Reader Question
Tuesday our 60 lb Portuguese Water Dog ate dark chocolate, around 6 oz. I rushed him to the vet and vomiting was induced within 20 minutes of the ingestion. That evening he was looking somnolent but still moving around fine. The next day evening he was a bit more sluggish. In the middle of the night he started licking his lips like he usually does before vomiting, but never vomited. I the morning, he was slow moving and just stared at the ground. When I came home from work, he was in apparent distress with his back hunched up and painful walking up/ down stairs. W took him to er where pancreatic enzymes were normal. By the time he came back from er, he appeared normal. I the am, Friday he was hunched over again. He produced small firm then looser bowel movements. I decided to keep him home with me And within a few hours he was normal again. Last night at 3 am he whined to g outside and started to hunch over before a BM and continued for a little while after. In am, he was fine until eating his bland diet of chicken and rice and needed to deficate. He was hunched over for a little while after his small firm BM. I am talking walnut size poops followed by looser stool. He appears to have abdominal pain around his bowel movements. I don't now if this is all from the chocolate or if he ate something else-- I know he was eating a stick on Tuesday before the chocolate, and he frequently drinks old water in our basement where water drips from the furnace. Any thoughts?
Answer from Our Team
It's good that you acted quickly about the chocolate. Dark chocolate can upset the gut and pancreas for a few days. But a hunched back, pain on the stairs and straining around bowel movements several days later need a recheck, because they can also be signs of pancreatitis, a piece of stick lodged in the gut, colitis, or back pain.
A normal pancreatic blood test makes pancreatitis less likely, but it doesn't rule it out. Ask your vet whether X-rays or an abdominal ultrasound would help, especially as he ate a stick. Go to an emergency vet if he vomits, won't eat, his belly is swollen or painful to touch, or he strains without passing anything. Offer him fresh, clean water rather than old standing water.
See pancreatitis in dogs and our dog poop chart.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.
