Terriks, the same thing happened to my children! I used to give them vitamins shaped like Flintstone characters and kept them in the top kitchen cabinet. One day when I was taking a shower my five year old pulled a chair over to the counter, got up on it and pulled two bottles of vitamins down. He opened both and gave one to his three-year-old sister and they started munching away. Neither could tell me how many they had eaten so I took them to our pediatrician. She gave them both ipecac, but my daughter had iron toxicity and had to stay in the hospital overnight. I threw the vitamins away forever that day, and they haven't suffered one bit from not taking extra vitamins above what they naturally get in a balanced diet. Oh---and I asked my son how he got the "child proof" cap off, and he said he just read the directions on it.... push and turn!

pkramer, Is her lupus the systemic kind or discoid (affecting the face)? I wandered over to the cooking forum today (I'm here once in a while, but not a regular) because I'm going to try a grain-free diet for my dog with discoid lupus. We went to the vet today and we're doubling her prednisone, again. We got some ointment for her eyes so maybe her eyelids won't bleed anymore. I started mixing in the grain-free food tonight. Snacks could be a problem though. My vet treats another dog who now gets a RAW diet. That dog doesn't have to take meds anymore. I'm trying to avoid the RAW diet, so I'm trying grain-free first. I have mixed feelings about the different foods. I feed my dogs expensive foods, but I have a friend who's shephard mix lived to be 17 and ate Pedigree her whole life. She was healthy for the first 15-16 years. My cats ate Friskies (canned) with varying dry food (I upgraded that several years ago) for the first 12 years (until they decided they didn't like ANY of the flavors anymore, right at the time of the food recall). They got higher end canned food for a couple years, until they decided they didn't like it anymore. We're back to Friskies & Fancy Feast. They are turning 13 and 15 this year. I have baked treats for the dogs for several years now. Actually, since I got two puppies (yeah, sisters, at the same time... 4 month old lab mix girls with no manners whatsoever...) and we were going through a box of Milk-Bones a week, and we were in big trouble if we ran out (we gave treats when they went into their kennels...). I made up a recipe that I can use it as a mix if I want, or can make a single batch. It takes about 15 or 20 minutes to mix, roll, & cut (not fancy shapes though) and an hour to bake and lasts us about 2 or 3 weeks (now). I'm trying to find out if I can modify my recipe (or find an easy) grain-free one. pkramer, if you have any advice on the lupus, please feel free to PM me. Email on my page should work. Thanks!

I am sure that I have posted enough on this forum everyone knows that I think of all animals being sentient beings with free will. My horse, Ralph is the best judge of people and other animals. When he doesn't like someone he blows snot in their face. If he thinks a dog is bad he hassles it until it leaves. He has been on his earthwalk for 30 years so he has had alot of experiance. One day while I was working at the feed store a car stopped and the driver threw a very drunk man out of the car. The drunk man walked in the store and started yelling at me accusing me of stealing his bottle and his ammo. I asked him if he had a gun for the ammo he said no, so I didn't call the cops. I got my big dog Maee to stand with me. Maee looked at the man and went up to him and gave him a kiss. The man's whole way of being changed. He said what a nice dog I have and started talking about dogs he had. I was so happy my protection dog is a peacemaker. Now cats, mine will be all over cat haters. When someone wants to cuddle them they will play hard to get.

Most drugs we use on animals ARE human meds. Some exceptions are parasiticides, heartworm prevention, things specific to animal diseases. There are very few drugs developed for the sole purpose of use in animals, and most of them are developed for dogs and cats. There is not one drug labeled for use in ferrets for example. Yet we Rx drugs for ferrets all the time. Benadryl is often used to help animals with alleriges. Again, there are not any allergy drugs specific for animals, so we HAVE to use human drugs. If you have any questions about the dose or effects, the vet is the person to ask. But I can say that benadryl is exremely well-tolerated in animals, even with long-term use. To save money just ask for the dose of whatever drug you need and shop around. You have to be careful with things like allergy drugs and make sure you purchase products that are ONLY antihistamines, nothing with a degongestant, or you will have one excitable dog with a heck of a tachycadia. But the stuff the vet sells you is just generic benadryl (diphenhydramine) and s/he may be able to sell it for less than a drug store. I give my dogs glucosamine/chondroitin now. When B'Elanna had hepatitis she got Sam-e and milk thistle on recommendation from the vet; both are OTC. I've never given a dog aspirin of any kind, because of its problems with GI ulceration; I prefer the Rx drugs for long-term use (using Rimadyl on K'Ehleyr now). BTW, Rimadyl was developed for people, but humans had too many reactions so it got sent to the veterinary market. I've given my allergic dogs chlorpheniramine and diphenhydramine. Aleks needed antacids when he was sick- Tagament/cimetidine, and a proton-pump inhibitor -Pepcid. Tatya got a couple doses of Immodium when she had soy-induced diarrhea (won't make THAT mistake again!). If your vet asks what drugs you give your pet, tell him or her everything about everything that isn't food. All the supplements, vitamins, OTC products, EVERYTHING! There are many OTC products that cause serious interactions with other drugs. BTW- if you are using aspirin on a regular basis in your dog and want to switch to an NSAID, the withdrawl time for the aspirin is 2 weeks! That means no pain control for 2 weeks while switching over. Also ANY NSAID (Rx or OTC) plus steroid= GI ulcer, I'd put money on that. So PLEASE tell your vet about ALL the drugs you give your pet, especially when the vet is going to Rx more drugs. S/he might need a reminder to avoid bad interactions.