Chocolate  By: Kathleen Hayward
 
Chocolate is, of course, available all year round, but it is especially plentiful over the holidays.  Chocolate has so many uses and is in so many holiday recipes, but, beware -- chocolate can be toxic to dogs and cats in large enough quantities.  It is a common problem to find dogs ingesting various amounts of chocolate from holiday tables.  Of course, you do your best to keep it out of your dog's reach, but there are times when your dog outsmarts you and gets a whole bowl of holiday candies.  How do you know if you should be worried?  Well, it depends upon the type of chocolate and how much was eaten.
 
     If your dog gets into chocolate, you may notice any number of symptoms.  The most common, which results from a smaller amount of chocolate, is vomiting and diarrhea.  As dogs ingest more chocolate, other symptoms such as increased urination, weakness, hyper excitability, muscle tremors, and even seizures and death can occur.  Of course, this would occur with large quantities of chocolate.  For a dog weighing 70 pounds, the following quantities of chocolate would be considered lethal, meaning that it could cause death. They are listed in order from least to most toxic:
 
       1.White chocolate -- your dog would need to eat 12,000 to 38,000 ounces.  Obviously, not very likely.
       2.Milk chocolate -- your dog would need to eat between 54 and 172 ounces.  This is still a very large quantity, and not very likely.  Fortunately, this is the most common type of chocolate.
       3.Instant cocoa, dark chocolate, and semisweet baking chocolate -- your dog would need to eat 22 to 72 ounces.
       4.Unsweetened baking chocolate -- your dog would need to eat 7.6 to 24 ounces.
       5.Unsweetened cocoa -- this is the most toxic. Your dog would need to eat between 4 and 13 ounces.
 
     As you can see, for some types of chocolate, it doesn't take much.  Thankfully, the most common type of chocolate found in holiday dishes is the milk chocolate variety, which will usually just cause diarrhea.  If your dog does ingest a large amount of chocolate, you should closely observe them for any signs of weakness of seizure.  If you are unsure how much was eaten, check with the medical officer for advice.