Giving Chocolate to dog at end of life

[LetMyPeopleVote]

My sister is a veterinarian with a doctorate. We called her when one of our PBGVs was in bad shape in the evening. The poor puppy (she was 13 years old) had a cancer tumor that our regular vet did not want to remove. The poor puppy was in pain and my sister suggested that we give the puppy a pain pill wrapped in chocolate. I started to object and my sister made clear that this was okay. We got the puppy to stop crying and got her to our regular vet that morning.

I saw this story and it brought a tear to my eye

Link to tweet

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[quaint]

1. Sobbing

[sheshe2]

2. ...

[niyad]

3. Tears

[JMCKUSICK]

4. Made me cry too. Love

[ShazzieB]

5. What a sweet story!

This is really hitting me close to home, as we have an appointment with the vet to say goodbye to our cat Willow on Thursday. She was diagnosed with cancer a while back. For a long time it progressed very slowly, but it has finally reached the point where we feel like it's time to let her go. Losing a beloved pet is so hard.

[Mtnmama]

12. Reaching that decision

Is so hard, almost as hard as actually doing it. We just want to hold on a little longer!

[radical noodle]

14. I'm so sorry...

It's a terrible loss.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. It is hard to say goodbye to a family member

I spent a couple of hours with my oldest child at the vet when he said goodbye to his dog.

[Grim Chieftain]

6. Big, big tears here

I miss my departed dogs more than words can say. They gave me pure, unconditional love., and I will love them and miss them forever.

[Silver Gaia]

8. Me, too...

[Grim Chieftain]

10. My precious dogs never let me down

Wish I could say the same about people in my life.

[oldsoldierfadingfast]

7. Crying with you...

as I lost my beautiful Eden (Yorkie) a year ago today so I know how you feel.
Henry, her half brother is now 15 yo (I got them both at the same time, he was 5 mo. older) and it hurts to know he will be the last dog to sleep in my bed.
After reading your post, when his time comes, I will give him all the chocolate that he can eat..

A dog is good for two things - being on the wrong side of a door and breaking your heart. Bennett Cerf

[calimary]

9. Something in my eye...

[StarryNite]

11. Crying here too.

[gademocrat7]

13. Crying

Dogs give us their love and loyalty.

[dflprincess]

15. My niece had a dog that loved Reese's peanut butter cups

And was adept at stealing them if someone in the house got careless.

He had cancer & it was clear the end was near so she offered him one as a treat. He refused it & that's when she knew it was time to call the vet.

[nuxvomica]

16. I'm glad the sweet baby had her moment

I found this toxicity calculator which may be helpful if your dog accidentally ingested chocolate:
https://veterinaryclinic.com/chocolate/embed/embed.html

While Googling for insight this, I learned that while chocolate can be toxic, xylitol, an artificial sweetener found in many human foods, may be even worse. I never heard of this before. Keep an eye out for foods with xylitol. It's no problem for me because I can't stand any artificial sweetener though it is in my toothpaste. It's also commonly used in chewing gum.
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/paws-xylitol-its-dangerous-dogs

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Thanks for posting these links

My current beardie and our rescue husky/australian shepherd mix are great about not stealing human food. Our PBGVs and my prior beardie were really bad about trying to get human food

[SWBTATTReg]

19. Ohhhhh!! My heart is breaking but at least they were there at the end...

[Wonder Why]

20. Anyone who would say it is wrong, is not part of the human race.

[BobTheSubgenius]

21. We gave our Cairn several pieces of bacon at the end.

He'd already had chocolate - twice. Got into the Xmas baking supplies because he was smart and relentless. The second time, he ate half a pound, which is a TON of dark chocolate for a 17 pound dog. After a small but decent meal and a bunch of sleep, he was right as rain.

Besides the two chocolate incidents, he had survived unknown liver issues, pancreatitis, a mass in his lower belly and being hit by a car. Lived to be 16. Ozzie was a tough and playful wee Scot, and I still miss him TONS.