all pet medications carry a small risk of side effects but as a dog or cat
owner there are several steps that you can take to make them as safe as
possible and in this video I'm going to give you nine steps to reduce the risk
of side effects in your pet hi I'm dr. Alex from ourpetshealth.com helping
you and your pet to live a healthier happier life now if you've googled your
pets medication it may be that you've got some concerns about the potential
for side effects in your pet the first thing I'd say though is just don't panic
in the vast majority of cases the drugs prescribed to your pet will be very safe
and the horror stories then you might have read about will not be completely
accurate that said every drug that does anything does carry the risk of causing
side effects now of course we don't want to use any drugs or responsibly and
there are a number of actions that we can take to minimize the risk of any
side effects from developing in your pet and my first step is to simply give only
the medication advised by your vet there's a lot of information online and
it is easy for you to try and make your own diagnosis and treatment plan you
might even have some medication left over from another pet at home there are
two problems with this though and the first is that your diagnosis might not
be right and so there is no benefit to your pet getting the medication and the
second is that there may very well be a good reason why that particular drug is
safe for one dog or cats but dangerous for another they might need a different
dose or they might have a condition that makes receiving that drug much more
risky if your pet is already taking medication then adding another treatment
to their plan may again make the risk of side-effects much higher so my next step
is to never give your pet human medication unless specifically advised
by your vet some human drugs are safe for us but deadly for pet dogs or cats
others can be given safely but need to be given at very different dose rates to
be effective and safe and my next step to reduce the risk of medication side
effects is very simple give your pet the correct dose at the right interval and
for the right length of time as prescribed by your vet skipping doses
and other administration errors can mean that a drug won't work it might mean
that a multi-resistant superbug infection develops in the case of
antibiotics it might even mean that a higher dose
needs to be given and so the risk of side effects increases in the future
simply follow the instructions given to you by your veterinarian now my next
step also involves following the instructions given to you with your
pet's drug prescription do you need to administer with or without food
does your pet need to have an empty stomach is it important that there is a
gap between giving your pet two different medications okay at five is to
stop giving any medications straight away if your pet and suddenly appears
depressed if they become unwell stops eating or drinking starts vomiting or
having diarrhea and these signs are not related to your pets condition if the
medication is being given because your pet is unwell
then it may be that these problems are all part of your pet's illness if though
your pet is getting a medication for a skin infection for example becoming
lethargic and starting to vomit is highly unlikely to be linked and so
whatever medication you're giving should be stopped now link to this at number
six is to contact your veterinarian if you have any concerns with your pets
condition or any questions about the drugs that you're giving them even if
you think you should continue with that treatment that's been prescribed it is
always better to check if things aren't going to plan or if your pet develops
any new symptoms so my seventh step to help reduce the risk of drug side
effects in your dog or cat is to run any tests needed before starting and that
intervals and advise as advised by your vet for quite a few drugs it's a great
idea to run a baseline blood sample at the very start of treatment this not
only helps to check that there's no underlying problems that may mean a
different drug or an altered dose would be better for your pet it also gives a
great starting baseline value against which future tests can be compared and
this can give a true assessment of whether any drug is adversely affecting
your pet and really that they need a change in their treatment plan very
often when a dog or cat starts treatment you'll be recommended that a blood test
is carried out more regular intervals and then once they've been on that drug
and be stable for some time that interval will increase now even if blood
testing is not required at number eight is to take your pet to be re-examined at
the interval advised by your vet with all the testing that could be done these
days it is important not to underestimate the benefit of your pet
get proper physical exam based on an exam as
well as the history that you give your vet it may be apparent that side effects
are starting to develop or a treatment plan needs to be altered it may even be
that the drug has worked faster than expected and so treatment is no longer
needed okay my final step to reduce the risk of medication side effects in your
pet is to follow any additional management instructions as advised by
your veterinary team these may allow a shorter course or a lower dose of
medication to be used now while a guarantee can never be given following
this 9 step plan will help significantly reduce the risk of your pet dog or cat
from suffering any serious drug side effects don't worry too much though
severe side effects really are uncommon I remember that there will be a very
good reason why you're giving them to your foot your pet in the first place if
your pet is being given pain killers and I have a dedicated cat and dog safety
video that I'll link up hearing in the description down below of course if you
have any questions about drug safety or how to keep your pet safe then please
leave me a comment down below and remember to subscribe so that you don't
miss out on my future videos all about helping you and your pet live a
healthier happier life for those of you with dogs or cats with arthritis I've
also got a free arthritis mini course and again I'll link that down below I'd
love it if you'd sign up and join me just to help keep your pet as
comfortable as possible which of course they deserve so until next time i'm dr.
alex from our pets health because they're family