Dr. Robert Ridgway, an experienced veterinarian who now does medicine and surgery at an Orlando animal shelter, provides safe, tried-and-true alternatives to high-priced pet medicines in "How to Treat Your Dogs and Cats with Over-the-Counter Drugs."

• Does your dog have motion sickness? Don’t risk death by sedating him for the trip. Benadryl, given in the correct amount, is the OTC treatment of choice.

• Your pet’s mouth inflamed? Try replacing a plastic food and/or bowl with one made of a non-plastic material. Many pets are allergic to the compounds found in plastic bowls.

• Pet having trouble keeping medicine down? Give the proper dose of Pepcid AC 30-40 minutes before giving the medicine.

• Tired of paying hundreds of dollars a year for heartworm medicine? An OTC drug made for pigs and cows, given in the proper doses, works just as well.

Dr. Ridgway created this book to help all pet owners take better care of the animals that are dependent on them.

“I work in a shelter, and I see the worst of everything. Sometimes a pet gets a small thing wrong with it, and people will drop them off at a shelter instead of taking them to a vet and risking a huge bill,” Dr. Ridgway says. “Using this book, they could treat the pet inexpensively and keep it in the family.”

"How to Treat Your Dogs and Cats with Over-the-Counter Drugs" is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Find the book on Facebook, and watch Dr. Ridgway’s video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2O3bWo7Vao.