Strange one..medicine related

Has anyone used children's benylin or co-codomol on your dogs when they get similar symptoms to what us human's class as a cold but aren't?

I've read that quite a few people have used it....personally found this a bit strange but thought I'd throw the question out here to see what you think about it.

I have heard people do it but I would not..technically if you give a dog non vet prescribed medication and it becomes ill this is an offence under the dogs act of 1911 for which you can be prosecuted. I will find the link

I have given Benylin to my horse when he had a sore throat on instructions from my vet! Also, molasses is good for sore throats as I would give him that too. Sorry don't know about the dogs Ingrid, but it would seem to me if a vet told me it was ok for a horse surely it would be ok for a dog but in a smaller dose? There must be an "ask a vet" page you can go on to ask about it? May I ask why though??Lol!

Really, really good to know!

It's surprising how many people would dare to use human prescribed medicines on dogs....

Helen, just stumbling across information from various people and this one surprised me so thought it was worthwhile posting what people thought about it - don't worry I wouldn't even be tempted to give my dog anything unless vet prescribed

Lol Ingrid! I thought you were doing some sort of first aid notes for when Fern arrives!

There are lots of things I have used for humans on my animals, and at the moment I am using that Iodine spray on Cassie's tick holes just to kill off any infection that might be there, and I always used iodine for humans (again told to me by my vet) on the horse to soak his feet when he had punctured soles to kill off infection. Can't remember any more off hand but they will come to me later and I will post again. I wouldn't fancy doing it the other way round though, i.e. dog prescribed medicine for myself! Lol!

MC ..here is an interesting link

..with the exception of 'foodstuffs' I would not recommend giving medication to dogs without speaking to a vet first . Although a lot of animal drugs are the same as those for humans in many instances human ones are coated in various things that affects the absorbtion rate of a drug and this can make it harmful for a dog, some dogs can also have an adverse reaction to human forms of drugs and go into anaphylactic shock .

Brilliant link Mini, thank you!

No I definitely agree with Mini here, I would never ever give actual medication i.e.prescribed pills or medicine, but normal run of the mill over the counter stuff for minor illnesses or injury should be ok surely.

Btw Mini, you cannot have anaphalactic shock to something you have never had before. I know this for a fact as I have actually had acute anaphalactic shock with an anti-biotic once, so my doctors prescribe new ones that I have never had before as she said it will be safe. Just a bit of info!

Thank you Helena, yes as I understand it what normally happens is you 'meet' a substance and develop antibodies... so next time you meet it you have a 'resistance' and can go into shock...but say as an example a dog has previously been prescribed a form of animal analgesia by a vet, and then you give the human form (which it has met before in a slightly different form) and it goes into shock and you are in trouble.

.....but, having said that I have known a girl who had never had Kiwi fruit in her life before and went into shock the first time she ate one, likewise a girl with peanuts/a bee sting/shellfish ... I read somewhere this may be due to what the mother eats when the baby is in the womb

the only thing I have given Star is piriton and that was after speaking to the vet. Star had hives for some reason still unknown to us