Advice Please - kind of urgent
 

I was just cleaning out the coffee maker from this morning and when I dumbed the coffee grounds, some fell on the floor. I was going to clean it when the phone rang and when I went back to it, they were gone. I think Chewy licked them up :eek: My vet's office is closed and when I called another vet, they said they could not give any medical advice. It wasn't a hell of a lot of grounds, but I'm a little nervous. What should I do???

Hmmm... If anything keep an eye on him se how he reacts.... If you're comfortable with see if you can induce vomiting?

I don't know if the coffee grounds will hurt him or not. Try to do a search on that?

Sorry no real help :(

I know coffee is not good for them but since it wasn't a whole lot I think he will be okay. My dogs eat a little bit of grounds once and was fine.

I think Chewy will be ok...Sammi did that while I was on vacation...My mom was freaking out! Sammi was 100% fine...She had licked up about maybe 1 teaspoon full if even that much...

Got this from...http://coffeefaq.com/caffaq.html#legallimit

Caffeine is present in tea leaves and in coffee to the extent of about 4%. Tea also contains two other alkaloids, theobromine and theophylline. These last two relax the smooth muscles where caffeine stimulates the heart and respiratory systems.
The effects of theobromine are, compared to caffeine and theophylline, relatively moderate. However, cocoa contains eight times more theophylline than caffeine. As well, caffeine has been shown to combine with other substances for added potency. Thus the effects of theobromine might be enhanced by the caffeine in chocolate.

Theobromine is highly toxic to dogs and kills many canids/year via chocolate poisoning . It takes quite a dose to reach fatal levels (more than 200 mg/kg bodyweight) but some dogs have a bad habit of eating out of garbage cans and some owners have a bad habit of feeding dogs candy. A few oreos won't hurt a dog, but a pound of chocolate can do considerable damage.

Clinical signs of theobromine toxicity in canids usually manifest 8 hours after ingestion and can include: thirst, vomiting, diarrhea, urinary incontinence, nervousness, clonic muscle spasms, seizures and coma. Any dog thought to have ingested a large quantity of chocolate should be brought to an emergency clinic asap, where treatment usually includes the use of emetics and activated charcoal. The dog will thus need to be monitored to maintain proper fluid and electrolyte balance.

Pathogenesis of theobromine toxicity: evidently large quantities of theobromine have a diuretic effect, relax smooth muscles, and stimulate the heart and cns.

Maybe all your baby will have is a good caffine buzz. I hope he is OK. keep us posted.

I agree that if it was just a small amount I wouldn't worry, however, I found the following info and only you know how much your baby ingested:

Chocolate/ fatty foods

Although we have never personally experienced it, for years we have heard horror stories about dogs getting into bags of chocolate and dying swiftly. We have also heard stories of people that have long time family pets that they occasionally feed from the table and after doing this one time, the dog is found dead. High levels of fat, which is what is found in chocolate and some table scraps, can be deadly to your dog. One of the common conditions that ingesting the wrong foods can cause is pancreatitis. This is a malfunction of the pancreas, which if left untreated can cause death. Vomiting and lethargy are early symptoms. This is treatable if caught in the early stages. One common theme with everyone that lost an animal to the wrong food is they never knew how harmful foods could be to their pet. Below is a short list of other common foods that can be dangerous to your pet.

Alcoholic beverages
Chocolate (baker's, semi-sweet, milk chocolate)
Coffee (grounds, beans, chocolate covered espresso beans)
Moldy or spoiled foods - be careful to dispose of these in an area where your dog cannot get to them
Onions, onion powder
Fatty foods
Salt
Yeast dough
Macadamia nuts
Raisins and Grapes

http://acmepetco.com/geninfo.html

Thanks guys, he seems to be OK. He is very hyper anyway so a caffeine buzz, wow, I don't know what I'll do!!!, LOL. I'll keep any eye out and see how it goes.
Thanks again.

I sure hope he' ok! Keep us posted.

you may want to remember this
 

I am assuming the grounds were "used"...in which case most of the caffeine content has already been washed from them...I don't know percentages as there do seem to be some real knowledgeable folks on this board, but as long as it wasn't much, you've got the added comfort of knowing they were not fresh, fully potent coffee grounds. (Have you ever been so deperate as to be forced to re use grounds and try to squeeze another cup out of them...miserably weak excuse for a cup of coffee.)

Poison control
 

I am doubtful that used coffee grounds are going to be a problem - so don't panic. I do however, want to give you (and the Yorkie forum in general) this bit of information:

The ASPCA hosts an animal poison control hotline. For a $50 donation, they will give you any information you need to know to help your dog in an potential poisioning situation. You can find them on the internet and they have a 800 number hotline. If you think your dog has swallowed something that is harmful.

[QUOTE=yorkipower

The ASPCA hosts an animal poison control hotline. For a $50 donation, they will give you any information you need to know to help your dog in an potential poisioning situation. [/QUOTE]

I don't mean to sound pissy....but isn't time of the essence here in a poisoning situation? I don't wanna be reading someone my dang credit card number for gosh sake.....

I didn't mean for my post to sound like it was directed at you, Yorkiepower. I appreciate at least knowing it exists. I meant if the ASPCA really wanted to help an animal, they'd just TELL you.

arggggggg
 

gerry what does the vet mean it cant give any advice HELLO! they are a vet thats what we use them for. :) dianne :) hope your baby is okay

Just wanted everyone to know that Chewy is fine, no harm done. Thanks to everyone who posted with advice. i knew I could count on YT :D

I know, it's kind of stupid, but they don't want to be responsible for anything negative resulting in their advice, you know in this litigous society we live in now.