The Animal Welfare Society (AWS) has cautioned animal owners not to use their medication to treat their pets as it is not safe and could lead to death. They noted an increase in the number of animals brought in with conditions stemming from the use of over-the-counter medicines.
“We are treating pets on a regular basis that have been administered paracetamol, aspirins and other pain killers by their owners who appear oblivious to the dangers of attempting to treat them with medication designed for humans.Human medications are not always safe for pets and while some human drugs can be given to pets, others can be very toxic so by giving them human drugs and medication indiscriminately they are inadvertently putting their pets lives at risk,” said AWS.
The singled out three specific drugs – ibuprofen, paracetamol and aspirin – as the most commonly used to extrapolate and estimate dosing from humans to pets with potentially deadly consequences.
“We have had to resuscitate several cats and dogs who were given potentially lethal doses of aspirin and paracetamol by their owners who assumed that they were doing good.Some of these unfortunate pets displayed serious side effects such as kidney and liver toxicity which complicated their treatment, and prolonged their hospitalisation,” they said with concern.
They warned that medication should never be administered to pets without first consulting with a veterinarian. And while this is a costly route, it is the only way to safely treat pets.
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