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Human Medications And Your Pet
Our goal at the Animal Hospital of Streamwood is to help your pet stay healthy, help heal your pet when it is sick or injured, and to ease your pet's pain when it is hurting.
We will do this with quality care, compassion and tenderness.
Human Medications And Your Pet
What you should know about OTC drugs, human prescription drugs, & illegal drugs and your petIn an attempt to make their pets more comfortable from ailments such as arthritis, a playful day in the yard or an acute injury, many well-meaning owners will self diagnose and medicate their pets. What most pet owners don’t know, however, is that giving their pets commonly used human medications can cause many adverse effects and some can even prove to be fatal.
Common OTC (over-the-counter) Drugs:
Aspirin (Bayer): Aspirin given to pets, at any dose, has the potential to cause gastrointestinal bleeding, ulcers, vomiting and diarrhea.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol): Acetaminophen can cause kidney and liver complications, as well as gastrointestinal problems including ulcers, vomiting, and diarrhea in dogs. Any amount of acetaminophen ingested by cats will almost always be fatal.
Ibuprofen (Advil): Ibuprofen given to dogs or cats could cause gastrointestinal upset including vomiting and diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, serious kidney damage and a loss of appetite.
Naproxen (Aleve): Naproxen ingested by pets can cause gastrointestinal problems including ulcers, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as, intestinal perforation. It can also result in liver damage, acute kidney failure, tremors, shock, and coma.
Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed): Pseudoephedrine is commonly found in cold medications and acts as a decongestant in humans. In pets, it acts as a stimulant and can cause an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature; it also has the potential to cause seizures.
Human Prescription Drugs:
Prescription Pain Relievers (Vicoden, Percocet): Most human prescription pain relievers contain more concentrated doses of OTC drugs. Because of this, any amounts of prescription pain relievers given to pets can cause the same or more severe symptoms as the drugs listed above, including death.
Prescription Anti-anxiety/Antidepressants: (Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil): When pets consume anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication it has the potential to cause many different problems including excitability, lethargy, vomiting, tremors, and cardiac and respiratory complications.
Illegal Drugs:
Illegal drugs are usually ingested by curious pets that lick or sniff the substances. Toxic doses of these illegal substances are dependant on type and concentration. These are just a few examples.Marijuana: Pets who consume marijuana can experience in-coordination, diarrhea, excessive drooling, increased heart rate, seizures, coma, central nervous system depression & vomiting which can result in aspiration pneumonia.
Cocaine: Pets who consume cocaine can be subject to intermittent hyperactivity followed by profound lethargy, tremors, seizures, cardiac & respiratory arrest, and death.
It’s important to understand that the consequences of medicating pets with OTC or prescription medications, without the direction of a veterinarian, can be detrimental. There are many safer and more effective FDA approved medications for pets that can treat a wide variety of ailments.
Always contact our hospital before giving your pet any medication. The team members and doctors at the Animal Hospital of Streamwood are committed to helping your pet live a long and healthy life!
