I have a 13 year old Rott who has hip and joint pain. I want to ease her pain as much as safely possible.
Can you give hydrocodone to dogs? If so, what dosage?
Question posted by Debbie 1956 on 20 Oct 2012
Last updated on 10 July 2022
Added 20 Oct 2012:
I have a scrip for Hydrocodone 10/500. Is that safe for her?
17 Answers
WildcatVet
10 July 2022
One doesn't give ANY medication... especially a narcotic... to a dog or any other pet without the knowledge of and instructions from a veterinarian. The internet is not the place for this type of question and the wrong information can be deadly.
Talk to your veterinarian who can prescribe both short- and long-term medications that are safe and effective.
Best regards,
WildcatVet
SophiesMom101
10 July 2022
Never give your pet any medicine without checking with your vet first.
Yes it is a word= you should check before you "claim" it's not a word.
Irregardless
Irregardless is a word sometimes used in place of regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since the early twentieth century, though the word appeared in print as early as 1795.
More at Wikipedia
Lridny
19 Nov 2019
Ok, first off it's 2019. Tylenol can be given to dogs, yes, ask the vet for dosing. Second, studies have shown that tramadol is typically ineffective for DOGS because it targets M1 pain receptors, which dogs dont have. Vets are just now getting a clue to this, some not so fast. Hydrocodone also can be given to canines for pain relief, dosed by a vet.
Dreamers
13 March 2020
My dog has heart failure and is prescribed hydrocodone by my vet to surpress her cough, she is a 15 year old Chihuahua and it does nothing for her arthritis pain. So I am sorry to let you know Lridny, but hydrocodone is also not prescribe for pain relief in dogs. It works as a cough suppressant for dogs like mine. I am sure it has other similar functions, but pain relief does not seem to be one of them. So, anyone thinking that giving their dog hydrocodone to ease their pain would be sorely mistaken, it will not. Before everyone jumps on me about consulting my vet first... I already do.. I am talking to those that are too poor, or just don't bother too.
KrisCVT
17 Dec 2018
As a Certified Vet Tech, I'm curious how many of these people giving advice are actually veterinary professionals? Veterinarians? Certified Vet Techs? Because 99% of the garbage I'm reading is so misinformed. It's obviously based solely on personal experience, old wives tales and outdated information.
Can you give hydrocodone to a dog? Yes. Can you give Tylenol to a dog? Yes. (cats NO!!! ) Are they the best options? NO. Can you give plain aspirin to a dog? Yes, but it causes GI bleeds. A better option is buffered aspirin, but limited in how long you give it. Can you give aspirin to a cat? (NO because the dosing is very different from humans and dogs)
Just like in human medicine it is extremely dangerous to give medication prescribed for YOU to ANYONE else... human or animal. You should ALWAYS talk to your vet about any questions. Vets understand that medications are often expensive. Hopefully you have a good relationship with your vet. Ask THEM these questions. Don't rely on a room full of amateurs to diagnose and treat your beloved pet.
You can also use other supplements to help your pet with osteoarthritis symptoms. Omega-3 (sourced from wild, cold water fish) is not only good for joints, but also heart and cognitive health. (cognitive health can also be supplemented with Sam-e and drugs recently developed). Also if you're going to use glucosamine, use Glucosamine HCl NOT sulfate. Just please, stop giving advice if you are not a medical professional.
bestpup
18 Dec 2018
KrisCVT
Next time, before you go shooting your mouth off and insulting other drug.com members on their lack of education, look to see how old and relevant the question is?
You got all worked up over a dog who if alive would be 21 yrs old.
As a drug.com member myself we're all here to share our own knowledge, experiences and most of all caring thoughts to one another as we go through these difficult times in our life.
bestpup
WildcatVet
10 July 2022
Cats are particularly sensitive to aspirin and NSAIDs because they can't metabolize the drugs properly. Even a small dose of aspirin or anti-inflammatory given to a feline can quickly cause toxicity.
WildcatVet
JDGonzo
15 Oct 2018
Canines can receive acetaminophen; felines cannot. Either way speak with your vet, they may offer alternatives so you can save your medication for yourself.
Crystal stolp
14 Jan 2018
I am asking this juestion. ?
jjustice714
6 April 2016
Tylenol is the name of the company and acetaminophen is the name of the medication they make. Acetaminophen is poison to most animals. The human tramadol (same thing as Ultram), has Acetaminophen in it. The dog-safe tramadol does not, so you need to check the bottle to see if it contains acetaminophen. Aspirin is a blood thinner and can cause animals to bleed to death internally. Hope this helps. Call a vet. Sometimes they can tell you what to do over the phone and save time and money we may not have at the time.
