depending on how much they’ve had.
‘So, we’ve noted the type they’ve had and then we’ve got to figure out if it’s toxic or not.’
She continued: ‘To give you a rough rule of thumb, a 10 kilogram dog can have about 30 grams of baking chocolate, 90 grams of dark chocolate, and 120 grams of milk chocolate.
‘So the darker the chocolate, the worse it is. We’ve got a really good table in our instructional cards for our first aid kit.
‘If you don’t have them available, just Google “Dog toxicity chocolate calculator” and that will give you an amount to type in.
‘If you pass a threshold and your dog has had a toxic amount, next thing you need to do is call your emergency vet.
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Dr Nicole said that the type of chocolate affects how big of an emergency the animal may be facing
Dr Nicole said that pet owners should try and figure out how much chocolate their furry friend has consumed
‘If it’s during business hours, call your local vet and let them know you’re on your way and how much they’ve had.
‘That way they can be ready when you arrive.’
Dr Nicole explained: ‘They’re likely to give your dog a drug called apomorphine, either into the vein, under the skin, or put a little tablet in their eye.
‘That will make your dog vomit usually within about five minutes.
‘It’s really quick acting, get all the chocolate out of their system and then, depending on how long it’s been from when they ate the chocolate to the vomiting, depend on the next step and also how much they’ve had.
‘Sometimes they put you on a special charcoal type medication to absorb what’s left. Other times you may need a blood test, drips, monitoring, things like that.
‘But the main thing I want you guys to learn is that some types of chocolate are more toxic than others.
‘And to try and figure out how much your dog has had, so you can help the vets look after your pet.’
Users took to the comments to discuss experiences they’ve had of their pets eating chocolate.
One said: ‘Unfortunately my 11 yr old chocolate Labrador thought Easter came early and ate 1.5kgs of milk chocolate bunnies. She’s lucky to be alive and thriving.’
Users took to the comments to discuss experiences they’ve had of their pets eating chocolate (pictured)
Another asked about vegan chocolate and said: ‘What about vegan chocolate – soya letchin based products?
‘That most likely what my dog would accidentally eat in our house.’
Dr Nicole replied and said: ‘Still would have theobromine.’
A third penned: ‘My dog eats chocolate one a week and she’s fine.’
A fourth commented: ‘I needed this last December when our pup ate chocolates. I’ve never been so panicked!’
