Does Your Dog Need to See a Vet After Eating Cocoa Powder?
If your dog has eaten some cocoa powder after you've left the kitchen for a few minutes and forgot to put the container away, then you may not know what to do. You may have heard that dogs shouldn't eat chocolate because it is bad for them, but you may not be sure if cocoa power also counts. Does cocoa powder make dogs ill, and what do you need to do?
Dogs and Chocolate Products
While lots of dogs would like to eat chocolate, they shouldn't. Chocolate contains ingredients that can be toxic to them in high doses, such as theobromine. This chemical is dangerous if it isn't processed quickly enough. Humans deal with it quickly; however, dogs process it a lot more slowly.
If dogs eat enough chocolate, then they can't get rid of the theobromine fast enough, leading to a build-up which could be dangerous or even fatal. Plus, chocolate also contains caffeine which can cause other problems with their heart rate and even seizures.
Cocoa powder, like a bar of chocolate, contains theobromine. In fact, it contains the highest amount of theobromine of all chocolate products. Your dog may not have eaten enough cocoa powder to make it really ill; however, you do need to take immediate action to check this out.
Get Advice From a Vet
If your dog doesn't look well, then take it to an emergency vet immediately. Symptoms like hyperactivity, stiffness, panting for no reason, drinking a lot, vomiting or diarrhoea may be a sign that your dog has a problem.
Even if your dog seems well, call your vet and ask whether you need to go to the clinic. Your vet will decide whether they need to check your dog over (usually depending on the size of your pet), its general health and the amount of cocoa powder it ate.
If this has happened during the evening, at night or over a weekend, don't wait until your vet's clinic opens again. If the clinic has an emergency service, call that and find out what you should do next. If it doesn't, find a local emergency vet online or in a telephone directory. The vet will probably want to see your dog to check it over. Vets can treat dogs who have eaten chocolate products, usually by making them vomit; however, this has to happen fairly quickly to get the theobromine out of their systems.