She ate more chocolate...

[Erin]

A couple weeks ago, Hershey got her first taste of chocolate.  She got into several chocolate covered apricots that were left in a baggie on a counter....  And she never counter-surfs...  ugh.

Tonight, my mom and I came back from a nice dinner to find that Hershey had eaten an ENTIRE sealed bag of Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Raspberry squares.  Individually packaged foil wrappers and all!!  After some quick math I figured that she ate about 150g of chocolate, give or take...  I quickly called the emergency vet (45 min away) and told the nurse on the line what had happened.  At 55 pounds, Hershey ate just enough chocolate to warrant an immediate 2T of hydrogen peroxide.  Of course, I had to run to the store cause we had none in the house!  Upon being force to imbibe the peroxide, she threw up all over the backyard...  little pink foil bits everywhere...  Now we're waiting an hour, barricaded in the kitchen, until I can give her 2T of Kaopectate.

Is it normal for them to just be dripping drool after all this??  She seems upset, but I think its just cause she's trapped in the kitchen.  :o(  Hopefully we're through the worst of it!

[Kyoko]

Oh my goodness..... I hope all works out for Hershey..... Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Rasberry Squares do taste good !!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Erin, Hershey has theobromine poisoning. The drooling is normal, it's a symptom of central nervous sytem involvement. So is her agitation.
About theobromine poisoning in animals.

Serious theobromine poisoning happens more frequently in domestic animals, which metabolize theobromine much more slowly than humans, and can easily consume enough chocolate to cause chocolate poisoning. The most common victims of theobromine poisoning are dogs, for which it can be fatal. Cats and especially kittens are even more sensitive. However, cats are less prone to eating chocolate since they are unable to taste sweetness. Many other animals are also susceptible to chocolate poisoning.
The first signs of theobromine poisoning are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and increased urination. These can progress to cardiac arrhythmias, epileptic seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks, and eventually death.
Theobromine is especially toxic to horses, dogs, parrots, voles, and cats because they are unable to metabolize the chemical effectively. If they are fed chocolate, the theobromine will remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours. Medical treatment performed by a veterinarian involves inducing vomiting within two hours of ingestion and administration of benzodiazepines or barbiturates for seizures, antiarrhythmics for heart arrhythmias, and fluid diuresis.

I hope Hershey will be okay. I'm sure you'll make sure that she doesn't have access to any more chocolate; I know you wouldn't want her to have to go through this again. She certainly is living up to her name, lol!

[Ann Kendig]

Boy did this post bring back memories. My Golden Retriever did this once years ago. Ate all the individually wrapped chocolates. He weighed about 55-60 lbs. He did fine for the most part. The wrappers passed through but kinda got "stuck" before they came out. The vet had to reach in and pull them out as Shadow couldn't poop. After that he was fine. About a week later I had made a pan of brownies. My son got the pan out, and left it on the counter. I heard some noise in the kitchen and went to investigate. Sure enough Shadow pulled the pan off the counter and ate the remainder of the brownies. Back to the vet again. All turned out fine for Shadow but not so well for my son! After this my son didn't leave things laying out and Shadow never counter surfed again after the brownie incident! We too experienced the dripping drool. Good luck and I hope all goes well with Hershey. I guess you named Hershey appropriately!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'm so sorry you all have to go through this :( She certainly is living up to her name.

I also love your choice in chocolate. I'm coming to your house.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

Poor Hershey! I hope he will be fine and maybe a name change is in order.

[Erin]

3 hours later - All signs point to good :o) She was drooly for awhile, but the vet's office instructed me to give her 2T of Kaopectate, and then I was allowed to give her a couple ice cubes. She's laying about, still a little drooly but I'm thinking she's ok.

Thanks for all your kind words! I had honestly forgotten that I had purchased the chocolate, and it was sitting on the floor in a plastic shopping bag, with other stuff I had purchased and needed to take to work tomorrow.... Somehow she found it through two layers of plastic bags and sealed inside a Ghiradelli bag! She's not the sort of dog that normally gets herself into trouble, or messes with stuff that's not her's - and so I don't always think to pick everything up off the floor before we leave anymore...

For those who have gone through this before, I shouldn't be expecting serious diarrhea tonight, because she threw it all up right? I'm just going to give her another ice cube before bed, and then tomorrow the vet told me to give her another 2T of Kaopectate. Can I feed her regularly after that or should I do an upset tummy diet (rice and chicken) for a day?

[BetteB]

SO Glad she's doing better! Hope she has a good night tonight!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I wouldn't feed her much at all today.....a little of chicken and rice but only once to make sure she holds it down. Did your vet give you any advice on feeding today?
How was she last night? I hope better:)

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Glad to hear that she's feeling better! We'll be thinking of her today!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Maybe you need to change her name...LOL. I'm hoping that your night went okay, and she is doing better today. Never a dull moment with our Doodles.

[Frannie & Callie]

I hope Hershey is feeling better! I'd have stolen both the chocolate covered apricots and the dark choc/rasp squares (I love dark chocolate) too!

[Leslie J]

I hope that Hershey is feeling better! It sure is scary, isn't it? What an adorable chocolate girl :)