If you have a pet in the house who just loves to get into your candy stash, then this article is for you!
The Hershey Company produces so many different types of chocolates that it can be hard to keep them all safe from a hungry pet.
- Can A Hershey Kiss Kill A Dog?
- What Happens When My Dog Eats Chocolate?
- What Happens When My Dog Eats Too Much Chocolate?
- Will 2 Hershey Kisses Hurt My Dog?
- Are Hershey Kiss Wrappers Toxic?
- Are Hershey Kiss Wrappers Edible?
- What To Do If Your Dog Ate Hershey Kisses?
- How Long After Eating Do I Need To Induce Vomiting?
- How To Prevent Your Pup From Eating Too Many Hershey Kisses
- Conclusion
Can A Hershey Kiss Kill A Dog?
Hershey’s kisses can actually cause some serious harm to a dog, so it’s important to learn how you can keep your pet safe.
It all depends on how many Kisses they ingested and how recently the Chocolate Kiss was consumed.
If the Hershey kisses are old enough that they’ve melted and there is no hard candy shell anymore, then it won’t be quite as bad for your dog, but if there is still a solid chocolate shell (the kind with the foil wrapping) where they haven’t been exposed to air yet It could be very dangerous.
1) The Foil-Wrapped Hershey’s Kiss:
A single small kiss is unlikely to kill a big dog, but it can make them sick; one or two medium-sized Kisses could be lethal to a small dog.
That’s because these are very sweet chocolates that have a lot of sugar in them, and if it all gets into your pet’s system at once the results can be fatal.
2) Milk Chocolate With Almonds:
Milk is pretty much non-toxic to dogs, but they don’t necessarily know that and so you should keep an eye on them when they’re eating any kind of dairy product.
It would take about 20 dark Hershey kisses to cause liver failure in a 25-pound dog (that’s not counting the weight of the wrappers).
A sick dog could enter liver failure from 2 or 3 ounces of milk chocolate with almonds.
Pretty much any chocolate that contains nuts or is chunky like peanut butter could be very bad for your dog, so you should always watch them while they are eating it.
Chocolate poisoning in dogs comes from theobromine contained within the chocolate product.
The more sugar and fat the chocolate has, all the worse it is for your pet if she gets into them.
It’s important not to be alarmed just because every now and then you find some Hershey Kisses underneath a sofa cushion or behind a bookshelf, but if you think they’ve gotten into something like this often enough It might be a good idea to talk about what options are available for you and your pet.
What Happens When My Dog Eats Chocolate?
When Hershey Kisses or other types of chocolates get into your dog’s stomach acids break down any sugar or fat content into Theobromine.
Dogs aren’t able to eat very much chocolate at one time because of the amount of sugar in it, but a lot of small incidents every now and then can add up if your dog keeps getting into things that contain Chocolate Kisses.
What Happens When My Dog Eats Too Much Chocolate?
It all depends on how much he ate and how often, but prolonged exposure to high doses like this can cause:
- Vomiting
- Fast breathing
- Excessive thirst
- Urinary incontinence
- Diarrhea
- Lethargy (lack of energy)
- Seizures or coma
- Death
If you see signs like these immediately contact a vet or animal emergency hospital, as the situation could be life-threatening if left untreated.
Although Chocolate is toxic for dogs, a small piece of chocolate now and again won’t hurt as long as they don’t consume the whole bar/box/package at once, but you should keep them out of reach when you’re not looking so they don’t snack on too many every time you turn your head away for a few seconds.
If they eat something like this often enough it can cause some serious damage to their internal organs.
Will 2 Hershey Kisses Hurt My Dog?
If your dog ate a few small Hershey Kisses then there’s no need to worry, but if you want to know how many Hershey kisses would hurt your dog, then it depends on the size of your pet.
One or two medium-sized Kisses could be lethal to a small dog. Two large-sized KISSES (or more) could kill a medium-sized dog.
It also depends on what condition your pet is in when it ingested the Chocolate Kiss(s). If they have been running around outside and playing all day, they might have built up some energy that will help them get through this quickly without suffering too much harm.
I would recommend taking your dog to the vet just in case something has gone wrong and needs to be looked at.
Just because your dog isn’t exhibiting any symptoms doesn’t mean that nothing is happening in their body, so just keep an eye on them for a day or two, to make sure they are okay.
Are Hershey Kiss Wrappers Toxic?
If your dog eats a piece of paper from the Kiss package it will be fine, as long as it doesn’t contain any chocolate.
