Say yes to drugs. But only if I say so, OK?

by | Tuesday | June 8, 2010 | 6 comments

I’ll revisit the topic of sedatives in a bit- I have a guest post coming up in the near future about thunderstorm phobias and it will fit right in with that discussion. In the meantime, just to clarify some points that were made in the discussion yesterday:

  • The dangers of sedating a pet for air travel are, by and large, not as much of a problem for travel by car, when the pet will be presumably monitored much more closely. I have been known to prescribe sedatives for pets going on a long road trip, though of course it depends on the situation.
  • Rescue Remedy, Feliway, and other similar over the counter products that don’t have sedating side effects aren’t ones I would have a problem with owners using for traveling pets. The biggest problem with those products is just having them not work.

Good? Good. Now, onto the other noteworthy mention in the comments about human medications and pets: indeed, there are many human medications that are also used for pets. If it’s a medication that is not FDA approved for veterinary use, it’s considered “off label”; quite a few human drugs are used in this way.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can pull a toddler dose of a medication off WebMD and use it on your dog. Many drugs are dosed very differently for dogs versus cats versus humans, due to differences in the way the body processes the medication. Others are downright dangerous: take for instance the human RN who came to me with a limping cat. She attempted to treat him at home for several days, but the cat just got worse. “What were you treating him with?” I asked. “Tylenol,” she replied. “Just infant drops.” The cat died.

Just off the top of my head, I can also recall the woman who put her dog in a near coma with Soma, the guy who took his dog’s Baytril and ended up hallucinating, and the other guy who gave his rottie a GI ulcer with Advil. Not good. And don’t miss this doozy- eek!

When in doubt, ask. It’s what we’re here for. Oh, and note to the guy who keeps “losing” his dog’s Tramadol? I’ve got my eye on you.

Filed: Daily Life
  • http://www.the7msnranch.com the 7msn ranch

    Very important information – thank you. Similar cautions apply when using animal drugs on different species. My equine vet prescribes canine Previcox off label for my arthritic horse because it is a fraction of the cost of the equine equivalent Equiiox. But the proper dose of Previcox for a horse is one fourth that given to a dog, which doesn’t seem at all logical given the size difference.

  • http://www.championofmyheart.com Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart

    The only human meds my pups get are ones OK’d by our dog doc, like pepcid, benadryl … and of course, the antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds our behaviorist prescribed for Lilly’s fears. The first time I picked up the latter at the human pharmacy it didn’t hit me until later why they asked SO MANY questions. I suspect they thought I’d figured out a way to score some xanax through my dog.

  • http://www.biscuitsbylambchop.com Annette Frey

    LOL, forget the Tramadol, now they’ll be losing their Baytril! On a serious note, very useful information!

  • Liz

    I had no idea vets ever gave human medication to pets. A very interesting post!

  • http://dearprudie.wordpress.com Ashley

    I’ve never thought to give Prudence something before checking with her vet. It’s probably because I’m always checking with my doc/pharmacist before taking anything (even cold medicine). I’m extraordinarily paranoid about things.

  • Emily in IL

    Can’t wait for the discussion on Thunderphobia. As an owner of a thunderphobic dog, I’m always worried about the best treatment for it. We tried all the non drug, herbal, etc treatments before trying prescription drugs. First it was Xanax – he had to have a whole handful before we saw even the slightest change (actually the max dosage prescribed by the vet) so I nixed it. Now we’re seeing good results with Valium. It’s nice because it doesn’t put him out – just relaxes him (though, since he’s a greyhound those two things are pretty much the same!).