Posted to the Scoop News blog by Nick, Circle City Scoopers
Last week I came home to find my 100lb chocolate lab had broken into the pantry, extracted an entire tub of Nesquik chocolate powder, and eaten it. Not a spoonful. The whole tub. Over a pound of dry cocoa powder, gone.
For context: this dog has survived chocolate before. She’s part Labrador, part raccoon, part industrial vacuum. But a full pound of concentrated cocoa powder is a different animal than a stray square of a Hershey bar, and at 8pm on a weeknight, “she’ll probably be fine” isn’t a bet I was willing to make.
So we did what you’re supposed to do and drove her to the emergency vet.
First, the shoutout: VEG ER for Pets, Chapel Hill
We went to VEG ER for Pets on South Estes Drive, and they were fantastic from the second we walked in. Calm, thorough, no judgment about the fact that my dog apparently sees pantry doors as a personal challenge. If you’re anywhere in the Chapel Hill/Pittsboro area and you ever need emergency vet care, put them in your phone now, not at 8pm when you’re already panicking:
VEG ER for Pets — Chapel Hill 239 S Estes Dr, Suite 102, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (919) 374-1909 · veg.com/locations/north-carolina/chapel-hill Open 24/7, 365 days a year
Here’s the part I didn’t expect: they called poison control on my dog
I didn’t know this existed until that night, and it’s the whole reason I’m writing this post.
There are 24/7 poison control hotlines specifically for pets. Real veterinary toxicologists, on call around the clock, whose entire job is to know exactly how dangerous “my dog ate an entire tub of hot cocoa mix” actually is.
The two big ones:
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — (888) 426-4435
- Pet Poison Helpline — (855) 764-7661
We called the ASPCA one, after a brief hold I spoke directly with a vet on the line, and they walked through my dog’s weight, the amount ingested, and the timeline. They calculated the actual toxic dose for a dog her size versus what she’d eaten, then relayed a treatment plan straight to the vets at VEG standing next to me. No games of telephone, no guessing. Just fast, specific answers from someone who deals with this exact scenario for a living.
The call cost $110. The VEG vet on-site told me flat out that our phone consult was cheaper than what they’d have to charge to work up a full toxicity assessment themselves, so it worked out as a win for both sides. And I wasn’t asked to pay a dime until everything was done, which honestly made the whole thing feel a lot less like a scramble and a lot more like a system that’s designed to actually work.
The takeaway
Save these two numbers in your phone right now, before you need them:
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435
- Pet Poison Helpline: (855) 764-7661
A quick note on cost: fees vary by service and change over time, so don’t hold me to the exact number, but expect somewhere in the neighborhood of what we paid. Cheap compared to a guessing game at 2am.
And if you’re local to Pittsboro, Chapel Hill, or Chatham County and you ever end up needing emergency care, VEG ER in Chapel Hill has earned our trust.
As for the dog? She’s fine. Fully recovered, fully unrepentant, and the pantry now has a latch on it that would make a bank vault jealous.
We show up so you don’t have to think about the poop in your yard. We can’t promise we’ll keep the cocoa out of your dog’s mouth, but hey, at least now you know who to call.
— Nick
