With Halloween approaching, sweet treats and chocolate are more likely to be in our homes. Whilst us humans love nothing more than a bar of our favourite chocolate, pets - especially dogs - should never join us in sharing our chocolate treats. In this article, we look at the key signs of chocolate poisoning in pets and what you need to do if you think your pet has eaten chocolate.

Chocolate is toxic to your pets because it contains a chemical called theobromine, as well as caffeine. Dogs cannot metabolize theobromine and caffeine as efficiently as people can.

The amount of toxic theobromine varies with the type of chocolate. The darker and more bitter the chocolate, the more dangerous it is to dogs.

Common clinical signs of chocolate poisoning are:

• Vomiting

• Diarrhoea

• Increased thirst

• Panting or restlessness

• Excessive urination

• Racing heart rate

• In severe cases, muscle tremors, seizures, and heart failure can be seen.

To work out if your dog has eaten a potentially toxic amount of chocolate, you can use the free chocolate toxicity calculator for dogs created by Vets Now.

To access this, just visit https://www.vets-now.com/dog-chocolate-toxicity-calculator/ and complete the questions. This website will then calculate how toxic the chocolate is that your pet has eaten.

If you think your pet has eaten chocolate, please call us immediately for advice on 01665 252250. It is often useful to keep the wrapper with the ingredients on it, as this information will be needed.