3 Medications to NEVER give your dog
 

Hi Everyone,
I get a daily email from a vet, and I just got a new one, and I thought it was helpful...hopefully I can post this, if not, i'm sorry :rolleyes:

Hi Dara,

You should NEVER give your dog medication without first checking with your veterinarian. It is not uncommon for a well-intentioned owner to accidentally poison their dog with medications that are dangerous.

So...what medications should you never give your dog? I'll tell you.

1. Aspirin. Aspirin toxicity (salicylate toxicity) is poisoning that occurs following the ingestion of aspirin or aspirin-containing products. Aspirin can be especially dangerous when mixed with other drugs such as steroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. There is a much higher risk of toxicity. Aspirin interferes with platelets, which are responsible for helping the blood to clot. Disruption of platelet function increases the amount of time it takes the blood to clot in cases of wounds or lacerations. Spontaneous bleeding may also occur causing pinpoint bruises to appear in the skin and on the gums (petechiae). Aspirin toxicity may cause gastrointestinal problems, respiratory difficulties, neurological problems, bleeding disorders and kidney failure. Gastrointestinal problems are common in dogs.

2. Ibuprofen is a popular and effective over-the-counter medication available to treat pain and inflammation in people. For dogs, ibuprofen can easily exceed toxic levels. The most common cause of ibuprofen toxicity is a well-meaning owner who tries to alleviate pain in his dog by administering a dose he thinks is adequate without knowing the toxic dose. The initial toxic effect is bleeding stomach ulcers. In addition to ulcers, increasing doses of ibuprofen eventually lead to kidney failure and, if left untreated, can be fatal. Symptoms include poor appetite, vomiting, black tarry stools, vomiting blood, abdominal pain, weakness and lethargy.

3. Acetaminophen . Common brands include Tylenol®, Percoset®, aspirin free Excedrin® and various sinus, cold and flu medications. Dogs most commonly receive toxic amounts of acetaminophen because owners medicate them without consulting a veterinarian. They also consume tablets that are dropped on the floor or left around. Dogs are less sensitive to acetaminophen than cats. For example, a 50-pound dog would need to ingest over seven 500 mg tablets in order to suffer toxic effects. In the cat, one 250 mg acetaminophen tablet could be fatal. If you suspect that your dog has ingested a toxic amount of acetaminophen, (one pill or more), contact your family veterinarian or local veterinary emergency facility immediately.

You never known when the unexpected can occur. All of these toxicities are fairly common and can be very expensive to treat. I would guess that they average cost of treating a dog with one of the above toxicities is $800.00 to $1000.00 (and there is no guarantee). Please - if this would be a difficult expense for you - do consider pet insurance.

To learn more about the benefits of pet insurance and to get a FREE quote go to: petinsurance.com.

So... keep all medications out of the reach of your dog and DON'T ever give any medication without first consulting with your veterinarian. If you ever suspect that your dog has ingested any amount of these medications, please contact your family veterinarian or local veterinary emergency facility immediately.

Until next time,

Dr. Jon

My vet has told me to give baby asprin to one of mine before for pain

Asprin Is fine.

Aspirin can act as an anti-coagulant and is not the safest choice for pain. If you give it, please check with your vet first.

exactly what i thought...we used to give it all the time at the vet.....

My friend almost killed her 10 lbs Yorkie by giving it aspirin! She didnt know better and gave it 3/4 of 1 tablet. The dog had to be taken to the vet because it got really sick. The vet told her if she had given it the whole tablet, the dog would have died.

I just wanted to add we use Baby Asprin.

I'm shocked that the aspirin is listed, and especially in that order. I think it down plays how very dangerous Tylenol and Ibuprofen are to dogs, and they can cause serious liver damage, and should never be given to a dog under any dosage amount.

I agree with you and was shocked also

I give aspirin to my Bijou. She has twisted femurs and sometimes gets tight and has feverish joints. I use 'doggie aspirin' that I got from Foster & Smith. It is low dosage; one tablet for a 20 pound dog. Bijou is 9 pounds so we give at most a half tablet. It's liver flavored so she takes it easily and has never had a reaction to it. I do agree that you can over-do it, though.

I had never heard of doggie asprin. Im gonna look that up

Asprin !
 

WE HAVE GIVEN OUR OLIVER 1/4 OF A BABY ASPRIN FOR THE FEVER HE GOT FROM ALL THE VACCINES, IT WAS RECCOMENDED BY THE VET...:animal-pa

thats what the vet told clients to use......

Yes!
 

we gave our 3 dogs small amounts of baby asprin ( the little orange ones) for ailiments, over the years...and had never effected them in a bad way...He was the best vet we ever had...all of our dogs..a toy poodle he lived till 14 ...and a yorkie lived till 16 and now Oliver he is 11...

we do not give the tylenol or other stuff...on that list. :animal-pa

Same here...
 

The vet told me to give Bella 1/4 of a baby aspirin after she had a mild reaction to her last vaccine.

