Many medications that are safe for us are not safe for our pets. Most of the common painkillers and headache medications that we humans take (Tylenol, ibuprofen, naproxin) are FATAL to cats. Oddly, a catıs liver cannot metabolize these drugs as our human liver can. If you should happen to see your cat ingest one of these medications, please seek medical help immediately so that we may attempt to induce your cat to vomit and/or give an antidote if the medication has already been absorbed. Unfortunately, most owners do not know that their cat has ingested one of these pills until the cat becomes ill, and by that time it is too late to administer the antidote. Dogs are less sensitive to these 3 medications than cats, however we discourage their use in dogs as well. Although use of these pills is rarely fatal to dogs, they can cause stomach ulcers and liver disease.

A better home remedy to try for your dog is buffered aspirin (ascriptin or ecotrin). We commonly recommend aspirin for dogs with arthritis pain. A safe, low dose of aspirin for your dog is 5mg per pound once or twice a day. This means that a 15 pound dog would get about 1/4 of an adult aspirin tablet, a 30 pound dog would get about 1/2 tablet, and a big 90 pound dog could have a whole tablet. There are very few side effects of aspirin in dogs, although some dogs may get an upset stomach. Aspirin is also occasionally used in cats to treat certain types of heart disease, although only in extremely low doses (1/2 baby aspirin every 2-4 days). Higher doses may be fatal, thus we do not recommend that your give your cat aspirin unless specifically prescribed by your veterinarian.