Toxic Medications in Dogs

One of the most common mistakes some people make is medicating their dogs without checking with the vet. This is a huge irresponsibility, since dogs don't use the same doses as humans, and in addition, many human medications are lethal in dogs.

Some are toxic or fatal depending on the amount given, others are directly fatal, regardless of the amount taken. It's super important to know all the details — this is the only way we can raise awareness and prevent many dogs from dying accidentally due to their owners' irresponsibility.

Let's go over the main common medications that can poison a dog and even cause its death.

Acetaminophen (Paracetamol)

Acetaminophen is an excellent medication for humans but a poison for dogs — a single one-gram tablet of acetaminophen is a toxic dose for a dog, capable of killing it.

Acetaminophen is used very little at vet clinics, since there are other more effective, safer alternatives for dogs. To give you an idea, it's normal for an 80-kilo adult human to take between six hundred milligrams and one gram of acetaminophen.

Ibuprofen

Ibuprofen is a potent anti-inflammatory that also acts as a pain reliever, ideal for headaches in humans but toxic for dogs. There are some dog medications that use ibuprofen, but always at very, very low doses.

If we gave a dog human ibuprofen, we'd be poisoning it and would very possibly cause its death. Vets have plenty of alternatives to ibuprofen, much safer for our dog.

Alprazolam

Some vets prescribe alprazolam (Xanax's active ingredient) to dogs suffering from fears or phobias of external factors, such as fear of storms in dogs or fireworks.

We don't share this opinion, since there are safer medications for the dog than alprazolam. At incorrect doses, alprazolam becomes a poison for dogs, capable of putting them into a coma or even killing them within a few hours.

At low doses (always confirmed by a vet), alprazolam acts as a sedative. Imagine your dog is afraid of storms, you give it alprazolam and sedate it, the storm arrives, and it tries to get up to hide but can't, because it's sedated... it will get much more scared.

Zolpidem

Zolpidem is another common human medication that can be fatal for a dog. It's a midazopyridine derivative and has no use in dogs, except in clinical trials.

This medication is a potent central nervous system sedative for humans, but in dogs, at low doses, it simply sedates them without putting them to sleep, which makes the dog get more nervous since it doesn't know what's happening to it, and it enters a state of panic.

At high doses, it's very toxic for dogs, as happens with alprazolam. We need to do everything possible to prevent our dog from being able to access this type of medication. If we use it ourselves, we should keep it in a secure drawer or a high shelf of a cabinet the dog can never access.

Tramadol

This medication is a pain reliever used at vet clinics to ease pain in dogs that have just come out of surgery or that have a painful chronic disease. It's a very potent sedative with short-lasting effects; however... it can be fatal for our dog.

The dose of tramadol for a dog needs to be given exclusively by a vet, since if we self-medicate our dog and go over by just a few milligrams.... we'll cause its death.