Giving a dog bute

[jumbyjack]

I met a young woman with a Leonberger, as she knew I had a mini shet she was asking how much bute i would give a mini as she was trying to work out the dose for her dog! Even though the dog at 15 .months was considerably bigger than my shet i said I did not think dogs should be given bute. Anyone know if the dog should have it, a quick Google says it can cause ulcers.

 

[Auslander]

I met a young woman with a Leonberger, as she knew I had a mini shet she was asking how much bute i would give a mini as she was trying to work out the dose for her dog! Even though the dog at 15 .months was considerably bigger than my shet i said I did not think dogs should be given bute. Anyone know if the dog should have it, a quick Google says it can cause ulcers.

Dogs are sometimes prescribed bute, but the key is in the word "prescribed"!. It's a prescription only medication, so she should not be giving it to her dog unless a vet has prescribed it for the animal in question.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

She needs to talk to her vet, they don't often prescribe it for dogs these days as there are better more effective meds available for them. I did have a Lab with arthritis on butee, many years ago - the vet correctly advised that the quality of life benefits would well outweigh any side-effects in her lifetime.

 

[Aru]

No. Dogs should not be given bute.

Mainly as much more effective safer drugs are available these days with a much lower side effect risk.
I don't think I've ever seen or heard it used in small animal medicine in my lifetime outside of people mentioning it being given when it shouldn't have been by owners...usually at the horse dose, which tends to kill the kidneys quite effectively if its a small dog.
Even at dog specific dose rate it can be very severe on the stomach lining and occasionally cause kidney and or liver failure. However the main reason it fell out of favour in small animal medicine is as it can cause sudden death in dogs due to its effect on the red bloods cells....essentially it can cause a sudden onset type of leukemia.
so vets used to need weekly bloods initially,then fortnightly monitoring if the dog was to go on it longterm pain control as that fun side effect can happen even if the dog has tolerated the medication before.

There are much safer drugs out there for a dog in pain these days. Better mild discomfort until they can make it to the vets than a lot of the side effects above.
Stories like this are why vets are being discouraged from giving people stocks of bute etc to have at home.

 

[rara007]

The dog should probably see it’s vet for dog meds

 

[jumbyjack]

Thanks all, I will give her a heads up when I see her!