The papers in Hershey Kiss wrappers are safe to eat. In fact, they were made that way with intent so people would snack on them while eating their actual Chocolate Kiss.
Are Hershey Kiss Wrappers Edible?
Yes, theoretically they are edible, but if you were given the option to eat one or two Hershey Kiss wrappers would you? Would you choose to snack on a whole box of them? Probably not.
What To Do If Your Dog Ate Hershey Kisses?
The first thing to do when your dog eats chocolate is to induce vomiting. Most vet offices have something at hand that will make a dog vomit, and it might save their life if you call immediately.
If the Hershey Kiss was new and wrapped in foil or plastic they should be able to bring the pet around with an injection of apomorphine (a brand name usually called “emetic”, meaning they’ll vomit) or xylazine (another good drug).
If not, then dosing them orally will work too; both these drugs cause rapid emesis without nausea or persistent vomiting if given by mouth.
It is very important that dogs are not allowed to eat chocolate if they even lick it, because the sweet taste can entice them to swallow something harmful.
If a pet gets into your Hershey Kisses you should check with your vet, animal hospital, or emergency veterinary clinic about what to do for further instructions.
If they tell you there’s no cause for alarm then you shouldn’t worry too much, but make sure your dog is going up and down on the scale/walking around fine so you’ll know whether he/she was really having an issue or not.
Some dogs just have tummy aches when they get into things like this but don’t show real signs of damage…only time will tell.
Your veterinarian will be able to observe your pet for any signs of poisoning, tell you what a healthy weight is, and make sure that the symptoms are not something serious.
If your dog has swallowed chocolate, induce vomiting as quickly as possible (15 minutes) by using syrup of ipecac: 1 cc/10 lbs body weight up to 10 times.
Check with your vet if this dosage is right for your dog. This will bring up the contents of their stomach and hopefully expel all or most of it before it can be absorbed into the body.
If they do have a reaction from consuming Hershey Kisses, keep them hydrated with lots of water and take them to see an emergency vet clinic ASAP!
How Long After Eating Do I Need To Induce Vomiting?
Every second counts here! The quicker you get them up and puking, the better!
If they get to feeling nauseous that’s good…they’ll throw up on their own. Feel free to give them a little help if necessary by rubbing the roof of their mouth with your finger or something until they can’t take it anymore and vomit.
Eating chocolates is not necessarily dangerous for dogs, but some varieties are toxic and others just plain bad for them – especially dark chocolate.
Hershey Kisses or other types of chocolates would be less dangerous if the dog had eaten it a long time ago and vomited everything up, but the longer it stays in their system the more likely bad effects will occur.
So keep a close eye on your pet’s body language as you walk them around!
For example, if they look like they are feeling sick (as described above) take them to see an emergency vet clinic ASAP – don’t wait for symptoms to worsen!
How To Prevent Your Pup From Eating Too Many Hershey Kisses
Fortunately, there are a few ways to help prevent your pup from eating too much chocolate.
Here are three quick tips on how to keep Hershey kisses away from dogs:
1) Keep the chocolates up high – A lot of people don’t realize that dogs can jump surprisingly high when they want something badly enough! If you store your Hershey Kisses on a high shelf, your dog will have a much harder time getting to them.
2) Don’t spread the word about the fact that you have these chocolates in your house – If your dog is any good at all at finding where things are stored, he could easily sniff out where they’re kept and find his way to them without you even knowing!
3) Only give your dog these chocolates if there are no other chocolate treats around – If you have any leftover candy or a box of some other type of chocolate lying around, then make sure those are the only ones that your dog has access to.
If you follow these three tips, you will be able to remove almost all the risk of your dog getting into too much chocolate!
It’s also important to make sure that you are watching your pets closely whenever they get together with other animals. Even if you have a cat as an indoor pet, there is still a lot that your dog can learn from them and they may show your dog how to jump or get into higher places.
If you do a great job at keeping your pup’s chocolate intake under control, it will be much less likely that he will suffer any serious side effects from eating too much.
Conclusion
The amount of Hershey Kisses that a dog can eat before he starts to experience bad side effects will depend on how big of a chunk he takes, how many Hershey kisses there are in the package, and what other kinds of food or treats your pup is eating.
Some dogs won’t have any trouble at all with eating one or two pieces here and there, while other dogs may get sick from just one bite!
If you think that your pup has eaten Hershey Kisses, watch them closely for signs like nausea or vomiting.
If you observe either behavior then take them to see an emergency vet clinic- giving them some water as well to try to wash out their digestive system if necessary.
Hopefully, no harm will be done, but it’s important to be careful!