I am also shocked at the order the email put the drugs in!! And ANY drug is toxic if you give too much of it....that should go without saying! You should know the appropriate dosage for your dog, just like you should know the appropriate dose for yourself or your children, BEFORE giving it!!

This may be something that some don't know:
If you're unsure about a dosage or what medication to use, you can always call an Emergency Vet (if it's after hours or the weekend and you can't get ahold of your vet, that is). When Bella was little she had so much anxiety about being alone for even 1 min (I'm pretty sure the breeder let her daughter sleep with her :rolleyes: ) so we had heard that you could give Children's Benadryl (liquid) to calm her down some. I had no idea how much to use, and when I searched it on the internet, they were giving the dosage to me in mg instead of mL. So, I called the Emergency Vet and explained that I hadn't ever been there and this wasn't really an emergency, I just wanted to check dosage so I wouldn't overdose my tiny puppy. The woman put me on the phone with a vet tech who got out a book and looked the appropriate dosage amount up for me! My thinking was, Vets care about animals, and surely if they can do something as trivial as tell you an appropriate dosage amount in order to make your pet more comfortable and keep their human from overdosing them, they would!
Obviously, if your dog is on other drugs (even herbal supplements), it's just as important to tell their vet as it is for you to tell your doctor all the meds you are taking--meds, even herbal supplements, DO interact sometimes.

seems to me !
 

seems to me reading here different vets... have different views on treatment of our bbykins ...:animal-pa

I TOTALLY agree with that. I'm not sure where this vet is located, but I will tell you that ibprofen is NOOOOOT good at all, we had a guy give his golden that for 10 yrs, and she died from renal failure......sorry if this was a bad thing to post.... :(

I didn't get this impression at all, if you reread the thread, it seems like everyone's vet gives aspirin, but never the other two drugs, Ibuprofen and Tylenol. The original posters advice came from a company that sells pet insurance, not necessary a real vet. I'm just saying this because from what I've read the other two drugs are always dangerous no matter what dosage. Do you know of any vet that ever recommends Ibuprofen or Tylenol? Do you know if its ever safe? Maybe I've got bad information, but I've read soo many times NEVER give your pets these two drugs or any drug containing these ingredients.

Re: Asprin...
 

SORRY!
I ONLY MEANT THE VETS THAT ARE MENTIONING ASPRIN IS NOT GOOD FOR DOGS.
IF U RESEARCH SOME VETS SAY NO ASPRIN OTHERS SAY IT IS OKAY !:animal-pa

ALSO, NOT TOO MENTION THE SIDE EFFECTS OF AN OFTEN PRESCRIBED ***Rimadyl *** BY A VET FOR OUR BBYKINS ?

I did a brief google on it, and I could find no vets that were against aspirin, what I did find, is that the amount is important, but this is true of any drug. Do you have any links suggesting that aspirin is unsafe for dogs? Or do they just mean be cautious in the amount you use?

Thanks for the info!:) I don't think I would give my dogs anything medicinal without first checking with the vet. I mean, if grapes are toxic to dogs I have to assume any type of medicine could have negative or even fatal effects.

is rimadyl bad? i'm confused.:confused:

here are just a couple of links, of many on the rimadyl ...


Rimadyl Warning

Medication - Rimadyl for dogs

rimadyl affects the liver, thats why if your older dogs are on it for a long period of time, they will do bloodwork to check out the values...same thing with deramaxx....

I'm guessing that it is generic email sent out to both cat and dog owners. Aspirin should never be given to cats. Baby aspirin given in the proper dosage short term is safe for dogs.

OTC Medications

omg! my mom's york takes it every day.:eek:

just make sure her vet checks bloodwork often for your moms yorkie!

I was going to reply to this: You can't necessarily trust that your vet is going to only recommend or prescribe drugs that are safe. Many drugs that vets prescribe have, in fact, produced MANY problems (i.e. renal failure, etc...) and even fatalities! It's important to research about a drug yourself after your vet has prescribed it.....and, you have to take a lot of what you read with a grain of salt, because not every drug will affect every dog the same. I always say, you should be at the very least INFORMED, and then you can decide if the benefit outweighs the risk and/or find out if there is something else out there that would have an equal benefit with much less risk. A lot of vets ARE knowledgeable about the risks, so I'm not saying all vets are bad....I just wouldn't trust my baby's life thinking that my vet was completely infallible. Case in point about my first statement.....see below:

Rimadyl is a prescribed drug, so that could have only come from the vet. Again, the benefits may outweigh the risks (I don't know the whole situation of this dog or any dog that was taking this med??) There are people out there working to get it mandated that vets have to provide what's called a "Client Information Sheet" that basically describes the drug and list possible side effects. This would be similar to the sheet you get when you fill a prescription at the pharmacy.....it is mandatory that you get this sheet so that you are informed of the risks of taking that medication. It is NOT mandatory that the same be done for pets at this time, however I've read that some vets do this. None of mine ever have...