Many pet owners often find themselves in a situation where they need to know whether or not a certain medication can be given to a pet safely. For the most part, human medication is not safe for pets and it is best that you ask your vet for specific medication that can be given to pets safely. Even within pet medication, however, there is the possibility of overdosing a pet and making it worse therefore extreme caution must be taken. Giving the wrong sleeping pill to a pet can cause medical complications or death, therefore it is important to educate yourself on sedate an animal safely.
Sleeping Aids and Pets
Many owners find that their pets get stressed when travelling, going to the groomers or during times when there is a lot of loud noise in the house (construction, parties). Some feel it is justified to give a pet sleeping medication to help it stay calm and not get too stressed out. While stress is a valid concern for pet owners, sometimes the risks of giving a pet sleeping medication far outweigh the potential benefits.
Non-medication Ways to Calm a Pet
Before you decide on giving your pet sleeping medication, try and calm it down without any medicine. This can be done by putting it in a room where the stress inducing factors (noise, too many people) are reduced and letting it stay there with its food and water as long as those factors are around. In case your pet gets stressed every time it has to travel, you can start training it to associate the travel with a good thing, like a treat. This way you can have a calm pet while you travel without giving it unnecessary medication. Many people find that their pets get very stressed around the Fourth of July due to firecrackers. This can be avoided by desensitizing the pet to the noise the crackers made throughout the year.
Sleeping Pills for Pets
In case none of the above mentioned methods work for you, you should ask your vet for a suggested sedative. The most common one given for dogs is Benadryl, which is actually an antihistamine. Antihistamines cause drowsiness which calms the pet down. Other sedatives available for pets are Atravet and Diazepam, but none of these should be administered without consulting a vet first.
Effect of Human Medication on Pets
Giving a pet human medication can have disastrous effects as most animals do not process food and medication the same way as humans. The substances in sleeping pills can begin to build up in the pet's system because they are not able to be metabolized. Therefore giving a pet human medication could result in serious complications as the medicine will not have the desired effect and can cause damage to the organs. Symptoms, such as abdominal pain, excess saliva, vomiting and weakness can all be caused because of the damage of sleeping pills or even pain relievers on the body. If the dosage is high, it is possible that your pet will be killed.
Steps to Take if Sleeping Medication is Ingested by Pet
In case your pet ingests human medication, you need to get it to a vet immediately and get it treated. Left untreated the pet could die or suffer from complications. It is advisable to keep all human medication out of reach of pets.
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