Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

dog ate medicine

My 9 lb mini daschund ate a half of a 200mg advil that fell out of my husbands pocket.  I immediately took her to the er.  The woman behind the counter told me not to worry, she would be fine and just to keep an eye on her.  My dog was not even seen by a vet in the er because she felt I did not need to see one.  I came home and have been investigating ibuprofen and dogs.  I have come to find out it is toxic to dogs.  Should I take her to another er or is the amount she took small enough to not even worry about it???
Sorry if this posts twice, I am a new user and learning the ropes here.
11 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
My 3lb yorky ate a 10/525 Percocet that i dropped.  Is ks harmful to the puppy.  What should i do?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
my dog chewd bottle of pils with percocet 10-25 in it did , get residue and maybe part of pill will this make him sick?
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
I am SO glad to hear that your dog is doing great!   What a scary situation for you to have to go through!

It was a learning experience, but thankfully it was one with a good outcome and not a bad one.  It could have been very bad.  I'm glad to hear that the person was disciplined.  Hopefully she has learned her lesson and will be honest with people about her position from here on in so that nobody else is put in the same situation.  Rena made an excellent suggestion that employees of veterinary and medical offices should wear name tags stating their title as well as their name.  That way people will know before they even speak with the person who they are dealing with.

Give your little girl a hug from me.  I'm glad she's doing so well, and I wish you nothing but happiness from here on in.  Please consider staying on here to participate in the conversations in our little dog community!  We'd love to have you become a regular!

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My dog is doing great!  I followed up with my Vet and all is well.  I just want to say thank you again for all your advice and empathy towards my situation.  I called the animal hospital yesterday and spoke with the office manager.  She assured me that the woman was spoken to and written up as well.  I was so angry for the past 2 days but I just have to let it go now.  The receptionist is just a moron.  Now that I look back at this situation, this was a good learning experience for me.  I know now to always ask the title of the person behind the counter and not just assume they are the Vet becuase they are wearing scrubs.  
Thank you again for all your help:)
Helpful - 0
335728 tn?1331414412
In response to this receptionist giving medical information and this poor woman with the sick dog I would just like to put in my two cents worth please.

Even at my regular vet's office it can be difficult to discern who is the receptionist and who are the tech's etc.  To remedy this situation it would be as simple as each employee wearing a name tag their title included on it.  It worries me that this same situation could happen in an MD's office because all of the receptionists wear scrubs and it is impossible to discern which person is actually a nurse!

Please, if anyone that is a tech in a vet's office doesn't do it now, PLEASE identify yourself with either a name tag or as my vets office does now...they have a board with the pictures of all the vets, all the techs, and the receptionists pictures with their titles in LARGE PRINT next to them...now we all know...WHO KNOWS WHAT!!

Good luck to Dayze4 with her pup...I am sure she will be fine but this has to be stopped before it happens again.
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
HOLY SMOKES!!!  That receptionist needs to be disciplined BIG TIME!!

I'm so glad they took her in and treated her!  I can't believe that idiotic woman just decided to do that!   As far as what they give animals post surgically, ibuprofen AND Tylenol are BOTH toxic to dogs and cats!  Dogs are more tolerant of tylenol than cats, it would take about 7 tylenol to cause toxicity in a medium-large dog, but even ONE Tylenol can be fatal for a cat!  Regular aspirin is safe for dogs at the appropriate dosage for the size of the dog, and it should be given every 12 hours, not every four hours like for a person.  It is also preferrable to use buffered aspirin or Ascriptin, the aspirin that is coated with Maalox.  

I can completely understand your anger at that stupid woman!  I would probably have to be restrained from going across the desk at her!  Yikes!

Please let us know how your little girl is doing!  Poor thing!  If they had seen her last night she might not have gotten to this point because they could have given her the activated charcoal to neutralize the medication, but hopefully what they did for her tonight will do the trick.  I think they should make the stupid receptionist pay your bill for you!  I don't know of any words strong enough for her!  I was under the impression she had at least looked at your dog to see the color of her gums!  That loser needs to be working at a Starbucks or something!

