residual from dog eating chocolate

[dograt]

my 70 lb, 12 year old Golden ate 24 oz. of Hershey's dark chocolate kisses candy Wed. night between 9 & 12 PM. On Thurs. he was caffeine hyper excitable, restless, and had muscle tremors. He was not irritable, no vomiting, normally firm formed stools. He did seem to want to go outside to urinate more but that could have been the restlessness. He never seemed distressed as if stomach/bowel pain. Urinary incontinence was hard to determine since he dribbles constantly anyway.
Today, Fri morning 10 AM I noticed the dribbled urine puddles contain the slightest blood tinge. Otherwise he is back to his "I want to eat any & everything" sweetie Golden mode.
What is happening & what should we do?
Thanks

[TwoBitsMom]

I am so happy that all is well...!  Enjoy your Christmas, and don't turn your back on the Chocolates...!  ;-)

[dograt]

Thanks for all the help. After the freak out & rush to the vet, I slowed down long enough to look in the sunlight - it was red mud from his paws mixing with his urine! Holey smokes. He is doing fine now.
Last month he was bitten by a copperhead. Made it through hat also. Maybe he is so lucky because he had distemper as a pup when we found him.
Thanks again.

[dograt]

Thanks for all the help. After the freak out & rush to the vet, I slowed down long enough to look in the sunlight - it was red mud from his paws mixing with his urine! Holey smokes. He is doing fine now.
Last month he was bitten by a copperhead. Made it through hat also. Maybe he is so lucky because he had distemper as a pup when we found him.
Thanks again.

[Ghilly]

Dark chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate because it has a greater concentration of theobromine in it.  The half life of theobromine is about 18 hours, however symptoms of toxicity can manifest for up to 72 hours after ingestion of the chocolate.  These symptoms can include bradycardia (heartbeat below 50 beats per minute), arrhythmias, heart attacks, seizures and even death.  Even though your dog seems to be doing better today I would still get him to a vet to have him checked out because he not only ate a LOT of dark chocolate, he's a senior dog whose organs are not as able to bounce back as those of a young dog.

Ideally he should have been made to vomit within 2 hours of consuming the chocolate, but at this point, all you can do is let the vet take it from here and keep a close eye on him.  I would try to get him in there today since tomorrow is Christmas Eve and most vet offices will probably be closed at noon, if they open at all.  A trip to the regular vet today can prevent a very harrowing and costly trip to the emergency vet on the holiday.  Please let us know what the vet says.

Ghilly

[TwoBitsMom]

Jaybay is right...I would get him to the vet today...before the official holiday weekend arrives...Not only would I be concerned about the chocolate, but also the foil wrappings that your dog ingested...both can lead to toxicity. It would be best if you took him in today...better safe than sorry.
Connie

[Jaybay]

He's probably going to be fine unless he has an underlying medical problem.  The blood in the urine may be a coincidence but that alone calls for a trip to the vet.  He may have a urinary tract infection or be in some phase of kidney failure.  Incontinence is a big symptom of something wrong within the urinary tract.  It's not always just a sign of weak muscle control due to age.  

Most vets can do an instant result urine test to determine if kidney failure is an issue.  If you can, bring a sample in to the clinic when you go.  Hopefully you'll be able to pop a cup into your dog's urine stream without him freaking out about it and shutting off the flow.  If you get the sample and have to wait more than 30 minutes, it can be refrigerated.  You don't need a whole bladder's worth - an ounce or two should be more than enough.

The half-life of the theobromines that cause chocolate toxicity is 17.5 hours, which means symptoms can last up to 3 days in severe cases.  Since your dog doesn't have the nausea and vomiting typical of chocolate poisoning, he'll likely have no further issues where that's concerned, but do try to get him to your vet today!