How toxic is chocolate The toxic ingredient in chocolate is theobromine. Humans can easily metabolize theobromine, but dogs and cats metabolize theobromine at a much slower rate, so it can easily build up to toxic levels in the body. Chocolate tolerance is related to body size Larger dogs can generally tolerate more chocolate compared to smaller dogs and cats. The typical onset of cocoa base poisoning is severe hyperactivity Small amounts of chocolate may only cause the dog to feel upset stomach, vomiting or diarrhea. Large amounts of theobromine can cause muscle tremors, convulsions, cardiac arrhythmias, internal bleeding or heart disease. A typical symptom of cocoa base poisoning is severe hyperactivity. A small piece of chocolate does not usually cause illness. A small piece of chocolate may not be fatal. In general, a small piece of chocolate does not contain a large enough amount of theobromine to cause disease in dogs and cats. So don’t be too alarmed if your dog or cat accidentally steals a piece of milk chocolate. However, if you have a small dog or cat that also ate a box of chocolates at once, then you need to take him to the vet right away. Different types of chocolate have different levels of theobromine. Cocoa powder, cooking chocolate and dark chocolate have the highest levels of theobromine, while milk chocolate and white chocolate have relatively little. So, when you are dealing with dark and bitter chocolate, be sure to keep an eye on your dog and cat. Less than 30g of dark chocolate is enough to poison a 44-pound dog. For theobromine poisoning, vomiting within two hours of chocolate ingestion is the usual treatment. So, if you are concerned that your dog or cat may have eaten a large amount of chocolate, call your veterinarian as soon as possible.
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