2 Things To Do Immediately After You Catch Your Dog Eating Chocolate
After hearing your dog getting into something, you may have walked in to discover that they are chomping away at chocolate. Since chocolate contains theobromine that can be deadly for dogs, you may be in a panic wondering what you should do.
Besides making plans to take your pet to a veterinarian, the following is what you need to do immediately after catching your dog eating chocolate.
1. Try to Make Them Throw up by Giving Them Activated Charcoal
Immediately after you find that your dog has eaten chocolate, try to make them throw up. If you already have some available, the easiest way to accomplish this is to give them activated charcoal.
The charcoal can help get rid of the toxins from the theobromine in two ways. First, it will irritate your pet's stomach to the point that they will vomit. Second, the charcoal will bind to some of the poison that is present in their stomach, helping to decrease its effects on your dog.
After giving them the charcoal, make sure that you fill up their water bowl and place them next to it. Not only will encouraging your dog to drink water help to facilitate the charcoal, but since they will be vomiting, it can also help to keep them from becoming dehydrated.
2. Watch Them for Symptoms of Chocolate Poisoning/Theobromine Toxicity
Once you have induced your dog to throw up, next you need to watch them closely for any symptoms of chocolate poisoning/theobromine toxicity. These symptoms could start to present themselves within a short time period if they ate a lot of chocolate. Or, your dog may not show symptoms for several hours.
Symptoms for which you should be on the lookout for is increased need for water, diarrhea, and lethargy. If your dog has high toxicity levels, they may start to have seizures. To keep this from happening, get your dog looked at by a professional before symptoms do appear.
Whether or not your dog starts to have symptoms, you should have them looked at as soon as possible since such effects could take a few hours to manifest. If you wait, treatment will be delayed, putting your furry friend's life at risk. Take your pet to an animal hospital near you, like Norwin Veterinary Hospital, so that they can fully examine and test your dog and start to treat them right away if necessary.
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