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ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Audrey

Our 6 year old son fed our new 4 month old maltese puppy a big Milky Way chocolate bar this morning. She managed to gobble up the whole thing while we weren't watching. We called the vet and are waiting to hear back. Is there anything we should do now? My friend claims that chocolate will kill a dog.Please help.

DISCUSSION:

It is true that chocolate can kill dogs. For them it is poison. I would be especially worried with a dog as tiny as a Maltese and if it ate a whole chocolate bar. My advice would be to take your dog straight to the vet, not to wait until the office calls back. A good friend of mine recently had to have her Collie's stomache pumped because the dog ate a chocolate bar. It is very serious.
-Carina

You definitely need to get your Maltese in for your vet to take a look at her ASAP or sooner. A "Milky-Way" is milk chocolate which poses only a minor threat compared to other forms of chocolate. There is no specific antidote that I am aware of for this poisoning. Inducing vomiting can help if you would know of the ingestion within 1-2 hours. Administration of activated charcoal may inhibit absorption of the toxin from the digestive tract, but I doubt if your vet would feel that would be necessary due to the fact of the grade of the chocolate involved. It may be necessary to use medications to control the effects of the poisoning, especially seizure control medications, oxygen therapy, intravenous fluids, and medications to control the effects on the heart. Once again, this would probably only be necessary if your Maltese had gotten some good grade "Bakers" chocolate or more than 1 Milky Way bar. The age of your Maltese is what really concerns me. She probably only weighs 3 or 4 pounds. 1 bar might be enough to cause her serious problems. Diarrhea is a common secondary problem and will no-doubt start in about 12-24 hours. You do have an emergency and need to go to the vet now, I certainly wouldn't be waiting on a return phone call is what I'm trying to say. I hope everything works out for the best. You also need to caution your 6 year old about the dangers of chocolates and dogs.
-Jay

Audrey. Please let us know how your little one fares. While you are explaining to your human baby, try to let him know how serious it is and insist that he doesn't EVER feed anything but a dog treat to your fur baby again, but be careful he doesn't carry the burden for harming the dog. He is only a child. Guess I am just wanting to take care of both kids. Sorry, can't help myself ;-)
-cathy brown

I agree with the others and hope that you can get your baby in right away. My Theo found the easter eggs last spring, and the doctor had me induce vomiting by giving him 1-2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. After about 15 minutes, he had done nothing, and I called back in a panic because now I had my little baby with toxic chocolate AND peroxide in his little tummy. But, just as I was on the phone, he began, and everything "came out all right" pardon the pun. Perhaps your vet can give you his recommendation for first aid in such situations. Let us know what happens, and I know we all hope your baby is fine. I agree with Cathy, too about comforting your child, I am sure it was an accident and he/she needs a hug, too!
-Beverly

My Max ate a whole gift sack full of chocolate candies in his youth before I learned he could go just about anywhere a cat could. They were on the piano and I thought out of his reach. Fortunately he survived, but he was very sick for 2 days. I didn't find out in time to induce vomiting.
-Sharon

Hi Audrey - Waiting to hear how your baby is??? Hope everyone is OK.
-Robin D.

Thank you all for all your support. Our little baby didn't make it. We later found out that our son had given her a hershey bar also. It will take us a long time to get over this one. I never knew how dangerous chocolate could be for a dog.
-Audrey

Audrey, I am so sorry.......I know this must be very painful for you and your family.
-Robin K.

I am so sorry. I breaks my heart to know this.
-nanci

Audrey, my heart breaks for you in the loss of your puppy. There are so many things to learn when you get a puppy its hard to know everything at once. With people we give candy out of love and your son didnt know this would be deadly to his puppy. My thoughts and prayers are with you today.
-Karen

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts are with you.
-Jessica

Audrey, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. This is a terrible loss for you and your family and I will keep you in my prayers.
-Robin D.

Very sorry about your great loss. It brought tears to my eyes. Hope you and your family are doing well in this truely sad time. Your baby wouldn't want to look down from heaven and see you sad.
-Connie