II. Prevention: Pets Exposed to Human Medications
- Keep medications away from pets (dogs, cats)
- Avoid using human medications for pets
- Some medications will fail to work (e.g. Prednisone cannot be converted to the active Prednisolone in dogs)
- Some medications may be toxic to certain breeds (e.g. Loperamide in dogs)
- Human medication concentrations may vary considerably from those for pets (e.g. Insulin)
- Dosing may be considerably different in pets (e.g. Levothyroxine, Amlodipine)
- Simple Analgesics may be lethal in pets (e.g. Acetaminophen, some NSAIDs)
- Some medication components, inactive in humans, may be lethal in pets (e.g. Xylitol)
- Animal Poison Control (ASPCA)
- https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control
- Phone: 888-426-4435
- Consultation may be require payment
- References
- (2021) Presc Lett 28(11): 66
III. Prevention: Other
- Avoid pet Iguana ownership if infants at home
- Associated with Salmonella infection
- Affects infants under age 1 year
- Mermin (1997) Pediatrics 99:399-402 [PubMed]