Bamagal1
7 Dec 2018
Tylenol is the brand name for acetaminophen. The pharmaceutical company who makes it is Johnson & Johnson.
Vettech29
26 Oct 2015
No dogs cannot have Tylenol or any human nsaid. It can do irreparable damage and even cause death. Please see your Veterinarian for some Rimadyl or dog safe anti inflammatory meds. Also, in the mean time you should start your dog on Dasauquin or a different glucosamine supplement. Not human though, Dasauquin and Flexadin are my top picks. I use them for my own dogs one who has had FHO surgery and has bad arthritis and they work great. But please please please no human meds!
Sue1950
31 July 2015
do not give your dog..human hydrocodone... it has acetameniphen in it... you can get hydrocone from your vet that is for dogs
wizkid2be
23 Nov 2014
If you are considering popping a Vicoden down your pets throat to help her pain, DO NOT DO IT.
Irregardless if you can or cannot give Hydrocodone to dogs, no medication should ever be given to anyone (animal or person) unless it is prescribed for that person nor should it be given without an appropriate rational for doing so.
This rational is determined after seeking assistance from a medical professional, MD or veterinary doctor to figure out the source of the pain, the severity of damage to the joints, and to perform a thorough health check up to get things started
. It is also very important to have a complete blood panel drawn to look for problems that could affect the way the body uses up a drug or how the body gets rid of a drug, and may prohibit the use of certain medications.
Dogs use up drugs differently than humans do. So for those human drugs your dog can take it is important to know human dosage can be greatly different from canine dosage and it is not justified to give your pet your medications.
Vicoden / Norco contain Acetaminophen. The use of acetaminophen in dogs is controversial and my research shows results from tolerance to fatal from just a single dose. That range is too great for me to risk my pet’s life. Additionally Hydrocodone is not a first choice for canine because there are more effective medications available for chronic and acute pain for your dog.
My dog is suffering from intervertebral disc herniation, hip dysplasia, and arthritis. I have him on a pain management program that gets him out of bed and even though we cannot go very far, he is able to take a short walk outside most days.
This could not have been achieved without assistance from my veterinary doctor who cares deeply about pain management for animals.
It is very important for you to have a goal in mind for your pet, your expectations for the outcome from treatment. Be sure your goal is realistic i.e. do not expect your pet will go back to the way they were when they were a puppy. More likely the expectation should be focused on your pet’s ability to function independently; getting up and down by themselves, able to take short walks, and potty independently.
Be diligent in honoring your pets pain the same as if it were your own. When you see her looking off into the distance just standing there, she is trying to figure out how she will take her next step as her body is failing her. Be there for her and let her work it out on her own. Just be there in case she needs you to help. My dog still needs me to help him stand up every time he wants to get up and wants me close by all the time. I massage him at night, cover him with a blanket at times and just lay with him to comfort him and he is grateful.
You will never regret being there like this for your pet, especially if and when the day comes they die or need to be euthanized.
Remember small accomplishments are great leaps for your pet.
Please be a excellent pet parent and find a vet who takes pain management for pets seriously and who is experienced, result oriented, and knowledgable on the topic of pain remedies, and treatment
NOTE: Dogs cannot be given drugs the same as people. Cats cannot be given drugs the same as dogs. It is all about how the body breaks down and uses up what we put in it.
wizkid2be
23 Nov 2014
post
Seriously1971
18 May 2016
I do not think that anyone should administer any medication to a person or pet that is a controlled substance or even OTC when they do not know how to administer it and have not been advised by a medical professional accordingly. That being said, dogs can take hydrocodone. AND part of hydrocodone contains Tylenol or acetaminophen. It is administered for the same uses as humans--coughs, pain, etc. dogs should not be given other things like ibuprofen, but can take Benadryl for example. And the post that was wrong and used the non-word "irregardless"--get a dictionary. It is "regardless" or "irrespective".
Seriously1971
18 May 2016
Most definitely have had a prescription of liquid hydrocodone from a vet for my Carine Terrirer. They can have 2.5 to 10 mg/6 hrs.
Inactive
20 Oct 2012
PLEASE, I hope that you have NOT given your beloved Rottie hydrocodone!!! PLEASE call your vet. They can prescribe other medications such as Rhymadil (sp?), or tramadol at a pharmacy such as Target who stocks vet meds. The tramadol isn't that expensive, and esp. with older dogs, they don't want to give them NSAIDs because of stomach bleeds. I have four beloved dogs, and I understand what you are trying to do, but PLEASE, you will KILL you dog!!
