Roughly
once a day, a dog or cat lands
in the emergency room at Angell
Animal Medical Center in Boston
because its owner benevolently
-- if misguidedly -- gave it
a pain-reliever like Advil or
Tylenol, said Kiko Bracker,
an emergency veterinarian there.
These drugs, it turns out, are
toxic to pets, as are a bevy
of other human medications.
In dogs and cats, so-called
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs, including Advil, Motrin
and Aleve, can cause stomach
ulcers, which sometimes bleed,
as well as kidney damage. The
same is true for people who
use these drugs persistently,
but in pets, the effects can
occur after just one dose. And
the usual size difference between
people and their pets is just
a small part of the problem.
Most human medications come
in doses appropriate for a 100-
to 200-pound patient, "but
even if you gave your pet a
proportionally smaller dose
of an NSAID, you wouldn't protect
it from the drug's potentially
toxic effects," said veterinarian
Amy Shroff, chief of staff in
the Emergency and Critical Care
Department at the Veterinary
Emergency and Specialty Center
of New England in Waltham. That's
because dogs and cats don't
metabolize these drugs as efficiently
as humans do.
How a dog or a cat processes
an NSAID, or any other drug,
varies according to its size,
age, overall health, and body
fat composition. (Fat, in general,
slows the flow of drugs into
the bloodstream.) Some pets
escape NSAID exposures unscathed,
while others may lose their
appetite, vomit, or develop
diarrhea. Animals that get higher
NSAID doses may also drink or
pee excessively. If untreated,
pets affected by NSAIDs can
bleed out from their gut, and
their kidneys may completely
shut down.
Acetaminophen, the active ingredient
in Tylenol, has even worse repercussions,
especially for felines.
"A cat that's eaten a Tylenol
will lay there swooning,"
said Elizabeth Ellis, another
emergency veterinarian at the
veterinary emergency center,
"and their face and paws
may swell."
In cats, she said, acetaminophen
destroys the cells of the liver
and renders red blood cells
incapable of carrying oxygen.
As a result, cats given the
drug quickly begin to suffocate
and can die from just one standard-dose
Tylenol.
Steve Hansen, the director of
the national Animal Poison Control
Center, said his staff gets
plenty of calls from people
who've medicated their pets,
"but the bigger problem
by far," he said, "happens
when animals get into medicine
bottles that have been left
in their reach."
The poison control center runs
an around-the-clock national
hot line at 1-888-426-4435 for
pet owners and veterinarians
dealing with all kinds of animal
poisonings. Last year, the center
managed more than 28,000 cases
involving human pharmaceuticals,
most commonly NSAIDs, antidepressants,
and cold and flu preparations,
he said.
At $50 a pop, APCC toxicologists
use an animal's species, breed
and body weight, the quantity
of drug they ingested, and the
amount of time that has passed
to determine the urgency of
a given situation and dictate
a treatment.
"If an animal has just
swallowed a medication,"
Hansen said, "we might
advise the owner to induce vomiting
with hydrogen peroxide. But
if four hours have passed, the
window of opportunity is gone,
and we'd have to send them to
the vet."
Ellis said she thinks it's a
better idea to just rush the
animal to the vet right away.
