# Gigi ate chocolate!!! Please advise me on what to do!



## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

If you're really worried, you can give Gigi a tablespoon of peroxide in order to make her vomit.


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## apriljean80 (Aug 23, 2010)

Sandooch, hope Gigi is ok!


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## sandooch (Jan 20, 2011)

Thank you, April. I just got off the phone with her vet, and he explained to me that she would have to eat a pound of bakers chocolate for it to cause toxicity problems. The chocolate Gigi ate was white and dark Hershey's chocolate, about 2 to 4 ounces. The vet told me to not even worry about the white chocolate because that was not even considered chocolate. He also said not to feed her anything else today and to just watch her. She may vomit on her own or have some loose stools, that is okay, but if she starts to have tremors (and he said he doubted she would given the amount and type of chocolate it was), then I should bring her in. So I'm just watching her closely now.


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## apriljean80 (Aug 23, 2010)

Glad to hear that she should be fine. Still I'm sure it was quite a scare. I am CONSTANTLY telling my daughters that Biscuit can't have chocolate. We don't have it in the house that often anyway. My oldest understands, but the youngest I think still has to be watched. SHe sneaks him her snacks all the time. The other day I caught them sharing a popsicle! I think she has difficulty understanding that just because it won't hurt her doesn't me it won't hurt Biscuit! She's getting a little bit better about it slowly.


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## CurlyDog (Aug 20, 2008)

Glad to hear it's not a big deal! My neighbor's goldendoodle at a large bag of Hershey's kisses last Christmas. The only problem he had were "very festive poops". Haha!


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

I'm so glad Gigi is going to be fine... I never worry about milk chocolate, and if it was white and milk chocolate together, it wouldn't have even been on my radar... My miniature dachshund, however, ate an undeterminable amount of very dark chocolate candy that my daughter had left in the pocket of a coat that she had thrown on the floor. Since Juliet is a mini and I had no idea how MUCH she had eaten (Katy couldn't remember how much she had in her pocket, and Juliet had eaten the entire baggie full!) I called the vet and they gave me the hydrogen peroxide remedy. However I was told to give her about 10 cc's at a time with a few minutes in between to induce vomiting. There's no way that one tablespoon would have done it. She ended up drinking almost half a bottle of peroxide!! :scared:

I kept her in the bathtub while I administered the peroxide through a 10 cc syringe. She looked MISERABLE!! Poor weiner dog!! But when she finally brought up the frothy, bubbly mess of dark chocolate, we were so relieved!! She really had eaten a lot!!

Give Gigi a hug and tell her to keep her paws of the candy in the future (yeah... like THAT'LL work!!!) :lol:

Barb


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## lavillerose (Feb 16, 2011)

The most dangerous substances in chocolate that are bad for dogs and cats are theobromine and caffeine (and the former is the worse of the two). But when chocolate is made, they separate the fat (cocoa butter) from the other solids—the stuff that makes it milk, semi-sweet, dark and baking chocolate, depending on the percentage of cocoa solids that are re-added back to the fats. The cocoa solids are the part where theobromine and caffeine come from.

But white chocolate is only made out of the cocoa butter, with no solids reconstituted, so it contains only very tiny trace amounts of theobromine, not nearly enough to worry about. She might have the runs or vomit since that much fat and sugar is hard on the tummy, but she should be okay. 


I clearly watch too much Food Network.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

I hope Gigi is okay! Keep us posted.


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## fancyfrancie (Sep 9, 2010)

*I hope Gigi's ok*

Well, I have to tell everyone on this forum that you can't be too careful when it comes to chocolate. My darling Francie died a week ago yesterday, from complications (uncontrollable seizures) from eating 2/3 of a bag of semisweet chocolate.

I immediately tried(unsuccessfully) to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide and took her to our vet before she even showed symptoms, "just to be on the safe side"

The couldn't get her to vomit, either, and started activated charcoal. Her fever spiked to 108 and she began having grand mal seizures - which they controled with phenobarbitol and valium. They got her fever down with ice packs. We transferred her to an animal hospital with a neurologist and cardiologist on staff. There, they discovered her heart beating at something like 280 beats per minute, which they were able to get control of.

Long, painful, expensive story made short - she didn't make it.

