After reading about the pup with the poorly eye it made me wonder what things we give our dogs that are 'for human consumption'.

I give my old girl baby ibruprophen or calpol for pain relief/joint stiffness.  It doesn't contain the ingredients in it that are harmful and it works better than metacalm.  piriton I've seen is used also for alergies.

I remember my vet going over human painkilling medications not to give the dog, all of which i wouldn't have thought about.  One was tramodol, which i take and never considered but have seen on here that dogs have been prescribed it.  i wondered if it was the same product.  No its not something I would give her without a vets sayso, its a strong drug.

What over the counter things do you give?

None unless recommended by a vet -I just do not think it is worth the risk unless it is supplements only such as Glucosamine, but never actual medication without asking a vet. Calpol includes paracetamol and it doesn't seem anyone can agree on whether this is harmless or harmful to dogs.

My dog was recently prescribed Tramadol by the vet, very effective pain killer and I already had some in as husband uses them so saved on vet bil too.

Yes I too have had Tramadol prescribed by a vet for a dog also Asprin and Disprin although I have been told that you should not give either.

> baby ibruprophen or calpol for pain relief/joint stiffness

Interesting I shall ask our vet about these.
For the rare occasion that they look to be developing colitis. I use kaolin mixture.
For gurgling stomach. (which I picked up from an earlier post regarding bloat. I use buscopan.
For ears, I ocassionally use benzl benzoate (along with other products) but I am finding it harder to find unless in very large amounts. & I must get some piriton.

I have used both Optrex Chloriphenicol eye drops and Golden Eye Chloriphencol ointment for my Boston on the vets advice as she is alway picking up eye infections this on his advice that if the eye looks closed or she is rubbing we go to the vet straight away,and if it is a eye infection that does not make any improvement within 48 hrs but I must stress if you know that if your dog has a eye injury PLEASE go straight to your vet dont put any of the above in.Mabel has also had Tramadol for a anal gland abcess.She is also on Zantac when she has acidy stomach but at the moment this is from the vet as it is the syrup form as she wont take tablets,that i could easily get at the vets,we also keep in Buscopan for the Boxer incase of Bloat. Also at the vets when the Boston went into shock (wasp sting) on Monday she was admitted to the vets they asked me to sign a declaration to say that they can use Human Meds on her that arent licensed for animal use I said I wanted to treat her the best they can and save her stress, so I signed it,years ago nearly all the vets meds were the same as humans all in the same packs etc., then the law changed and now thing are in special Animal Use only packs.

Be careful advertising the fact that you self-treat your dog.... thin line between legal and illegal.

It is Illegal for a 'lay person' to diagnose and treat a dog. There are of course, trivial remedies which can be used but it is a very grey area.

I also use on a regular basis coliodial silver to clean eyes and put in my old girls water.  it helps keep her water infection at bay, yes she has antibiotics but she gets them always due to her old age it boosts her body and does stop mild ones starting.  It also stops the antibiotics taking it out on her body.

I had seen on a site elswhere that they gave the girl tums when whelping the pups.  They gave one per pup that popped out, apparrently for the calcium.  Thought that might be a lot for that particular job.  I think is good for bloat though and save a lot of distress for the dog.

> Be careful advertising the fact that you self-treat your dog.... thin line between legal and illegal.
>
> It is Illegal for a 'lay person' to diagnose and treat a dog.

Don't see how its illeagal to treat your own dog.  Can understand if treating someone's dog as if you were a vet.

Believe it is against the law not to seek veterinary attention for an animal in your care who has an injury, is sick or is infested with parasites, this is tempered with common sense but there is a difference between self treating for fleas and  self treating for a more serious injury or infection - think the law considers that if you treat for fleas and the problem persists or the dog has a painful infection or injury then a vets opinion must be sort. It is never excusable to diagnose, treat or advise for someone else's animal you must advise a visit to a vet unless there is not a vet available, first aid is permitted but it must be followed by a visit to a vet.

I never give my girls anything that has not beed prescribed by a vet. After all the vets spend 5 years in training to know and understand these things...I haven't!
Aileen

> the problem persists or the dog has a painful infection or injury then a vets opinion must be sort.

Totally agree with that, i usually take mine at the first sign unless its reaccuring and know how to treat.  My vet is never out of the loop but was asking what meds you would give, either prescribed by the vet and use a human alternative or use human meds anyway.

I had metacalm from the vet, it did nothing.  i used baby Ibruprophen (which my vet knew about) with better results.  no lame dog and she could do her rounds which made for a happy dog.

