Image description: The Hawaiian Stilt, an endangered species, is a slender wading bird that grows up to 16 inches in length. It’s known for it’s very long pink legs and long black bill.
Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Image description: A moose walks in the river in the Nez Perce National Historic Trail near Island Park, ID.
Photo by Roger Peterson, U.S. Forest Service
Just as medication errors can happen with humans, they can also happen when medicines are prescribed for your pet. In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine started taking a closer look at errors and ways to increase the safe use of medicines for pets.
Pet prescriptions are usually filled at human pharmacies, but veterinarians sometimes use different language than doctors, and something as simple as an abbreviation could cause your pet to receive a different medication than what was intended. The FDA suggests you ask important questions before leaving your veterinarian’s office, such as:
- What is the name of the drug? What is it supposed to do?
- How much of the medication should I give each time?
- How many times a day should I give it?
- How should I store it?
Learn more about how to prevent pet medicine errors.
Image description: The U.S. Department of the Interior shared this story about the National Elk Refuge:
The National Elk Refuge in Wyoming works to provide, preserve, restore, and manage winter habitat for the nationally significant Jackson Elk Herd and habitat for endangered species, birds, fish, and other big game animals (like these Bison pictured above), and provide compatible human uses associated with the wildlife and wildlands.
Photo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Image description: A maned wolf, Chrysocyon brachyurus, at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The maned wolf stands about three feet tall at the shoulder and weighs about 50 pounds. They’re omnivorous, eating small mammals, insects, reptiles, birds, bird eggs, fruits, and vegetation. In January of 2012, four maned wolf pups were born at the Zoo.
Photo from the National Zoo.