I was told that each individual dog has different toxicity and epileptic thresholds and just because you "know a dog that turned out fine" doesn't mean that the one that just ate chocolate will turn out fine as well.

If you love your dog, keep it away from chocolate and don't take chances if they DO ingest it - get her to an emergency vet, RIGHT AWAY!


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

Oh my god FancyFrancie, I am so very sorry to hear your horrific story. It's just awful... Many hugs to you.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

*fancyfrancie*: So sorry for your absolutely heartbreaking loss! It's very good of you to share the important information you did with us. You may well spare other owners and their beloved dogs the grief you unfortunately were not. I can't even imagine!

*sandooch:* I hope precious Gigi will be perfectly all right, for years and years and years to come.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

fancyfrancie said:


> Well, I have to tell everyone on this forum that you can't be too careful when it comes to chocolate. My darling Francie died a week ago yesterday, from complications (uncontrollable seizures) from eating 2/3 of a bag of semisweet chocolate.
> 
> I immediately tried(unsuccessfully) to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide and took her to our vet before she even showed symptoms, "just to be on the safe side"
> 
> ...


I'm sorry to hear about Francie. :-( Suddenly losing a dog (your best friend) is the worst feeling ever. 

Hopefully her story will save another dog's life. Now I'm worried for Sandooch and Gigi. :-(


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## sandooch (Jan 20, 2011)

Thank you all for your advice, well-wishes and concern about Gigi.

Fancyfancie, I am so sorry you lost your precious dog. Could you please tell me how long it took before you started to see any symptoms? When you say that she ate 2/3 of a bag of chocolate, was it a huge bag? 

So far Gigi is just being her normal self, and I am watching her like a hawk. I know she is going to be ravenous with no dinner tonight, but I want to make sure to do what the vet recommended.

I'll make sure to update tomorrow on how she is doing.

Oh, and my daughter that left the chocolate out is just beside herself with guilt and feels terrible. She has never been close to Gigi (just not a dog person), but she is babying her today like crazy.


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_I hope that all will be well with Gigi. Poor little girl must feel just awful. 

FancyFrancie, I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved pet in such a traumatic way. Sending hugs and prayers your way. :grouphug:_


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## sandooch (Jan 20, 2011)

Thanks Spoospirt. Actually, she is just acting like her old self, so my worry is being relieved with each passing hour.


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## fancyfrancie (Sep 9, 2010)

Sandooch,

Francie began having seizures about 4-5 hours after she ate the bag. It bears noting that it was a 12 oz bag, so she ate about 8 oz, and it was semisweet chocolate, which I think I read has about 8 times the poison as milk chocolate. I believe the worst is unsweetened bakers chocolate. But the vet did say for many dogs, this would not have been life-ending - every dog is different.

It sounds like Gigi will be fine - and I'm so glad. I wouldn't wish this loss on anyone.

Really, if retelling Francie's tale saves another dog, that at least, is a good thing. I just want people to really understand just how deadly chocolate really can be. I wasn't a "story I read about", it was my dog,in my house, in my real life. It never hit so hard as when we said goodbye.


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## sandooch (Jan 20, 2011)

Thank you for letting me/us know this fancyfrancie. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

Sandooch--
How is Gigi doing? I'm hoping she didn't have any problems! Tell her that chocolate is not only bad for her, but it will also add inches to her hips. That should convince her to steer clear of the stuff.


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## sandooch (Jan 20, 2011)

Rowan said:


> Sandooch--
> How is Gigi doing? I'm hoping she didn't have any problems! Tell her that chocolate is not only bad for her, but it will also add inches to her hips. That should convince her to steer clear of the stuff.


LOL! Well, with Gigi's high energy level, I highly doubt she is going to have a weight problem any time soon.

She is doing absolutely great. No vomiting or diarrhea or even soft stools, for that matter. I think she's got an iron cast stomach.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

sandooch said:


> LOL! Well, with Gigi's high energy level, I highly doubt she is going to have a weight problem any time soon.
> 
> She is doing absolutely great. No vomiting or diarrhea or even soft stools, for that matter. I think she's got an iron cast stomach.


That's a relief to hear! She shouldn't despair either---she can still have CHEESE! LOL


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