Inactive
21 Oct 2012
I am going to add to what msfino said... she mentioned Rhymadil and Tramadol etc... I know that some people have these medicines for themselves... but PLEASE DO NOT even give the medications that she mentioned to your pets without your Veterinarian telling you to!! In fact DON'T give any prescription drugs to your pet unless your pet's Veterinarian prescribes it to your pet!! you can kill your pet by giving them something that their Vet didn't prscribe!!
ade1971
20 Oct 2012
Canine pain drugs are unfortunately more expensive that human ones but better that than giving unsafe stuff. There are good drugs that will help; on top of the rimadyl mentioned above, ask about Metacam and Deremaxx (don't know if the sp.'s right) which is what I give my 12 year old who has BAD arthritis due to severe 6 yr. old humerus fracture. I also give him Tramadol if and when he's overexerted himself and is more sore than usual.
Ade
kaismama
20 Oct 2012
I got my dog canine aspirin, its chewable and beef flavored. Aspirin was the first NSAID, and its not that expensive. I got it at a pet store. It helps my old dogs arthritis.
Inactive
20 Oct 2012
My Vet told me that I can give my Mini-Dachshund a 1/4 of a baby aspirin, but I still don't give her or our other 2 dogs anything without asking the vet first... and Kaismama, I had no idea that they made aspirin for dogs... learn something new everyday!! :)
kaismama
21 Oct 2012
I didn't either, I was looking to see if there was something for old dogs aches and pains, and found the aspirin. Since he doesnt' often act like things are bothering him, I thought I'd try that before anything stronger. It seems to help him. The ones I got were for small dogs. So they were a smaller dose, like baby aspirin, lol
Inactive
21 Oct 2012
ok... I'll look into that! I had to take my mini-Dachshund, Muffin, to the vet last wednesday. she had blood in her urine. Turns out that she only has a mild bladder infection , but she had bladder stones when she was 3, (she will be 5 in december) she is on a prescription food to help prevent the Calcium stones that she had then, but she can get stones made of other things. anyway... I am hoping that this bladder infection is not the start of bladder stones again!! I hate to see her have to go through another surgery! The last time , she only had 2 stones, but one of them was embedded into the wall of her little bladder and they had to extend her abdominal incision so that they could make room to dig it out! she had to stay at the vet's for 2 days longer than she would have,and her recovery was longer and more painful. She urinated bright red blood for 3 days after she came home!! She is my baby... and that took 20 years off of my life!! lol
Inactive
21 Oct 2012
There are two types of crystals a dog can get in their urine. One is sturvite, & the other is calcium oxalate. My Bichon had both, & had to also have stones removed. If your dog is getting the crystals or has had stones, it's very important that you watch for the blood in the urine or lots of licking of the vulva. The crystals that form these stones are like peeing shards of glass & that is why they cause the bleeding. If she has had stones before, it is always a good idea to have the urine checked at least once a month. My new Bichon is starting to show signs of this also. Some breeds tend to have these problems worse than others, so just be very vigilant about watching for the signs. Hope you doggie is ok... Mary
Inactive
21 Oct 2012
Thanks Mary... We keep a very close eye on Muffin, especially since she has already had stones and at such a young age. She is pad trained... and we did this so that we can check her urine every time that she goes to see if there is blood. That is actually how I caught her first stones... she is a mini-dachshund, and she hated going outside to do her business. She preferred the puppy training pads, and our vet said that if it weren't for the puppy pads, we probably wouldn't have seen the blood and we wouldn't have known that she had stones until she had a bladder full of them!! Our vet said that they see more UTI's and do more stone surgeries in the winter because most pet owners don't know that there is a problem until there is snow on the ground and they see blood.
I knew early this time that she had something going on because like I said she had one episode of a very small amount of blood in her urine and she was licking her vulva more than just her normal grooming, and she would pee, and then a few seconds later, she would "squat" again like she had to pee more and only a drop would come out. But i did notice that the symptoms were more severe when she had the stones than they are now that she has just a mild U
TI... but we are taking her urine in 3 days after her last Clavamox pill so that they can make sure that everything is ok. I just hope she doesn't have more stones. Her last ones were Calcium Oxalate , and she is on prescription food to help prevent them but the vet said that she can develop the Sturvite stones. so we just have to wait and see... but I hope that your little dog doesn't end up having stones like your other one... let me know how things go with them... and thanks again for the info... :)
Inactive
22 Oct 2012
I took my dog to my old vet (who is so much cheaper, but is so far away, that treated our other dog), & after spending over $500 in the past two months with the new vet on special food, antibiotics, urine tests etc,,, the old vet said her urine looked fine, no crystals at all. Made me really mad. he will check her urine again in a month to make sure, but hopefully she is ok. It seems to be a trait of the breed because of interbreeding. We rescued this one so have no history on her breeder. Our other bichon was a gift rom my son, & had tons of problems with her health, & by going on bichon.org, they checked out her breeder & found out she was not reputable. Probably a puppy mill operation. This type of thing makes me so angry. We had to put our baby down at 13 because she got diabetes & was having seizures so bad. She was in so much pain we could not bear to see her suffer any longer. In 13 years we had spent over $17,000 on her health. Poor baby.
