Can clients take their pets medication?

Dusan/stock.adobe.com

In the United States, the price of prescription drugs is sometimes 2-4 times higher compared to prices in other high-income industrialized countries. Because pet medication can appear to be the same of the clients,² it can lead to clients starting to wonder if it is safe for them to take their pets medication to save money. Even though it is tempting, Pet Poison Helpline shares they strongly urge against humans ingesting pet medications.

"According to a recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine, some of your dog's drugs may be less expensive than your own similar medication,³" said Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT, a senior veterinary toxicologist and director of veterinary medicine at Pet Poison Helpline, in an organizational release.¹

"While that may make you consider switching to your pet's drugs, there are many factors that make that very dangerous. For example, veterinary-specific medication is often not studied in humans and dosing, metabolism, elimination and other factors can be very different between animals and humans, creating potentially negative outcomes."

According to the release, there are usually significant differences between the medications prescribed to animals versus humans as well dosages are different, despite having same or similar sound names.¹ For example, Schmid explained one of the most common types of pain relief medication are NSAIDS. If clients were to ingest their pet’s NSAID pain medication, it could interfere with their own pain medication regimen. These medications are developed based on the unique needs of animals and have been studied extensively for safety in the intended species. She also explained that medication that is targeted for specific organs can be very different between clients and patients.

"There are significant dosing/strength differences in thyroid medication between dogs and humans," Schmid explained. "If a human were to take their pet's medication for hypothyroidism, they would likely ingest an amount high enough to cause elevated thyroid hormone levels and potential life-threatening hyperthyroidism. There can also be dangerous effects from heart medication when it isn't prescribed to you and your specific situation. Medication developed for the treatment of certain heart conditions in pets may be ineffective or cause serious side effects if humans were to take the same medication and dosing."

Schmid also shared that even though she discussed intentionally taking the medications, it can be easy to mix up human and animal medications. Pet Poison Helpline sees multiples cases a year of pet owners accidentally giving human medications to their pets. She recommends keeping human and animal medications in separate locations, and all medication is out of reach from children and animals.

To help keep both clients and patients safe, Pet Poison Help wants professionals to know its parent company, SafetyCall International, is a human and animal adverse reporting and regulatory compliance services.

"There have also been recent news reports suggesting it is safe to administer certain human over-the-counter medications to pets, such as aspirin and Pepto-Bismol," Schmid warned. "Many over-the-counter human medications that may have been used routinely in the past have been replace with safer products that were developed to provide better efficacy and fewer negative effects in animals. Also, dosing amounts vary dramatically depending on the size and age of the pet. We strongly discourage giving your pets any medications or supplements that weren't prescribed by a veterinary professional."

References

1. Can I Take My Pet's Medication? News Release. Pet Poison Helpline. December 11, 2024. Accessed December 11, 2024. https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/can-i-take-my-pets-medication-302328153.html
2. Prescription Drug Prices in the US Are 2.78 times those in other countries. News Release. RAND. February 1, 2024. Accessed December 1, 2024. https://www.rand.org/news/press/2024/02/01.html#:~:text=Prescription%20drug%20prices%20in%20the%20United%20States%20are%20significantly%20higher,RAND%2C%20a%20nonprofit%20research%20organization.
3. Haque W, Chencheri S, Virnig BA, et al. Price Comparison of Human and Veterinary Formulations of Common Medications. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2022;182(11):1216. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.3938