Meet the chocolate lab Milo

While Milo loves the taste of chocolate, it can make him ill, even in small quantities.

there’s nothing better than breaking off a chunk of your favourite chocolate bar and enjoying the smooth, rich taste of melt-in-the-mouth indulgence.

But did you know chocolate poisoning is one of the most common causes of poisoning in dogs, and can lead to illness and even death. If you suspect your dog has eaten some chocolate, contact your vet immediately.

Chocolate is toxic to dogs (and cats!).

Its rarely fatal, but eating chocolate can result in serious and expensive illness.

Chocolate is toxic because it contains theobromine a chemical, as well as caffeine. Theobromine is the predominant toxin in chocolate and is very similar to caffeine.

Both of these chemicals are used as a diuretic in medicine, a heart stimulant, blood vessel dilator, and a smooth muscle relaxant.

Dogs and cats find it difficult to metabolize theobromine and caffeine as well as we can.

This makes them more sensitive to the chemicals’ effects.

Dogs because of their greedy nature are four times more likely to fall ill from eating it, it needs be kept out of reach.

If your dog does steal chocolate make sure that you ring the vet.

Try to have a rough guesstimate of how much chocolate and what type of chocolate the dog has eaten.

Treatment for poisoning depends on the amount of time that has passed since the dog ate the chocolate.

The dog could be given medicine to make it sick and some activated charcoal to stop any further absorption of the toxic substance.

If its really serious the dog may have to undergo fluid therapy and further medication to combat toxic effects on the heart.