The Dog Who Ate Christmas

The holiday spirit captures everyone’s heart, even our beloved pets. In a crime spree that shocked no one, least of which her family, Izzy was overtaken by her sweet cravings, and devoured 22 days of her human sibling’s Christmas advent calendar. A daily gift handmade by Mom which consisted of a lovingly chosen selection of individually wrapped chocolates, candies, gums, and even a Kinder egg containing a surprise toy in the center.

This was the message that greeted me early one morning when I arrived at work. My first reaction was to ponder who I felt sorrier for. Mom, who’s hard work was just thwarted by a Christmas candy bandit? The child who lost their advent calendar? Or Izzy, who was in for some rough days ahead, not only because she was likely to be the newest face on the Dog Shaming website, but also because of the ill effects of contents of the advent calendar on her body.

Izzy is a larger dog, so I wasn’t initially concerned about chocolate toxicity. The substances in chocolate that dogs are sensitive to are called methylxanthines, specifically caffeine and theobromine. Humans can break down and eliminate methylxanthines much more easily than dogs can. Different types of chocolate have different levels of methylxanthines. Generally, the darker and more bitter the chocolate, the higher the toxin level. Most candy bars are milk chocolate which is lower in methylxanthines. Toxicity is also dependent on the weight of the dog consuming the chocolate. Larger dogs have to eat more chocolate to suffer the toxic effects than smaller dogs do. Our website has a very convenient “chocolate calculator” to use if your pet has given in to their cravings like Izzy did. All you have to do is enter your pet’s weight range and pick the colour of the chocolate, and it will let you know if you need to worry or not.

Chocolate toxicity causes stimulation to the central nervous system and the heart. Signs can develop as early as 2 hours after ingestion and last for as long as 36 hours or more depending on the amount ingested. Initially, vomiting and diarrhea are typically experienced, followed by restlessness, panting, agitation, irregular heart rate, tremors, lack of balance, and possibly even seizures and coma.

In Izzy’s case, the chocolate was not near toxic levels. I felt the wrappers would cause more discomfort and possibly diarrhea as they passed through Izzy’s gastrointestinal tract.

Izzy’s early morning Christmas caper also involved ingesting candies and gum that were not chocolate. And this is where my concern intensified. Some gums and candies are sweetened with a natural low-calorie sweetener called Xylitol. Xylitol is highly toxic to dogs. Ingestion of any amount in any sized dog is considered toxic and should be treated immediately.

Xylitol causes a rapid release of Insulin and drops the blood sugar quickly causing the pet to become weak, uncoordinated, possibly have seizures, or coma. It can also cause very severe damage to the liver and rapid liver failure. This toxin is much more likely to result in death than chocolate.

It is very important to note that Xylitol is also used in some human liquid medications like antihistamines, some peanut butters, Jell-O, some fruit drinks, and some sugar free baked goods and puddings.

Since Izzy may have ingested Xylitol, she was immediately rushed to the clinic to induce vomiting. This was accomplished with an intravenous injection of a substance called Apomorphine which causes rapid nausea and vomiting, and in Izzy’s case worked within 30 seconds emptying her entire stomach of all the evidence of her crime, wrappers and all.

Izzy later had some bloodwork done to make sure there was no evidence that Xylitol had entered her bloodstream and had a toxic effect on her liver or blood sugar level. Thankfully, everything was normal. With three weeks left before Christmas, there was still lots of time to get back on Santa’s (and Mom’s) “Nice” list!

To find our “chocolate calculator”, log on to our website at aldergroveanimalclinic.com and click on the Pet Health tab, or call us at Aldergrove Animal Clinic and we would be happy to assist you and your pet!