Kitten ate chocolate and need advice

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tiffmaxee

tiffmaxee

Member Since 2013
my 7 lb 8 month old foster got into the living room overnight and ate a piece of chocolate. It was a 1/2 oz milk chocolate heart and I found a lot of it on the sofa and carpet. It's been at least 10 hours or more. No vomiting, diarrhea, or excessive urination. If I go to the vet she will end up in ER overnight. She's acting fine. What to do?
 
Do you think very much got/stayed in the cat, or was most of it on the sofa/carpet?

Since it's been 10 hours, I'd think that any ill effects would have already shown up, but I'd call the ER or a pet poison hotline to be sure.
 
I'm not sure how much she ate. Depending on who I believe she's out of tge woods I 24 or 72 hours. I think ER would admit and I'm not at all sure I should at this point. I'm thinking of giving her fluids. They would do IV drip.
 
I just looked around on the web. Amount and kind of chocolate seems to be important. Milk chocolate has less of the bad stuff. I would think you would be seeing symptoms by now if it was 10 hours ago. The chocolate calculator Larry and Kitties posted is a link to is for dogs, but will give you an idea about the toxicity. Can you call your regular vet and just ask?
 
I think given the 10 hour time frame you are likely out of the woods. Since it was milk chocolate rather than more pure chocolate like 70% + pure, she'd have to eat a lot more than part of one piece to get into trouble. I agree with Debby. If you can call your own vet but with no symptoms, I'm betting she spit most of it up.
 
Dark chocolate / baker's chocolate is the really bad stuff. I agree with the others if you're 10 hours in, you are most likely OK. Could call poison control to verify or look online for others who have posted about kitties eating some milk chocolate.
 
She hasn't vomited or had diarrhea. I do think she ingested at least half of the 1/2 oz piece. I'm still finding tiny pieces on the sofa caught by the trim around the pillows. From what I've been reading she's not out of the woods before 24 or 72 hours depending on which article I read. I discovered her MIA over 12 hours ago now. It could be as much as another 1-5 hours more since she got into it. She must have gotten past me when I got a drink before bed. Her sister must have been looking for her and was meowing a lot. I looked up and she wasn't on my bed so I started looking and finally opened the hall door and there she was. I need to find a fitting name for her when I adopt. At this point an ER would run CBC and urinalysis and put her on an IV drip. From the one chart I found she didn't get enough to be toxic. I hope I'm making the right decision to watch and wait.

Thanks everyone. I feel like a bad mama but I keep them out of that part of the condo because I have so many breakable items and plants that I was worried they might want to eat or dig. That darn chocolate has been there so long I wouldn't think it's edible. It was just there for color. I'm talking at least four years. I forget it's even there.

Thanks for the calculator. It says the chance of toxicity is mild.
 
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tiffmaxee said:
I'm talking at least four years. I forget it's even there.
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Well now I don't feel so bad about the box of chocolates I left in my cupboard that was several years beyond it's best buy date when I finally dug it out! :woot:

Now on a more serious note and to hopefully help ease your mind .....I found this.

"Not all chocolates are equally dangerous because different chocolates contain different levels of theobromine. As mentioned above, theobromine is found in cacao, so the higher the percentage of cacao in the chocolate, the more poisonous the chocolate is. For example, milk chocolate contains 60mg of theobromine per ounce whereas dark baking chocolate contains 450mg/oz. As a general rule, the more cacao in the chocolate, more dangerous the chocolate is. 45-50mg of theobromine per pound of body weight is sufficient to poison a cat; and 45-50mg is just 0.1oz of dark chocolate!"

So at 7lbs, this suggests she would have had to have eaten a lot more milk chocolate to cause her any distress.
 
@MrWorfMen's Mom my friend's boyfriend is a vet but not around here. I asked him about this and he was playing it safe and said she's probably okay but should get flushed. I'm just watching her for now. Why do these things always happen when my vet is off and it's a holiday weekend?
 
tiffmaxee said:
she's probably okay but should get flushed.
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Interesting. Don't want to underestimate your friend's boyfriend as a vet but could it be that vets dealing with cats eating chocolate is a bit like those dealing with diabetes. They know the general treatment but not so much about dosage and have a one size fits all treatment plan. The article I found the info in said cats rarely eat chocolate because they don't taste the sweet like a dog does which suggests they don't get a lot of cases. If I were in your shoes, I think I'd just be monitoring too. Damn MURPHY! Just a thought. Did you check under the sofa for any more chunks of the chocolate? She could have bitten into it and spit it out and what you found on the sofa is just the tail end of the piece. I know I am grabbing at straws but I feel for ya and finding another good bit of it would ease your mind!
 
Thanks. I did look under the sofa I even moved it. Found a few more tiny pieces. All tge pieces I found were tiny. I do think this crazy kitten did eat a lot of the heart. So far she's fine. She's sleeping on my bed next to me. Her sister's sleeping on one of the cat trees. I'll be glad once I've hit 48 hours. I'm also hoping to see a little of the foil when she poops.
 
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Sharon14 said:
How's she doing?
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She's acting fine. Slept next to me all night and just played with her sister. I'd like to see some of the foil come out this morning. First 24 hours has passed. Thanks for asking. Sure wish tomorrow wasn't a holiday! If I see some of the foil and she's acting fine I won't be quite as concerned for 72 hours to pass.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Glad to hear she is continuing to do well! Fingers crossed for some silvery poop!
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Thanks and I'm hoping for red too! It was a red heart for Valentine's Day 20012, I think. I kept it out for color, lol.

Well both used the box but I I didn't see any foil. I've never seen a cat so determined to cover her deposits. She got right in the box while I was trying to scoop. She used it again but the other box was right next to it.
 
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Update. It's now been a minimum of 55 hours since I found Chai whose name may be changed to Candy Girl or Rascal. She's acting fine but no sign of the foil wrapper. Here's a picture of her and the candy.
 
OK, must be my computer screen-- that heart looks like it's bigger than her head!

[I do think she's out of the woods, or I wouldn't be joking about things...]
 
Kitties never give up their secrets! They just look at you with those amazingly innocent eyes.

Please tell me it's a lever handle and not a round one! :eek:
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Kitties never give up their secrets! They just look at you with those amazingly innocent eyes.

Please tell me it's a lever handle and not a round one! :eek:
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Yep, lever. Not home to take a picture. Max would stand on his hind legs and push down with one paw. This one jumps at it. I heard banging but every time I look they are down the hallway or both there, lol.
 
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