Oscar is a 2 year old German Shorthair Pointer. Over Christmas he managed to steal a whole chocolate roulade. His owners were aware that chocolate was poisonous to dogs and so brought him straight to the surgery.

 Oscar appeared very bright and well, but chocolate can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, or more seriously tremors, convulsions and ataxia (wobbliness). When Oscar was brought to the surgery he was given an injection of a drug called Apomorphine. This is a powerful emetic, which means it makes dogs sick. The injection caused Oscar to vomit and empty his stomach, therefore preventing the potential toxic effects of the chocolate.

 Dark chocolate is the most dangerous form of chocolate as it contains a higher percentage of cocoa, but cocoa powder and cocoa beans are even more dangerous. Unfortunately at Christmas and Easter chocolate poisonings are quite common because of the quantities of chocolate in the home.

Other common poisonings include raisins, grapes, chewing gum, rodenticides (rat poison), slug bait, certain plants (see opposite display) and anti-freeze.

 If you are worried that your animal has ingested something toxic please ring the surgery immediately as the quicker the animal is seen the easier it is to prevent toxicity.