We are hoping ( so far so good) this one is healthier. She is 3 now, & that's about the time the other one started with her problems so I am extra cautious about anything that seems amiss... Mary
kaismama
22 Oct 2012
Heaven's. That's alot of money. That's why I have pet insurance for my dogs.
Inactive
22 Oct 2012
awwww... Mary... i'm so sorry that you've had so many problems and had to spend so much money!! My dog is a red Mini Dachshund and she is pure bread and I checked out the place that we got her from and I checked out her breeder... she came from a wonderful breeder out in Nebraska! I am in the process of researching Mini Dachshunds to see if bladder stones and UTI's run in her breed, but so far the only thing that I have found, and the vet already told us about this, is that all breeds of Dachshunds can have problems with their backs and their knee joints in their front legs because of the way that they are built. But... she has no problems with her legs or back, just her little bladder. but thanks for the info about the crystals in her urine, I had no idea that they could tell by a urine test, I thought that she had to have either an x-ray, ultrasound or both to actually diagnose bladder stones.
Muffin takes her last Clavamox on Wednesday, and I have to take a urine sample in on saturday so they can see if the infection is gone I am going to ask them if they check for crystals. thanks!!
Inactive
22 Oct 2012
They should be able to see them on a slide under the microscope. I've seen them before. Some look almost like snow flakes, & some like a shard of glass. Very tiny, but very hurtful too. If they start getting the crystals, the should be on Science Diet UD for urinary diet, & of course checkng that urine occasionly. If not treated, the crystals clump together & form a stone. Since mine is a female, I put her on a leash & then when she squats slip a small container under her. She's not happy about it like the other one, but tolerates it ok. I wish you luck with yours... Mary
wizkid2be
23 Nov 2014
There is no difference between human aspirin and canine aspirin. It is just mixed in with flavors so you pet will eat it willingly.
Inactive
20 Oct 2012
Vets have an anti-inflammatory for dogs called Rimadyl. Please go to your vet & get this & never, but never give your dog a human pain reliever except maybe aspirin, & then you should check with the vet about the dosage. The others are right about tylenol being poison to dogs, & hydrocodone has tylenol in it. You could actually harm your dog very badly if not kill it...
Inactive
21 Oct 2012
don't even give them aspirin without asking your Veterinarian first!!!
ParkerWyeth
2 Oct 2014
Tylenol is not poison to dogs. Cats cannot tolerate it. Dogs can be prescribed Tylenol for pain. Aspirin is dangerous because it can cause
gut bleed.
Sue1950
31 July 2015
Rimadyl is a brand name... ask your vet for Carprofen... same ..just cheaper...
Vettech29
26 Oct 2015
Tylenol can and does cause issues in dogs. Even death!
jjustice714
4 May 2016
Rimadyl helps my 10 yr old poodle with severe arthritis in her back.
bnls143
27 Aug 2018
Dogs can receive up to 30mg per lb of tylenol for toxic levels. a 70 lb dog can take 10/325 hydrocodone tablet and it should be safe. however confirm this with your vet
angel1662
20 Oct 2012
Hello Debbie 1956,
I would never give my pet anything as you don't no how it is going to affect people let alone our beautiful pets, I would hate to see something go wrong and I no you feel bad and want to help, but the best thing for you to do is take your pet to a vet, if u don't have one at the moment u might beable to call another vet a just ask for there advice, people love animals and I am sure u will find someone to help u help your loved one...
jsflo
1 Jan 2016
Miss angel 1662 your kind of talking down to poor miss Debbie. I wouldn't want to ask a question if these were the reply I get. Id feel stupid. I see you are a nice person cause at the end you were nice during your summary
kaismama
20 Oct 2012
Absolutely not. Because there is tylenol in it, and tylenol is poison to dogs. You can get doggie aspirin for joint pain, or your vet can prescribe something.
Related topics
osteoarthritis, pain, hydrocodone, dosage
Further information
- Hydrocodone uses and safety info
- Hydrocodone prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Hydrocodone (detailed)
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