Can you give human abx to dogs? It must be the same drugs. My bitch had a large thorn in her pad today, never seen such a huge thing. It occurred to me that if she got an infection could I give her some of mine? I have a 'spare' course of flucloxacillin in the house :)

Seriously I wouldn't do that, but then I thought...why not???

a lot of drugs are the same or similar, however, different antibiotics treat different kinds of bacterial infections, so it may not be the ideal type. also, drug doses vary greatly, you would need to check first of all.

Many drugs which are tested and proven to be safe for humans are in fact toxic to other species - and vice versa. Don't play Russian Roulette with your dog's health.

Don't worry I wouldn't. But I know a lot of veterinary medicines used to be human ones which were out of date. Also I know that penicillins cost pennies!!

She seems to be ok for now, I will see how she is in the morning. Hopefully it will settle on its own. I sprayed tetracycline spray on the puncture site which we use for ponies hooves/foot rot in sheep. She's got a lovely bright green paw now. lol.

I know that my Mum gives human antibios to our pets... but she used to be a nurse so I assume she knows that she is doing! There is no way I would take a chance on it though- you would never forgive yourself if it all went wrong!

It's ok. Don't panic. I am also a medic, although human not veterinary medicine. I wouldn't dream of trying to treat with any other drugs other than ABX. And I probably wouldn't do that either although it makes me so cross when the vet charges huge amounts for broad spectrum ABX which are also prescribed for humans.

Anyhow, happily my bitch is fine today, has romped across the fields and played in the floods with the rest of the gang. No harm done.

Good old tetracycline spray for SHEEP!!!!! Lol.

See, I could be really mean now and ask how come you've got a 'spare' course of antibiotics!! I used to be a Senior Nurse in A & E but I would never risk treating an animal with human ab's...I believe it is also illegal to 'treat' an animal unless you are a Veterniary Surgeon, or under the instruction of one? What do others think? ;-)

Daughter has to keep a spare course of the same antibiotics.  She had strep throat for 4 months, it just wouldn't clear.  Doc gave her these and told her to start the course if she gets the same symptoms again ;)

Yeah, but that's different 'aint it? 'Cos you wouldn't wanna give 'em to the dog if you needed them would you??! ;-)

Not personally no.   But I can see why someone would be tempted ;)  Surely the price of these to the vet is no more than the price to the NHS?  You only have to look in MIMMS or similar to know they don't always cost a fortune ;) yet vets can charge the earth for them ;)

For a start you would need to know the correct dosage for that animal, which the dose rate may be different than for a human, so its a really bad idea. Vets don't charge huge amounts for broad spectrum abs their charges are largely dictated by the drugs companies. Besides which according to the drugs cascade they have to use the animal equivalent if there is one. These are so much more expensive as the drugs companies have to get a licence from the government and show that it is safe in animals too so they have to do lots of expensive trials. Hence these drugs are expensive to buy in but hte vets have no choice. If you want to blame anyone blame the government. The mark up is the same for all drugs, but we buy in from a veterinary supplier so whether they charge more than the NHS i don't know. Vets are oly trying to run a business, and trust me they don't make the profit you all seem to think they do!

>according to the drugs cascade they have to use the animal equivalent if there is one.

People either forget or don't realise that vets aren't allowed to prescribe a human version of a medication if there's a licenced animal version, no matter what the price difference.