I also gave my dogs marmite which did appear to perk up there spirits, one of my girls was of a low mood, vet had no clue.  maybe its the b vitamins.

As to Marmite I would be concerned by the very high salt content.

Toolz - it's not illegal to treat your own dog, just someone else's if you're not a vet.  This is why if you go to hydrotherapy or chiropractor you need to have your vets permission. Whilst it's not sensible to treat for everything, it's not illegal.

More generally...

You do need awareness, my vet said that ibuprofen shouldn't be used as it can harm the liver in dogs...wonder if junior is better.  If you have a collie you have to be careful of things containing ivermectin which can include diarhea medications.  If they have a specific gene issue this can cause major problems, unfortunately a lot of vets are unaware of this and recommend veterinary stuff containing ivermectin to collie breeds, so not even they can get it right.

I was at an eye specialist earlier in the week - she said she'd had a consultation from someone who'd self medicated an eye injury...not satisfactorily so had gone to her vets.  Vet found that the eye had what looked like organic (grass or something) which had penetrated the eye but had started to break up.  Specialist recommended no intervention, but couldn't believe person hadn't gone to vet straight away.

Try telling your vet that you have just treated your dog with antibiotics obtained elsewhere and watch the reaction!

er not sure who your last comment is aimed at Toolz, if you have anti biotics for your pet then that's the person who has 'treated' your pet, it's not yourself, so they should be 'a vet' unless you have some way of getting prescription drugs without a prescription.  You can, of course, ask your vet for a prescription which you can take elsewhere to purchase the drugs - these may or may not be cheaper than your vets and your vet is likely to charge you for the prescription.  My comment was that it is NOT illegal to treat your own dog, that's all.

> Try telling your vet that you have just treated your dog with antibiotics obtained elsewhere and watch the reaction!

What idiot would do that (yes I'm sure there's someone somewhere).

I was at an eye specialist earlier in the week - she said she'd had a consultation from someone who'd self medicated an eye injury...not satisfactorily so had gone to her vets.  Vet found that the eye had what looked like organic (grass or something) which had penetrated the eye but had started to break up.  Specialist recommended no intervention, but couldn't believe person hadn't gone to vet straight away.

Common sense should prevail before self treating.  If long standing issue i believe that you become 'au fait' (think that's right lol) with your dogs issues and you don't have to rush there in a panic except if needed.  My vet loves me not being a push over and asking about what what's going off.

My mentor is a great believer in homeopotathy and is wonderful sourse of info, yes we still consult the vet.  She does know a lot of preventative's and for coreecting.  Raspberry leaf for phantoms ect, why would i need the vet for that.

Raspberry leaf is herbal, not homoeopathic ...

Understood that vets cannot chargefor prescription nowadays and, if payment requested, this should be reported to BVA.  Can anyone confirm if this is the case.

No, they were allowed to start charging for prescriptions again over a year ago.

Confirm that, I 'think' it was from Oct 08 they could charge.

You're right, it was October 08.

i have a dog here which had dry eye for 6yrs, it got to the stage where i wanted his eye removed as it was so bad. it seemed to me the more i poured stuff into it the more it shut down. instead i chose to take him off all medication from the vet and treat it myself. i brought viscotears from the chemist which is a lubricant and as i have dry eyes myself, i have a lubricant called occulect which i get on perscription as its got no preservitives. i used that on him aswell, hes 9 now and has had lovely healthy eyes for the past 2yrs.

Depends if it's an obvious eye injury or just a sore looking eye. My old club taught us that for sore eyes you give weak salt water (1 tsp to 1pt water), minor cuts / abrasions weak salt water (1 tsp to 1 cup water), and take to vet if it doesn't improve in a few days. I have done that with sore eyes when one dog has poked the other in the eye while playing. I have also bought new tubes of an antiseptic gel (forgotten name, was prescribed it once for slightly infected cut and find it very handy for minor injuries, like a doggy version of Savlon. Viastop maybe?? Anyway, I am happy to use that and of course if there is any sign of getting worse or not improving they would go to the vet. Also have used Piriton for itchiness.

>I was at an eye specialist earlier in the week - she said she'd had a consultation from someone who'd self medicated an eye injury...not satisfactorily so had gone to her vets.  Vet found that the eye had what looked like organic (grass or something) which had penetrated the eye but had started to break up.  Specialist recommended no intervention, but couldn't believe person hadn't gone to vet straight away.