Ghilly

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I thought you would be interested in this piece of news.  I left the house today for about 2 hours and I came home and let her out and she had diarrhea.  I immediately brought her back to the er.  Listen to this, I came to find out that the woman who was behind the counter last night at the er was the receptionist.  She was the one who told me not to worry about it.  She was also the one who took it upon herself to tell me that they give the animals there ibuprofen all the time after surgeries.  Well, when I told this to them today they were floored.   They were very upset that the receptionist last night send us on our way without seeing the vet.  Turns out we just spent about 3 hours there.  She needed fluids to try and flush out any left over medication in her body, x-rays and she is on 3 types of medications now for the next several days.  I am so angry that this receptionist sent us home last night and gave us completely false information.  We could of had this taken care of last night when it should of been taken care of.  The vet told me that they do not give the animals ibuprofen after surgery, tylenol.  They also told me this woman will be spoken to about giving medical advice as a receptionist!  I am not satisfied, she could of caused serious problems if my dog had eaten more.  I have the name of the office manager and I am giving her a call tomorrow to let her know how angry I am.
Imagine, a receptionist telling me its ok and sent me home thinking ibuprofen is ok for dogs.
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
You're welcome!  That was quick acting on your part!  Good for you for being able to get part of it away from her and for grabbing up the others before she could!

I appreciate you letting us know how she is doing today.  I think everything should be just fine, but keep an eye on her for another day or two.  I look forward to another positive update in the near future!

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you so much for the detailed information.  You would think that the woman at the er would take as much time as you did to go over signs and symptoms to look for.  This morning she seems to be fine but we will definitely keep an eye out for any of those symptoms.  It was a very scary night for me last night. I was up just about every hour checking on her.  Thank god I noticed her chewing something when I did becuase I grabbed the other half out of her mouth and the other two off the bed before she got to them.  
Thank you again and I will keep you posted:)
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
I neglected to let you know in my other post that your post did show up twice, so I took the liberty of deleting the duplicate one.  

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
Although ibuprofen is toxic to dogs, I don't think that half a pill is that much cause for alarm.  I would still keep a VERY close eye on her for the next few days.  

Ibuprofen causes bleeding ulcers in a dog's stomach, and if the dog continues to be dosed with ibuprofen, it leads to kidney failure and, eventually, death.  Most of the time, cases of ibuprofen toxicity are those in which the owners thought they were helping their dogs by dosing them to alleviate pain from injuries or arthritis, or those cases where a dog has gotten into the medication on its own and has helped itself to several pills or has eaten most of a bottle at once.  Half a pill, even in a 9 pound dog, while not good, shouldn't present a problem.

The things you need to watch for are poor appetite, vomiting, black tarry stools, vomiting blood, lethargy, weakness and abdominal pain.  If your dog shows ANY of these signs, get her to a vet immediately, even if it's in the middle of the night since there is nothing that can be done at home for ibuprofen toxicity.  If you really want to, you can ask your vet if he will do bloodwork to determine the kidney values and to see if she is anemic, which could indicate that there is bleeding somewhere in the gastro-intestinal tract.  If she outwardly appears to be fine, however, I wouldn't spend the money for the bloodwork, since she would also be exhibiting one or more of the symptoms of ibuprofen toxicity listed in the previous paragraph if she had ingested a toxic dose.

Please keep us posted as to how she is doing.  If two or three days go by without her showing any ill effects, she'll be fine.

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Dogs Community

Top Dogs Answerers
675347 tn?1365460645
United Kingdom
974371 tn?1424653129
Central Valley, CA
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Members of our Pet Communities share their Halloween pet photos.
Like to travel but hate to leave your pooch at home? Dr. Carol Osborne talks tips on how (and where!) to take a trip with your pampered pet
Ooh and aah your way through these too-cute photos of MedHelp members' best friends
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.