General pain relief for dogs

I ducked into the supermarket this morning to pick up a packet of paracetamol for my headache when it struck me how ludicrous it is that we can walk into a supermarket or pharmacy & pick up some pain killers for ourselves & our children, but if we want pain killers for our dogs we have to go through the expensive ordeal of a veterinary consultation.

Now I don't know how it is in other countries, but here in Australia, any vet I have been to will only dole out enough pain killers to cover your dog for whatever it's current condition is. That is to say, they ensure that you do not have any pain killers on hand in the house once the current condition is over.

Am I the only one that thinks this practice stinks?

Okay, of course if we do not know the source of our dogs pain then of course we should take them to the vets. However, often times one does know exactly what the source of pain is. The old dog having a bad day with his arthritis, the overly enthusiastic dog that wrenched his leg playing, a toenail either ripped or cut too close to the quick, a little rip in the skin on a barbed wire fence etc.

So is Australia the only country where we get held to ransom for 2 or 3 pain killers or is this a worldwide thing?

Anyway, I guess I have ranted enough here. Is there anything you guys recommend having in the first-aid kit for your dogs, that you can actually obtain without going to the vets?

No, same thing here. We can't give our pets any really pain relief unless we go to the vet. Our children yes

I suppose a key issue is that many over the counter remedies for humans could kill dogs or cats. But you can give dogs aspirin for example, for pain. My vets would give me a full bottle of something like Metacam for pain -- I pass along unused portions to large rescues.

Here's what one vet's site says about aspirin:

http://www.placervillevet.com/aspirin.htm

I don't believe that I've ever given any of my animals pain killers, or maybe i just don't remember. However, if Breeze is having a bad day, maybe limping a little or having a hard time getting up due to arthiris, I was instructed by my vet to given her one buffered aspirin. Only a buffered aspirin lilke Bufferin nothing else. That does help.

Never give a dog Tylenol, I'm sure most people know that, it's like poision. When my mothers dog, a Westie, was a puppy, she took it for her puppy shots. The vet told her that for pain she could give her dog a baby aspirin. Well my Mother, not knowing, gave her baby tylenol. Afterwards she called me and told me about the visit. I told her that you're not supposed to give a dog tylenol. She called the ER vet # and they told her to give her puppy peroxide until she vomits. It was scary, but she was fine.

I have had a holistic remedy called anica recommended to me for my dogs, to have on hand for pain relief for the occasional pulled muscle or minor strain from over-exertion. Has anyone else tried it? I haven't as yet.

And to respond to Caraline directly, yes, I echo the others in that it's the same here too.

A few weeks ago, my vet and i discussed putting Sasha on Guiafenisen for her congestion/throat problems. At the time, my vet was at his satellite location and told me he didn't have the chart to tell me how much to give her.

i had to laugh as i told my vet that as a mom i could probably figure out how much to give a 17 lb. dog (vs. that weight in a toddler). there was this pause before he said, "yes, i guess you could figure it out." :lol:

sheri

Arnica is wonderful stuff for both humans and dogs & is also a great pain reliever.

Be careful when giving aspirin if the injury is bleeding. Aspirin thins the blood and can prevent it from clotting.

I think I am very lucky in having a vet that wouldn't charge me a consultation fee if I phoned and said that I needed pain relief for one of my boys.

I went down last week and needed to speak to my vet about something. I had a good 15 minutes with him and got some medication but wasn't charged a consultation fee.

They also let me have some pain relief meds just to keep in as I very often need them for Maxx anyway.

I know my Vets extremely well and they know that if I was in any doubt then I would be down the surgery - I practically live there :roll: I suppose a lot of it depends on the sort of relationship you have with your Vets.

Karlin said:

I suppose a key issue is that many over the counter remedies for humans could kill dogs or cats.

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I guess this is part of the point I am making. If pet owners can't go to the pet section of the supermarket, or to the pet shop & buy a safe over the counter pain killers for their dog's minor ailment, then they are more likely to try human medicines that could harm their dogs.

sramirez said:

i had to laugh as i told my vet that as a mom i could probably figure out how much to give a 17 lb. dog (vs. that weight in a toddler).

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Actually, you can't always make that assumption. Dogs metabolise things differently to humans. A dose of some medications that is normal for a dog could kill a much heavier human and vice-versa.

A classic example of this is my husband who is a human doctor, decided to help a friend out in euthanasing his dog for him in his home and without the fear of a vet visit. My husband administered enough Valium to the dog that if shared out among the humans in the room at the time would have knocked them all off. The dog stayed bright eyed untill all & sundry admitted defeat & decided that they better call a vet to do the job properly.

Our Scarlett is currently on a dose of phenobarbitol for seizures. The size of her dose would have a large man unconscious for most of the day. She functions quite normally & bopps around the backyard like there is no tomorrow.

So, on that note, if your vet does prescribe a human medicine for your dog, never assume that the dose will be the same per weight as it is for humans. It may be, but it also may not be.