May be a dumb question.My poor old lab is down in her hips,like me,and shes having a bit of trouble getting around.Especially with the weather.Question is ,Is there any human meds like ibuporen,asprin,tlyenol,etc.. that would help her.Vets out of town till the first of year.She's 7 years old.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Buffered Asprin only! The others you mentioned can kill a dog.

I've been using children's tylenol on my dogs for years with no negative side affects. I hesitate to use aspirin due to the potential damage to the stomach lining. I do about 1/2 the dosage recommended for humans, by weight or the dosage for a small child.

Here is a cut/paste from a veterinary article and the web site link: http://www.vetinfo.com/dogmed.html

Q: Hi Dr Mike:
I have a question about Acetaminophen (Tylenol™). The Receptionist at our local veterinarian told us that in case of fever, it was ok to give our dogs a Tylenol™ and NOT to give them ASPIRIN, or IBUPROFEN.

http://www.avma.org/pubhlth/poisgde.asp#yew

According to the AVMA Pet Poison Guide ratings scale, it appears to me that the Acetaminophen (Tylenol™) is more dangerous then the ASPIRIN, or IBUPROFEN. Is this true or am I misunderstanding what I am reading or was this by chance a misprint?

What would you recommend be given to a dog in case of a fever ASPIRIN, IBUPROFEN, Acetaminophen (Tylenol™) or something else?

Thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you soon, David

A: David-

Based on reactions in our canine patients, this is the ranking I would give these medications: safest = acetaminophen (Tylenol tm), also safe = aspirin, less safe = ibuprofen (Advil tm, Motrin Rx). However, this is the ranking that I would give them based on the reports in the literature and factoring in the likelihood of a bad reaction causing death: safest = aspirin, also safe but less so = acetaminophen and less safe = ibuprofen. T

The reason for these rankings include these things. Aspirin is reasonably likely to cause gastric ulcers, which can be life threatening if ignored but which respond to withdrawal of the medication. Acetaminophen doesn't seem to cause ulcers but there are uncommon reactions to it in which liver failure occurs and this may not respond to therapy, so death is a possibility. Ibuprofen is very likely to cause ulcers, with 100% of dogs developing ulcers with the use of ibuprofen in at least one study. On the other hand, lots of my clients come in and tell me "I gave my dog an ibuprofen last night" and I have only had to treat one or two cases of ulcers and I can't recall a dog dying from this medication, yet.

My personal preference for pain and fever in dogs is aspirin but we do warn our clients to discontinue the medication if the dog stops eating and to call us or come in for a recheck if that happens.

In cats the situation is different. Acetaminophen is very toxic to cats and this medication should simply never be used to treat a cat. Aspirin has a long half life in cats, at least 24 to 48 hours, so it will reach toxic levels pretty quickly if it is given more frequently than once every 48 hours and the dosage is 10mg/lb so a baby aspirin (81mg) is a much more appropriate dosage for a cat than an adult aspirin. I have not seen much information on ibuprofen and cats but it is a good idea to avoid all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications in cats, at least until one of them does prove to be safe in someone's clinical trials.

Mike Richards, DVM

P.S. to the previous note. My guess is that the AVMA figures that it is safer not to confuse people with the difference between the effects of acetaminophen in dogs and in cats. I have several pain control references which state that acetaminophen is generally safe in dogs and it is used frequently because hydrocodone/codeine + acetaminophen combinations are pretty effective for post-surgical pain and for chronic pain from arthritis in dogs. The general feeling is the the narcotic provides the pain relief in this combination, though.

Very helpful info.I'll try the childrens tylenol.Thanks very much.Ijust hate to see her like this and dang sure don't want to give her anything that will harm her.

I guess not all vets agree, my vet said to never give them anything but buffered aspirin, ever, period. Good luck. I would hate to have to pay an emergency vet bill on Christmas.

I don't disagree with CCBDM... the article gives some good pros, cons and reasonings for both aspirin and tylenol. That said, my vet warned me off of aspirin, which is why I use tylenol. Still, it's so true that not all vets agree. Best wishes in whichever you decide. Do you have another vet you can call?

Note that childrens tylenol should only be short term before seeing a vet. Otherwise you could risk liver failure as a side effect if given long term.

I would recommend that you start giving your dog glucosamine if your not already, 1200mg pill once a day.

1200mg good for a 7 year old?

Yep, that's what I give my labs, one who is 7. This was recommended by my vet and there are a number of articles on it.

X2! We also give glucosamine to our pups. Our 'Rocky' line of dogs tend to get very large (80-105 lbs) and between 10 & 21 months, they go thru some huge growth spurts. The glucosamine helps the joints during this taxing stage. We also give calcuim for their rapidly growing bones. We give our horses glucosamine, too... great for hooves and joints.

I have repeated stated what I have used for my Labrador since she was two and diagnosed with bad hips (she is now 10 years old, and still going strong.)
The old vet I was using gave her two shots of adaquin 1 week apart to give her some relief, and had me start her on a product called Synovi MSM, a palatable canine product which turns out to be remarkably like the Glucosamine + MSM human product I buy at Sam's and Walmart for a small fraction of the cost. I give it daily in a dosage that delivers 1500 mg. each of the Glucosamine and MSM. I have only let her run out of the stuff one time..after a week or 10 days without it, she was hurting enough that she needed a dose of adaquin. That was years ago.
The stuff works.

I personally would try the buffered aspirin. I have worked at a Vet clinic and done emergency work for 12 years and it has always been and still is not recommended to give Tylenol or Ibuprofen. The aspirin is typically recommended short term and watch for any signs of GI upset....ie. black tarry stool, vomiting, etc. There are safer NSAIDS that your Vet can RX to your dog so I would contact him/her when they get back in town. Also, the Glucosamine recommended above and also products like Missing Link are great but take a while to start being effective... Good Luck

+1

Thanks for the advise.I will start on the Glucosamine today.Wife is giving her a bit more attention now and she's eating it up.I also think my lab is putting on the poor old me act at times.

Look for a glucosamine product with chondroiton or MSM, those are both good for joints.

I feed Eukanuba Performance 30/20 which contains both of these. I see it as preventative maintenance.

I do the same but my vet said I should still give them glucosamine pills everyday. I dont know the levels of glucosamine per serving in Eukanuba or other brands that state they have glucosamine in them.

A lot of over the counter foods contain Glucosamine and Chondroitin but I have always been told (by Vets and food reps)that none of them contain it at a level that is therapeutic. The only way you are going to get it at a therapeutic dose in a food is if you feed a prescription food that is made for the joints or mobility. That being said, it is great to have in a food for maintenance and I too feed a food that has both in it. You do still need to supplement with Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM if you are looking for it to be therapeutic. Also, great advise above to include the Chondroitin and MSM with the Glucosamine.

You can get liver flavored aspirin at either Bass Pro or Cabelas, I also have some older Ascriptin which is aspirn coated with Malox which works real good for dogs.

Just FYI, but Petsmart and Petco do carry over the counter meds for dogs.

If you have either store near you, I'd go there.

For what its worth, I used to give my beagal a small coated asprin to help with her arthritis. It was like night and day.

The big thing with giving any medications, vet approved etc, you have to watch for the side effects.

Given that your vet is out for the holidays, I'd visit Petsmart and just pick up the meds made for K-9s.

You can also fill a bath with warm water to let the dog sit in it. I had found my old dog had come to like her bath because of the warm water. Especially this time of year.