how to determine dosage for your dog
1. WEIGH YOUR PET. First weigh yourself on your home scale. Then weigh yourself again while holding your pet and figure the difference. (Example: a 150 lb person weighs 175 while holding their pet (the pet weighs 175-150 or 25 lbs) This will be close enough except with very tiny puppies or kittens or toy breeds.
2. DETERMINE AMOUNT OF ACTIVE INGREDIENT PER UNIT (TABLET). Federal Law requires this to be clearly stated on the product label. For example:
a Children's Aspirin contains 80 mg
a Regular Aspirin contains 325 mg
an Extra-Strength Aspirin contains 500 mg
3. CALCULATE THE CORRECT DOSE FOR YOUR PET. The dosage is expressed as milligrams(mg) of active ingredient per pound the pet weighs. (Example: if the suggested dose is 10 mg per pound, a 10 lb puppy would need a 100 mg dose.)
The appropriate dose for many children's medications are stated on the package by age. NEVER use your pet's age to determine the correct dose for human drugs used as pet drugs.
ALWAYS figure the dose based on your pet's weight.
4. DETERMINE HOW OFTEN TO ADMINISTER THE DRUG. A good guide for pet health care will be very specific about the frequency a drug should be used.
Medicines you can use for your dog
Buffered Aspirin pain reliever- anti-inflammatory 5 mg per lg. every 12 hours
Vitamin B used as an appetite stimulant 1/2 to 2ml subcutaneously every 24 hours
Benadryl treats allergies, itching etc. 1/2mg per lb. every 8 hours (max dose 2mg per lb.)
Dramamine reduces motion (car) sickness up to 50mg every 8 hours
Hydrogen Peroxide 3% used to induce vomiting after accidential ingestion of poison 10ml by mouth every 15 minutes
Epinephrine 1:1000 used to treat reactions following medications, insect bites & stings 1/10 to 1/2ml intramuscular or subcutaneously
Pepto Bismol for diarrhea, vomiting & anti-gas 1 tsp per 5 lbs every 6 hours
Di Gel Liquid antacid and anti-gas up to 4 tbs every 8 hours
Mineral Oil eliminates constipation up to 4 tbs daily
Kaopectate relieves diarrhea 1 ml per lb. every 2 hours
Benedryl-Treat allergies, itching, reaction to insect stings, etc. 1 mg. per 1 Lb. 2 times per day
Mineral Oil -Eliminate constipation. Dogs: up to 4 Tbls. Daily, as needed
TAGAMET (or Cimetidine): Can be dispensed to dogs suffering from ulcer pains or to help reduce the amount of acid irritation in the stomach. It's best to discuss a proper dosage with your veterinarian.
MELATONIN - Often used for noise phobias (thunderstorms, fireworks, etc.) You may find Melatonin in health food stores, pharmacies, and some supermarkets. When selecting the Melatonin make sure to examine the labels carefully and select a product that contains the proper dosage for dogs. Make sure that it does NOT contain other herbs or nutrients. The usual dosage is 3 mg for a dog that weighs over 30 pounds. In a few cases, very large dogs weighing well over 100 pounds needed 6 mg, but that's unusual. For dogs that weigh less than 30 pounds, give 1.5 mg. For a tiny dog, reduce the dosage even further.
sources:
http://www.always-healthy-people-and-pe ... d-OTC.html
http://www.buckbasset.com/meds.htm
http://kitchen.robbiehaf.com/PetHomeRemedies.html