When you have a sick animal, you either take that animal to the vet clinic or you have veterinarians visit your location to treat the animal when it is a large animal, like a cow or horse. Most of the time a vet will prescribe a course of treatment that uses an "animals only" medicine or an anesthetic or sedative meant to calm the animal if the animal has a wound that needs stitching. Of course, there are other times where your vet might prescribe something that you would assume is a "humans only" sort of treatment. These recommendations, why they are recommended, and why they work, are as follows.
Antacids with Calcium for Cows
When your cow has both a sour stomach and a slight case of "milk fever" after calving, your vet will recommend that you give your cow a roll of antacids with calcium. The antacid itself cures the sour stomach, while the calcium cures the cow of the deficient calcium in its heart and body. Since milk fever is a deficiency of calcium in the cow, the calcium in the antacids replaces some of the lost calcium before the cow gets too far gone and ends up laying down and staggering from the milk fever. Of course, if your cow has both the sour stomach and has been down for some time, your vet will address the milk fever with an IV drip of calcium first, and then tell you to treat the sour stomach with antacids.
Hydrogen Peroxide as an Emetic for Dogs
If your dog ate chocolate or got into something that is not sharp or jagged but could be toxic, you need to get the dog to throw up. For humans, this typically involves syrup of ipecac, and while you can give this to a dog, you cannot give it in large doses because it will kill the dog if too much is given. Your vet will instead suggest tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. Each tablespoon of this given to a dog should, and will, produce an emetic effect in your dog. Continue until your dog throws up everything that is of concern to you. Then stop and have your dog drink a ton of water to nullify any residuals in the stomach and gastrointestinal tract.
Neosporin on Wounds
The salve used post-surgically on animals, or used after an animal has had a wound stitched closed, is an antibacterial ointment. It is, in fact, almost exactly the same composition as the human product, Neosporin. If your cat has incurred a few scratches when out on the prowl at night, apply some of this ointment to the scratches and keep him/her indoors for at least a week. If the scratches are located anywhere that the animal can lick, put a cone over the cat's head and neck to avoid ingestion of this topical medicine.
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