Also sold as Advil, Motrin, Nurofen, Midol (some versions), generic ibuprofen
At amounts a dog can reach in a normal household, this needs a vet or poison-control call straight away rather than watching and waiting.
No. There is no safe at-home dose of ibuprofen for a dog, and vets do not prescribe it: dogs clear it far more slowly than people do, so an amount that is unremarkable in a person concentrates in a dog. If your dog has eaten any, call a vet or poison control now rather than waiting for symptoms.
Call a vet or poison control now. Do not wait for symptoms.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control (888) 426-4435 or Pet Poison Helpline (855) 764-7661. A consultation fee may apply.
Part of Pain relievers and NSAIDs on our medication safety hub.
Part of our guide to My Dog Ate Ibuprofen: Call Before Symptoms Start.
Do not wait for symptoms and do not wait until you have filled in the form below. Call first, then use the checklist while you are on the phone.
Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
Exposure details to have ready
These are the questions a veterinarian or poison-control operator will ask. Fill in what you know and leave the rest blank. This tool does not estimate a dose or a risk score: medication risk depends on the exact ingredient, strength, and formulation, so the assessment has to come from the clinician on the call.
- Keep the package, blister pack, or prescription bottle. The strength and the full ingredient list are what make the advice specific.
- Do not induce vomiting unless a veterinarian or poison-control professional tells you to. It is the wrong move for several medications and can cause harm on its own.
- Do not give milk, food, salt, hydrogen peroxide, or any home remedy on your own.
- Do not give a second dose of anything to make up for one you think was missed.
- Count what is left in the packet, so the number missing can be worked out.
Your exposure summary
Read this down the phone or paste it into a message to your vet. It stays on your device; nothing here is sent to DogSafe.
Why Ibuprofen is dangerous
Ibuprofen blocks the enzymes that maintain the stomach's protective lining and the blood supply to the kidneys. In people those effects are usually tolerable; dogs eliminate the drug much more slowly, so the same tablet keeps working far longer. The result is stomach ulceration and kidney injury, and at higher exposures the nervous system is affected as well. It is consistently among the most common causes of medication poisoning in dogs reported to poison-control services.
Part of the Naproxen guide
For related dog-safety questions and product-by-product answers, see the complete naproxen guide.
How soon do signs appear?
Stomach signs usually come first, often within hours, and kidney effects can take a day or more to become visible. That gap matters: a dog that seems fine the evening it happened is not evidence that the exposure was harmless, and the treatments that protect the stomach and kidneys are most useful before damage shows.
200 mg tablets versus 800 mg prescription tablets
An over-the-counter tablet and a prescription-strength one differ fourfold in a package that looks much the same. Liquid gels and children's suspensions differ again. Read the milligram figure off the packet rather than describing the tablet by size or colour: it is the single number that changes the assessment most.
What poison control will ask you
Your dog's weight; the exact product and its strength in milligrams per tablet; how many are unaccounted for; how long ago; whether it was an extended-release or combination product; what else your dog takes; and what signs you are seeing. Have the packet in your hand when you call rather than trying to recall the strength.
Signs to watch for
Vomiting (sometimes with blood), loss of appetite, black tarry stools, belly pain, increased thirst and urination, lethargy, weakness; at high exposures wobbliness or seizures
Related items
Check the exact item or ingredient before assuming two similar exposures carry the same risk.
What to do next
Call first, then gather the packet, count what is left against what should be there, note the strength and the time, and keep your dog from eating or drinking anything else until you have advice.
🚨Step-by-step: what to do in the first 10 minutes →Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
A closer look at ibuprofen
Ibuprofen blocks the enzymes that maintain the stomach's protective lining and the blood supply to the kidneys. In people those effects are usually tolerable; dogs eliminate the drug much more slowly, so the same tablet keeps working far longer. The result is stomach ulceration and kidney injury, and at higher exposures the nervous system is affected as well. It is consistently among the most common causes of medication poisoning in dogs reported to poison-control services. The details below use the specific facts for this exposure, rather than treating it like every other medication question.
1. Start with the exact exposure
For a closely related comparison, read Naproxen. There is no home dose. Vets have dog-specific NSAIDs (carprofen, meloxicam and others) precisely because the human ones are a poor fit, so there is no situation in which working out a fraction of a human tablet is the right move. What matters after an exposure is the strength in milligrams, the number missing, your dog's weight and how long ago it happened.
2. Use the facts to decide whether to monitor or call
Another helpful reference is Acetaminophen. Nothing to manage at home. Call a vet or an animal poison-control line before symptoms appear, because the treatment that protects the stomach and kidneys works best when it is started early. Do not induce vomiting unless you are told to. Immediately, for any suspected amount, and without waiting to see whether your dog becomes unwell. Go straight in for vomiting with blood, black tarry stools, sudden thirst or increased urination, weakness, wobbliness, or seizures.
3. If the details are uncertain
Follow the first 10 minutes guide. Call first, then gather the packet, count what is left against what should be there, note the strength and the time, and keep your dog from eating or drinking anything else until you have advice.
FAQ
There is no home dose. Vets have dog-specific NSAIDs (carprofen, meloxicam and others) precisely because the human ones are a poor fit, so there is no situation in which working out a fraction of a human tablet is the right move. What matters after an exposure is the strength in milligrams, the number missing, your dog's weight and how long ago it happened.
Nothing to manage at home. Call a vet or an animal poison-control line before symptoms appear, because the treatment that protects the stomach and kidneys works best when it is started early. Do not induce vomiting unless you are told to.
Immediately, for any suspected amount, and without waiting to see whether your dog becomes unwell. Go straight in for vomiting with blood, black tarry stools, sudden thirst or increased urination, weakness, wobbliness, or seizures.
No. Vets do not prescribe ibuprofen to dogs, and there is no at-home dose to scale down to. If your dog is in pain, that is a reason to call your vet, who has NSAIDs licensed for dogs and can pick one that suits your dog's kidneys, liver and other medications.
Yes. The important effects on the stomach and kidneys are not visible from the outside early on, and one tablet is a very different exposure for a 6 lb dog than for an 80 lb one. A poison-control call costs a consultation fee and settles it; waiting to see costs the window in which treatment works best.
The same call applies. Liquids are absorbed quickly and it is easy to lose track of how much came out of the bottle. Take the bottle with you and note the concentration printed on it.
- Merck Veterinary Manual — toxicoses from human analgesics in animals (NSAID toxicosis: gastrointestinal ulceration and renal effects)
- FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — get the facts about pain relievers for pets
- Pet Poison Helpline — top 10 human medications poisonous to pets
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Toxicoses from human analgesics in animals
- FDA: Get the facts about pain relievers for pets
- Pet Poison Helpline: Top 10 human medications poisonous to pets
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control