As the owner of a professional pet sitting service in Milwaukee, Racine, Brookfield and Kenosha counties, we have highly trained team members. They are professional dog walkers who carry a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in their vehicles; prepared to help an animal that has come in contact with toxins. Over the years, we’ve induced vomiting from pets ingesting sleeping pills, candy, chocolate, and just today, coffee grounds.

toxic coffee

The below is from: Veterinary Advice From Dr Scott Nimmo MRCVS, BVMS.

Why coffee is so toxic and what to do if you see empty Keurig pods:

1. Firstly, what symptoms would you expect to see? : The principal symptoms of caffeine toxicity in the dog could include vomiting, diarrhea, an increased heart rate, an irregular heart rate, excitability and tremors. Beyond that in severe cases this could progress to seizures, and deaths are possible in cases of massive overdose but thankfully this is rare. Symptoms normally start appear within the first one to two hours after ingestion.

2How much coffee grounds would be toxic to a dog? :  Well the the toxic dose for caffeine in dogs is around 150mg of caffeine per Kg of your dog’s body weight so if you read the ingredients on the pack and made a rough estimation you would get some idea of the level of risk. In practice though this is difficult because different brands of coffee have different caffeine levels, used coffee grounds have much less caffeine content, and it is often hard to estimate just how much of the stuff your dog ate.

3. How is coffee toxicity in the dog treated? : As with a great many toxins which may have been swallowed by dogs if you can induce vomiting within the first hour then things will usually be just fine. This is the single most effective thing you can do. { See our Further references section below for a link on how to do this best }

Outside of that time scale but within the first five or six hours activated charcoal given orally may be of benefit as it will help mop up any toxins still in the stomach and intestinal tract.

However beyond the above measures there is unfortunately no specific antidote and treatment will then consist of symptomatic measures and a high level of support while the toxin slowly drain out of your dog’s system as it will typically start to do in 24 hours or so.

These symptomatic measures could include drugs to stabilise the heart rate, drugs to control tremors, anti-sickness meds, and sometimes IV fluids. These of course are almost certainly prescription drugs but if things have got to this stage then you will have got your vet involved by that time in any case.

4. The bottom line? : You may be able to handle a minor case of coffee toxicity on a home care basis just by support and sitting things out but if more severe symptoms set in you should have your dog checked by a vet without delay. Better safe than sorry …

I was lucky enough to have caught this within the hour. Many people, sadly, may not be so lucky. I induced vomiting and was able to see exactly which of my three standard poodles was the culprit. Please make sure everything is out of a pups way, and in our case, on the counter!

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