Posted by fallsfall on January 17, 2004, at 13:48:42
I think I taught them too well. They really like to eat chocolate. This time they took the new box (8 oz) of Baker's chocolate off my table and ate about 6 oz of it. They are 25 and 32 pounds, and Baker's chocolate is about 10 times as potent as M&Ms.
They were not feeling well in the evening (whining, barking at nothing, growling at each other) and couldn't settle down to sleep, they were also shivering - but the room wasn't cold. When they got me up at 5AM to go out (they never get me up in the night) I found the remnants of the box and it all made sense.
I took them to the emergency clinic (a group of local Vets have banded together and created an emergency clinic that is open when they are closed). Normally a dog's heartrate is around 120. My dogs' heartrates were 180 and 220! But they didn't have signs of arhythmia (fortunately). They admitted both dogs, and will keep them tonight, too. They each have IV drips to help them stay hydrated and process the toxins. They got to eat some charcoal to try to counteract whatever is still in their stomachs and intenstines. One dog got a beta-blocker to bring down her heartrate. The Vet says that they will be OK.
I know that dogs shouldn't eat chocolate, and I know that my dog will take stuff off the table if all the chairs aren't pushed in. But putting all of that together was more than I could do last night. Please try to be extra careful when you are feeling badly yourself. It is so hard to focus on everything that you need to watch for. But it is so easy to make a mistake that could be catastrophic for your pet (or your child).
poster:fallsfall
thread:302036
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040109/msgs/302036.html