Paracetamol !!

[PennyLurcher]

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When I was out for a walk this morning I met a man with 2 lurchers and as we were talking I mentioned that PennyLurcher had been limping for the last few days as she

had hurt her foot.

He said what you want to do is give her some painkillers.

He then went on to say he gives his PARACETAMOL (w00t)

Now I could be wrong but I told him they are poison to dogs , was I right ?

 

[chill36]

i`ve heard they are aswell,vets wouldnt just say that so you had to go to them though would they? :- "

 

[FeeFee]

Paracetemol and aspirin used to be given to dogs and is still occasionally prescribed, but because paracetemol can damage the liver and aspirin affects blood clotting the dosage has to be very precise.

It's very rarely used nowadays because there are other anti-inflamatory/painkillers that are much safer for animal use.

 

[zilloot]

My old lurcher once knocked himself out cold hitting a tree and our vet said to give him paracetamol (half I think) for the headache he was going to have. He was okay.

That was 18 years ago and I wouldn't give a dog paracetamol now - simply because the vets can provide painkillers specifically made for dogs.

Yes, they can cause horrible liver damage so I wouldn't risk it!

 

[Angel44]

I worked for a vet many, many years ago and I'm pretty sure paracetamol is a big no no for dogs. However, I think you can give ibuprofen relatively safely. I would never risk self medicating my dogs as they are way too important to me to and would never forgive myself if something went wrong

 

[ILoveKettleChips]

I worked for a vet many, many years ago and I'm pretty sure paracetamol is a big no no for dogs.  However, I think you can give ibuprofen relatively safely.  I would never risk self medicating my dogs as they are way too important to me to and would never forgive myself if something went wrong 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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NEVER give ibuprofen. It's a common cause of acute renal failure and death in animals - one of the top 5 causes of poisoning cases seen by UK vets. In fact really you should only ever give a human painkiller under specific instruction from a vet.

And :blink: to whoever thinks vets just make up stories about stuff being toxic in order to sell more drugs ... if you think it's worth risking your pets' health to save a few quid then go right on ahead but that's a **** poor attitude to have and a shoddy way to treat animals under your care. Maybe we should still be giving women with morning sickness thalidomide? :rant:

 

[Reggie_Millie_Issy]

Hi I have just joined the forum tonight and thought I would add my first post on this one,

I agree with Ilovekettlechips NEVER give dogs Ibuprofen, you can give dogs paracetemol but like somebody else said the dosage has to be very precise as they are far more sensitive to paracetemol than us humans. It is preferred that you give aspirin rather than paracetemol if you have to give human medication.

Looking forward to more discussions

Kelly

 

[charliesangel]

About 12 years ago my Grandads old staffie was crippled with arthritis they where advised by their vet who they had been with for about 30 yrs that 1/2 a paracetamol was fine when the dog was in pain and discomfort but only to be used when absolutley nessersary.

Calpol is also a safe alternative if you use the babys doesage like 0.5ml in a emergency just remember that if you give your dog any medication then go to the vets inform the vet of the meds they dog has recieved.

 

[drillersmum41]

It's been almost 4 years since the last post on this subject but this topic is ultra important to me right now and has been for over a year. I had been giving my dog Sam half of a paracetamol (250mg) every 6 hours around the clock for at least one year for pain (arthritis). Back then I could not affort the expensive tablets the vet suggested. One thing led to another, too long a story to go into here, but I tried another vet, and they suggested injections. So Sam had one injection per week for 4 weeks, not cheap, and it was a dismal failure. Then the vet suggested "Trocoxil". Even more expensive but I had been saving up and could afford it. This tablet worked out at $62.50 each and he needed 4 of them, to be taken monthly. Initially he had to have the 2nd tablet 2 weeks after the first tablet, then monthly after that. HOWEVER, even though this Trocoxil was like a pure miracle at the beginning, but towards the end of each month he relapsed and he was in too much pain for me to ignore him, so I ended up giving him half a paracetamol with 7.5mg codeine just to help him over this rough patch until he was due to take the next Trocoxil a few days later. The problem with vets is that they are not all that forthcoming in discussing "painkillers specifically made for dogs". It is like pulling hen's teeth. The 4 injections the vet administered to Sam initially after I decided to visit a new vet, well, they didn't work. That cost over a $100. I wouldn't mind if they had worked, but they didn't work. These new TROCOXIL pills are truly working and I am very pleased about that. So far so good. The price is steep and I don't know how I could get them any cheaper. Sam is 9 years old. A border collie cross and rather overweight. All of those things go against his well being, I know that. I just want him to be free of pain and have a decent quality of life. When someone says "don't give your dog paracetamol because it will poison him/her", I think it is better to tell them WHAT TO GIVE THE DOG, not what not to give the dog.

In my opinion Sam never suffered any long term harm from the year I was self administering him 250mg of paracetamol with 7.5 mg of codeine. And one day I will no longer be able to afford the $62.50 a month for the Trocoxil, and I will have to revert back to the paracetamol/codeine again. Eventually Sam will die. I know that, but the main thing is for me right now is to ensure he was a decent quality of life for as long as I can afford it. Thanks for your patience for reading this to the end. I do tend to waffle on a bit too much.

 

[eingana]

If you want to give your dog paracetamol then it's much safer to give them a children's paracetamol suspension like Calpol because it's much easier to calculate smaller doses and so far harder to accidentally overdose them. It's not something that I'd encourage, if only because we may not be aware of how well (or poorly) the dog's liver is coping with life at the time, but there have been situations where it's been valuable in terms of emergency painkilling before a dog can be got to a vet. A dose which is suitable for a 6 month old baby can make the difference between a dog that is howling in pain and a dog that is coping with whatever has happened to them really well to get them to medical treatment.

A friend knew that she was losing her dog as he had multiple tumours, but he suddenly deteriorated on a Saturday evening, when the appointment to have him put to sleep was on the Monday. In that instance even if the paracetamol was going to damage his kidneys, the painkilling was far more important. In his last couple of days a 40kg dog used about £3 worth of Calpol which she already had in her cupboard and as a result was comfortable, had a good last day and was well enough to go for a walk in his favourite place on his last morning.

 

[lurcherman]

never paracetamol and never ibuprofen, it has been given before but for me never, asprin at times but do your research first.

 

[bertha]

I agree lurcher man. It's far too risky. (!)