Vet issues urgent warning over dog’s near-death ordeal after eating EIGHT bars of dark chocolate on Boxing Day

A TINY dog devoured a massive stash of lethal chocolate during a Boxing Day binge.

Miniature dachshund Alfie ate a whopping eight Green & Black's dark chocolate bars after being accidentally shut inside a living room.

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The seven-year-old pup had managed to wolf down 120 grams of the 70 per cent coca treats

Before prying open a panettone and scoffing that.

Chocolate is highly toxic to dogs as well as raisins and sultanas which can be found in panettone.

Alfie was urgently taken to Vets Now where he was admitted for urgent treatment.

His owner Bethany, from Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, said: “On Boxing Day I was feeling pretty ill thanks to the Covid and went to bed quite early.

“Then at 6am the next morning I got woken up by the sound of Alfie barking and yelping frantically.

“I went to find out what was going on and realised he'd been stuck in the living room where there was just a scene of chaos.

“He'd managed to get the box of chocolate bars down from the coffee table and he'd then used his teeth and paws to take the wrappers off before wolfing them down.

“Then I saw that he'd got the bread as well.

“There were five panettones in a cylindrical tube, which he'd knocked to the floor and opened up.

“He ignored four of them and went for the chocolate one, which was in the middle.”

When he was taken to the vet, the on-call team gave Alfie some medication to make him sick to try and clean his stomach of toxins.

And because of the quick actions of Bethany, Alfie hadn't had time to digest his haul and the nausea strategy worked.

Bethany and vets at Vet Now are warning dog owners of the dangers of chocolate on dogs this Christmas.l

Bethany said: “You have to take your hat off to Alfie – he's very delicate to food thieving and what he lacks in size he makes up for in cunning.

“You look at his tiny wee legs and think there's no mischief he'll be able to create – but the opposite is the case.

“With this chocolate binge he went on, he ate so much that I'm amazed he didn't just explode.

“No wonder he was yelping in the morning!

“In hindsight I can see the funny side of it – but at the time it was pretty serious and I'm very grateful that Vets Now were open to take care of him.”

Emergency Vet Dave Leicester, head of telehealth at Vets Now, said: “Alfie had eaten an usually large amount of chocolate, especially for such a small dog and raisins and sultanas can be extremely toxic to dogs.

“It was really important that Bethany sought help when she did.

“Time is of the essence with toxicity cases like Alfie's.

“If Bethany had held back from calling, the consequences for Alfie could have been very serious indeed and we're very pleased to have been able to help.

“We all hope Bethany and Alfie have a much less dramatic Christmas this year!”

Vets Now Glasgow is located on 123-145 North Street, Glasgow and is open 24/7.

More information on the clinic and information on if your pet needs veterinary treatment can be found here.