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Can I give my dog human pain relievers or Benadryl safely?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Female | spayed | 6 years and 1 month old | 65 lbs

Is it safe to give my dog over the counter child's pain reliever or Benadryl? If so how much?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on May 7th, 2017

No, it is never safe to give a dog human pain medications. Many are toxic to dogs and can be fatal as given. As for Benadryl, it is not licensed for use in dogs and should only be used when specifically prescribed by a vet and under a vet's supervisor, neither of which I can give you because it's illegal for me to do so without seeing her in person. You can bring Maggie into your vet to discuss using Benadryl, and the vet can let you know if it's safe and appropriate to use for her symptoms. The vet can also give you the dose information.

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    Answered By Emily Fukuzato, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi there and thank you for asking this very important question for Maggie. In general it is not safe to give a children's pain relieve of any kind to your dog. You should certainly consult your veterinarian prior to doing this. However, benedryl is very safe, as you probably know and so this can be a different situation. We usually find that benedryl is not terribly effective for most things in dogs that we are looking for it to work on. Since I am not sure what the reason you wish to use the benedryl in Maggie for, I cannot recommend its use nor that it would clear up the signs that Maggie is having problems with. You are welcome to request a consultation and we can go thru this in more detail so that I can give you more specifics and see if Maggie has the need for this medication. Best of luck and thank you for asking this question.

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