Mary Allen
Chocolate – is loved by (almost) everyone and is at most unhealthy for people. In dogs and cats, however, even small amounts can lead to severe symptoms of poisoning. So every year, especially around Christmas and Easter, we have to be careful that our furry friends don’t tamper with Santa Clauses, Easter bunnies, and chocolate cake.
Trigger
What makes chocolate toxic to our pets is the ingredient theobromine from the cocoa bean. This is a substance from the group of methylxanthine alkaloids, which also includes caffeine, for example. Depending on the type of chocolate or cocoa product, the theobromine content varies greatly. Cocoa powder and chocolate with a high cocoa content contain a particularly large amount of theobromine. Cocoa powder contains about 14-26 mg of theobromine per gram of powder and 5-8 mg per gram of chocolate in dark chocolate. For products with a cocoa content of 70%, it is already 20 mg per gram, with 90% cocoa content it is 26 mg per gram. Cooking chocolate contains 14-16 mg per gram. The content in milk chocolate is comparatively low at 1.5-2.0 mg per gram, white chocolate contains virtually no theobromine.
Clinical symptoms are to be expected from an intake of 20 mg theobromine per kg body weight of the animal. Small dogs and cats are particularly at risk because even small amounts are enough to cause symptoms of poisoning.
Symptoms
Since theobromine affects many organ systems, the symptoms are varied. In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, acute poisoning can result in increased thirst and urination, increased respiratory rate, panting, hyperactivity, muscle tremors, exaggerated reflexes, overheating, cramps, increased heart rate, and cardiac arrhythmias. In rare cases, coma and death are possible. Chronic poisoning from ingestion of theobromine over several days can lead to heart failure.
Course
Theobromine is almost completely absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. This can take up to 10 hours. However, the first symptoms are often observed within 2-4 hours after admission. So if chocolate is found to be ingested or noticeable symptoms are observed, a veterinarian should be contacted or consulted immediately. Because the sooner treatment is started, the better the prospects. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, inpatient intensive care therapy may be necessary. The duration of treatment also depends on the severity of the symptoms of intoxication and the condition of the patient. As a rule, approx. 12-48 hours can be assumed.
Therapy
There is no specific antidote for chocolate poisoning. The treatment is therefore based on rapid and as complete as possible removal of the toxin from the body (decontamination) and other supportive measures. Decontamination includes various measures such as drug induction of vomiting in animals without impairment of consciousness, gastric lavage under anesthesia in animals that are unable to vomit (e.g. in the case of convulsions, impaired consciousness), administration of activated charcoal, and intravenous infusions to increase the urine production and thus an accelerated excretion of toxins. If the patient shows neurological symptoms such as cramps or circulatory problems such as cardiac arrhythmias, these must of course also be treated accordingly with antispasmodic drugs or antiarrhythmics.
Prognosis
With early therapy (ideally within 2-4 hours after admission), the prognosis is very good, and patients usually make a full recovery. The prognosis is cautious if larger amounts have been ingested, therapy is initiated with a delay, or in the case of advanced, severe symptoms.