Can I Give My Dog a Baby Asprin and Benedryl at the Same Time

As a veterinarian and an owner of 2 dogs, I can completely sympathize the want of pet owners to try to have care of issues at home if they can, earlier taking their dog or cat to the vet. At that place are times when the need for a veterinary visit is obvious—a very sick dog, encarmine diarrhea, large cuts or wounds. But in that location are plenty of times your pet may take a minor outcome that yous yourself wouldn't necessarily seek professional care for.

I oft am asked about or told about giving over-the-counter home remedies to pets at home, and and then I thought that I would give you the true low-down on a few mutual medications that are ofttimes used at habitation.

Baby Aspirin (technically, a coated, buffered 81mg tablet of aspirin)

"Maisie was limping and so I gave her a baby aspirin to help her out."

Aspirin is classified as a not-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and has been used for over a century in people as a pain reliever. Can it be used safely in pets? Yes and no. The number one side effect of NSAIDs in people is stomach upset, which can be severe enough to cause stomach and colon ulcers. Dogs are generally much more sensitive to the GI side furnishings of NSAIDs and cats are extremely sensitive to NSAIDs. The therapeutic dose for aspirin every bit a hurting reliever in dogs is about 10mg/kg. Withal, dogs taking this dose for more than a few doses are very probable to accept GI side effects and most veterinarians would never recommend information technology for regular use. If nosotros have a l-pound dog as an instance, which is about 22 kg, 10mg/kg would exist 220mg – about 3 "baby aspirins." So, giving your Labrador one infant aspirin is probably prophylactic, merely also probably almost as effective as you taking ¼ of an ibuprofen tablet.

There are plenty of NSAIDs that are effective and pretty safe for employ in dogs, but these are mostly prescription. If your dog has some arthritis, only ask your vet what the options are.

Important notes here—NEVER give a dog ibuprofen—I have seen several dogs die from only 1 dose of ibuprofen causing a stomach ulcer. Also, NEVER requite cats any NSAIDs, but especially Tylenol. Tylenol will kill your cat, even in small doses.

And then overall, aspirin gets a thumbs downwards for its practical use in dogs.

Benadryl (diphenhydramine)

"Nosotros've been giving Betty a Benadryl twice a twenty-four hour period for her itching."

"I requite Jimbo a Benadryl earlier nosotros take him in the car to try and sedate him."

The bang-up thing about Benadryl is that it is an extremely safe medication for people and for pets. As an antihistamine, its main use is to try to subtract allergic inflammation in the body. As many people experience, it tin also cause drowsiness. And so, same in pets?

I would describe Benadryl every bit "possibly/minimally helpful" for the treatment of allergies in dogs. I wish it worked amend, because allergies are the number one problem we deal with in dogs! I call back one of the bug is that canis familiaris and cat allergies are almost ever skin problems, vs human allergies which are more ordinarily sneezing/eyes/throat. We will often discuss giving Benadryl as something safe and cheap to effort, only I've just never been impressed with it in 17 years of practise. Same affair to be said of other antihistamines like Zyrtec and Claritin. Also, dogs have a lot more Benadryl than we practice, about 1 mg per pound, so your 50-pound canis familiaris would have ii of the 25mg tablets, up to three times a day.

The ane problem that Benadryl does seem helpful with is acute allergic reactions. Like when a dog comes in from beingness outside and suddenly the face up is swollen, presumably from an insect bite. Nosotros will often recommend giving it Benadryl and so bringing it in for monitoring.

Terminal, as far as sedation, in that location have been several studies that confirm Benadryl is definitely not a good sedative. Yes, it can make us drowsy when we are relaxed, merely as far as decreasing anxiety or causing sedation during times of stress—nope, non helpful.

Overall, Benadryl gets a "certain, give it a try, won't hurt" rating.

Imodium (loperamide)

"Fluffy was having bad diarrhea and we've been giving her Imodium for a few days."

Imodium is an anti-diarrheal medication that works by decreasing the overactive motility in the gut. Although it can indeed work, information technology is mostly idea of as a "band assistance" considering information technology never addresses the underlying cause of the diarrhea. Unfortunately, in dogs, the number one cause of diarrhea is colitis, which is frequently caused by an imbalance of bacteria in the large bowel. Imodium often seems to have little consequence on this and when your dog is having frequent accidents in the house and waking you up at night, they may exist on the verge of getting very ill from the colitis. Also, if too much Imodium is given and it actually works, you lot may have a new problem on your hands—constipation.

And so, Imodium gets a "ok to give it simply once" rating.

Hydrogen Peroxide

"I cleaned up her wound with some peroxide".

"She ate a sock and I made her throw up past syringing her with hydrogen peroxide."

I am actually a fan of using hydrogen peroxide for cleaning dirty wounds. It doesn't quite sting like alcohol and information technology's a great initial way to make clean a wound that has a lot of caked on claret, fluid, and dirt (equally many domestic dog wounds tend to be!). Its enzymatic activeness can be seen correct abroad and it'south an overall not bad disinfectant. The problem with hydrogen peroxide and wounds is that it will eventually delay wound healing. If used regularly, yous will take a very clean, but not-healing wound.

And so, for a dirty/contaminated wound, I give a yeah vote for using hydrogen peroxide to help y'all get information technology clean initially, then call your vet to run into if the wound needs additional care such as stitches or antibiotics.

Y'all will often hear of people using peroxide to induce vomiting. Yep, it does work most of the time, however it works by irritating the tummy lining to the indicate of nausea and vomiting. If you're in a pinch and your dog just ate something problematic, it can be helpful. Even so, my principal worry is that sometimes your canis familiaris got into something bad and irritating, and and so nosotros are making the problem worse by irritating their stomach with hydrogen peroxide. There are many case reports of dogs getting a hemorrhagic gastritis from hydrogen peroxide—i.due east., vomiting blood. And now we can't really determine if the dog is sick from the bone, or sick from the peroxide.

So, if your dog ate something potentially toxic, I always recommend calling your vet or the ER vet where they will typically give apomorphine, a great "make them puke" medication that doesn't irritate the stomach lining.

This list actually only scratches the surface, but these are some common ones. Ask your veterinarian if you have questions most some home remedies and they will give y'all an honest answer if it'due south worthwhile or a waste of your time.

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Source: https://www.crozetgazette.com/2019/11/06/gazette-vet-home-fixes/