Please Talk to Your Vet Before Giving Human Medicines to Your Pet
The other night I worked on a sad case. A wonderfully sweet dog came to see me. The dog was in a great deal of pain, most likely from a pinched nerve in his neck. He would spontaneously vocalize (that is to say, scream) in agony every few minutes. It was very hard to watch the poor dog suffer so intensely.
About two hours before they brought him to me, the dog’s owners gave him 200 mg of ibuprofen (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, that is the active ingredient in Advil and Motrin) to try to help with his pain.
Ibuprofen has a low safety margin in dogs. It is potentially toxic. Fortunately, the quantity that the clients had administered to their pet was well below the toxic dose.
Unfortunately, the ibuprofen prevented me from treating the dog’s pain as aggressively as I would have preferred. Dogs who receive ibuprofen should not receive any other NSAIDs or steroids for at least three days or they will be at very high risk of suffering from gastrointestinal ulcers. Of course, NSAIDs and steroids are the main drugs used to treat neck pain in dogs.
Being unable to use these classes of medicine made helping the dog much more complicated. I had to hospitalize him and give him drugs related to morphine to make him comfortable.
Talk to your vet before you administer any human medications to your pet.
Photo: Sage Ross.
You have questions. 
Another compounding factor is that most human-size pills will be too high a dose for most cats and dogs (except maybe large/giant breeds). “I just gave 1 pill” may actually equal five or six doses for kitty or fido.
It’s always better to err on the side of caution and ask.
For the love of God, please heed this blog! I am quite knowledgeable in vet medicine but I NEVER administer anything without consulting with my vet! Especially since medicine has advanced in so many different ways and compounds are being added all the time! I know my vet keeps up with his journals. We discuss new products and treatments quite often. So heed or grieve….
My dog was prescribed demaxx for a back injury. Several friends told me their dogs had some very adverse reactions to the drug and considered it dangerous. I did a bit of research and found there are many other people who have had terrible experiences giving it to their pets.
At the time my dog was hurt the vet recommended prednisone or deramaxx. I thought I was choosing the least harmful, but now wondering about the safety of this drug.
Any comments?
Don’t give your pets human medications! Mom says this is important so read it! http://tinyurl.com/cld9ks
Don’t give your pets human medications! Mom says this is important so read it! http://tinyurl.com/cld9ks
Sue, check out these previous posts:
http://blogs.dogster.com/vet_blog_information_advice/nsaids-arent-always-bad/
and
http://blogs.dogster.com/vet_blog_information_advice/how-safe-is-long-term-rimadyl-use/
or search the vet blog for “nsaids”. In my opinion Deramaxx is generally safer than prednisone. But Deramaxx, and all medicines in its class, has the potential to cause adverse effects. Always talk to your vet about the risks and benefits of these medicines before administering them.
Thank you.
The ONLY human medication I will give my dogs is Benadryl. If dosed properly Benadryl can literally save a dogs life in the case of a severe allergic reaction. It saved Hunters life when he was a puppy. He got stung by a wasp and his entire head was swollen as well as his neck, we called the vet in a panic and they told us the correct dose. We gave him the benadryl and about 15 minutes later the swelling had gone down. Of course, ALWAYS ask your vet what the correct dosage is… but it really is an important thing to keep in your first aid kit.
Someone from a pug rescue group told me that to “cure” my dogs food agression (towards other dogs only) by going to walmart and buying a generic Prozac!
theres no way im going to drug up my dog!
I think it is fine as long as you ask your vet or they are the ones to tell you to give it. For example when Barkley was a pup he got the splarts, I called the vet and he told us the correct doesage of Pepto Bysmol to give to him, and it worked. Then when Moose got a bad bacterical infection the vet told us to give him Imidol along with his meds he priscribed. Also Barkley has allergies to pollen and he told us to give him claritin or benadryl when it acts up.
My 12 1/2 yr old Lab is one of those that has done well on Deramaxx, and I too had fears about it. I discussed it with our vet, and we decided we needed to try it – his right hip was getting bad, worsened likely by a hump in his spine since birth that caused him to walk a little “off” and pull in that leg. We did the necessary bloodwork (which was normal) and tried him for 2 weeks, at which point we retested. His liver was elevated already, but we started him on supplements to help that. His next test, and every test in the year+ since, has been normal! He continues to do well on it and though he can’t quite run now like he used to, or even like he could when he first started it – he feels good, tries to run or at least trot, and still does what I call his “horsey bounce”. We still give him his supplements, get regular bloodwork, and he still gets to enjoy the beer loves so much (and yes, our vet is aware of that too, since he was a year old, though we limit it a little more now). For us the benefits definitely outweighed the risks and fears we had. We had him on canine aspirin before, and there was no comparison in the results.
My Vet told me a while back that I could give my dog “Diphenhydramine”
(Benadryl) Childrens liquid formula.
She has allergies (skin) and it’s been a while since I’ve had to give her any. Can someone tell me at what dosage do I give it to her? is it 1 mg per pound of body weight? before giving it to her again I would ask the Vet I was just wondering if anyone else had been told this by their Vet.
When I take my cat to the vet, he is often prescribed human meds (Tagamet, Zantac, human eyedrops) but I would never ever give any medication to my cat without checking with my vet first!
Is it safe to feed dogs biscuits dipped in WHITE chocolate?
Is there any benefit for the dogs to dip their biscuits in white chocolate?
acaefvn- Thank you, yxdvgvw. Great site.