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My small dog ate chocolate cake. Is excessive urination an emergency?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 1 year and 2 months old | 12 lbs

12 lb. dog ate half a chocolate cake yesterday and today has excessive urination. Is this an emergency situation?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

C. Rathjens, DVM

Answered By C. Rathjens, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 9th, 2017

That amount of chocolate could certainly be a concern for as small a dog as Asta depending on the amount of chocolate in the cake and type of chocolate. 2oz of bakers chocolate would be enough to be potentially fatal, but she would have had to eating about 8oz of mild chocolate to be getting to a similar reaction.

That said, usually issues are seen within about 12 hours and include increased heart rate, hyperactivity, vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, seizures, and death. Increased urination is not an issue I would associate with chocolate toxicity. If she is otherwise completely normal, you don't need to anything else. But if she seems off, has tremors or seizures, she needs to see a emergency veterinarian right away. Of course, if she just doesn't seem right, it's better to take her in for an exam and bloodwork to make sure something else isn't going on.

Good luck!!
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