Cat And Dog Med That Human Can Take
Is It Safe For Humans To Take Cat And Dog Medications?
While it is generally not good practice for humans to take pet meds for the same given illness, there certainly are cat and dog meds that humans can take. For instance, some antihistamines available over the counter for treating humans have the same pet med active ingredients. It is usually the case that dogs and cats can take human meds rather then the other way around, however, owing mainly to the stigma of people taking medicine meant for animals.
An example of an interchangeable drug across the human/pet divide is doxycycline, which is used to treat Lyme disease. It is a bacterial illness from deer ticks that is prevalent in North America and parts of Europe that causes fever, rashes, and joint swelling. Dogs and people suffer from Lyme disease and medications are practically the same. The only difference is the dosage.
You do need to be very careful if taking animal medications, though, and seek professional advice beforehand. Even within the animal kingdom, drugs are generally not interchangeable - goats cannot take meds meant for horses and even mild meds for treatment in a horse’s respiratory system will give humans heart murmurs. A doctor will almost certainly advise against humans taking dog and cat meds, but they may not be in the full knowledge of the associated drug, whereas vets are.
Some veterinarians may even advise pet owners that administering their cats and dogs low doses of human medications is okay. While some drugs may be safe for animals meant for human consumption, others are clearly not and you should stick with what the vet tells you. For instance, the common anti-inflammatory, over the counter human medicine acetaminophen is lethal to cats, even at small dosages.
Although there are cat and dog meds that humans can take and many pet meds are the same as for humans, most of them are only targeted to a specific species and are generally dangerous to humans. Flea and tick medications are one such group of meds for cats and dogs that are a danger to humans, and particularly among pregnant women. In addition, some of these flea meds are also a preventative heartworm medication and contain pesticides. Even if human hearts could support heartworm, this med will do nothing but damage the human system.
Other than for physical ailments, there are certain mental health drugs that can be taken by humans and cats and dogs. Pets can also be afflicted with depression and anxiety and they will often be prescribed with Prozac or Xanax. These are exactly the same drugs with the same ingredients as for humans. However, you wouldn’t walk into a vets’ with your bipolar dog and request they prescribe a box for yourself, nor would you take your dog to your GP and ask for a pick me up for Fido. Dosage aside, if you were in an emergency and needed your Prozac but had run out, it would be okay to take the dog’s supply as long as you had the same dosage.
The long and short of it is, there are cat and dog meds that humans can take, but only do so if it is an emergency and you have consulted your doctor/vet beforehand. If you accidentally take the wrong medicine meant for your pet, seek medical advice immediately.
Note: The owner of this website is an affiliate of the products promoted.