My dog has a painful retained baby tooth. Can I give human meds?

Please do not give your dog aspirin without the direction of your veterinarian as it can cause stomach bleeding and coagulation problems. Looking at the photo this does look like your dog has significant gingivitis and a hands-on exam should reveal whether there is a tooth root abscess. Considering there is a lot of tartar and gingivitis present Maddie will need a dental cleaning under anesthesia anyway and in the course of that the vet will find bad teeth which should be extracted. I do not think Aspirin will take a tooth ache nor will it help in any other aspect. I am happy you scheduled an exam with your veterinarian on Friday.

Those teeth are not fusing together. They are just in tight proximity. The back, skinnier tooth is the baby canine tooth that never fell out. The one in front of that is the adult canine tooth. The baby tooth does need to be extracted (not the adult tooth) as it will cause problems of crowding and it allows a lot of food, hair, etc to get stuck between the teeth and cause infection. The pain injection and the antibiotic injections are done while she is having the procedure done. The clavamox and tramadol are antibiotic and pain medication for her to take at home after the procedure. This is normal.

Poor Rusty! Unfortunately, there really isn't much you can do about this at home - there are no over-the-counter human pain medications that are safe for use in dogs, so your best option is to give him soft food until you're able to get him in to see the vet. He/she can take a closer look at his mouth, and can get him started on pain meds and antibiotics as well as scheduling a dental procedure to extract the painful tooth.

No, human pain medications are not safe for dogs. Many are toxic and can be fatal if given. If Mia is in a lot of pain, you need to take her into a vet immediately to get pain relief. Please take her into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website. Best of luck.

Feed a soft diet until she sees the doctor. There is nothing OTC that can safely given for pain. Many OTC medications for humans are toxic to dogs or easily overdosed. That tooth may need to be extracted.

I'm sorry to hear that. Giving antibiotics will only be a temporary fix. If she has an abscessed tooth, it is because the tooth is the problem. I'm not sure why your veterinarian thought 8 years was too old, but perhaps Sadie has other medical problems I am not aware of. Antibiotics could temporarily help, but unfortunately, I would suspect once the antibiotics were stopped, it will open back up and start draining again. I recommend trying to save up, or searching online to see if there happens to be a low cost income based clinic in your area, so that the tooth can be removed. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about your puppy. Do not give him any human pain relievers, as many are toxic to puppies and can be fatal if given. Given he's running and playing, just observe him tonight. Have him seen by a vet in the morning, and the vet can remove it as needed. Best of luck.