K9 Aspirin

[Zumie05]

I have decided to purchase pain killers for my boy Gary. He has been limping on his back legs for a month and a half now and was started on glucosamine right away when his signs started. Gary is also just starting a water therapy program to help build up muscles in his hind legs because the pain is causing him to not be able to exercise as much as I would like him to.

I have been giving him the aspirin for only 2 days now and it really seems to help him out a lot. I was able to take him on a 15 minute walk today without him hopping around and that was great. Normally he couldn't last more than 10 minutes. He also is more perky and willing to play fetch and tug. I know this isn't something that I should do every day for the rest of his life, I just wanted to get some feedback about giving dogs pain killers. My only real concern is that with him feeling better that he might try to overdo himself and then damage his legs?!

Gary is going to get neutered in 4 months and we will have xrays done then to see what is going on with his hips/legs in case anyone was wondering. Otherwise until then we are just treating his symptoms.

[zorro13]

Has your boy been seen by a vet? If not, I highly recommend this; you are treating for something when you don't even know what it is.

[TrinaJ]

Asprine should always be given with food and used sparingly. In humans if we use it too much it can cause ulcerations, abdominal burning, pain, cramping, nausea, gastritis, and even serious gastrointestinal bleeding and liver toxicity. Sometimes, stomach ulceration and bleeding can occur without any abdominal pain. Black tarry stools, weakness, and dizziness upon standing may be the only signs of internal bleeding. If this is what it does to humans, I would check with your vet to make absolutely sure that giving it to Gary for an extended period of time (or daily) is wise.

How old is Gary, I was reading that K9 asprin is to be given to dogs over 6 months only and under the supervision of a vet.

Better to be safe than sorry.

I am glad to hear that it has helped.

Trina

[Anne]

Originally Posted by Zumie05

I have decided to purchase pain killers for my boy Gary. He has been limping on his back legs for a month and a half now and was started on glucosamine right away when his signs started. Gary is also just starting a water therapy program to help build up muscles in his hind legs because the pain is causing him to not be able to exercise as much as I would like him to.

I have been giving him the aspirin for only 2 days now and it really seems to help him out a lot. I was able to take him on a 15 minute walk today without him hopping around and that was great. Normally he couldn't last more than 10 minutes. He also is more perky and willing to play fetch and tug. I know this isn't something that I should do every day for the rest of his life, I just wanted to get some feedback about giving dogs pain killers. My only real concern is that with him feeling better that he might try to overdo himself and then damage his legs?!

Gary is going to get neutered in 4 months and we will have xrays done then to see what is going on with his hips/legs in case anyone was wondering. Otherwise until then we are just treating his symptoms.

Have you not taken this dog to the vet? Do you know what the problem is? For heavens sake don't home medicate him without knowing what is causing his obviously painful and considerable limp.

You can do a lot of permanent damage to your dog if you are not acting under vet advice. If he has done a ligament then to wait a further 4 months on top of the 1 1/2 months he has already been lame you can probably look at a fairly serious and chronic case of arthritis. This will be lifelong and will worsen as the dog ages. It is not a curable condition and is certainly something you will be treating him for for the rest of his life. You might also cause a blood disorder by giving your dog aspirin.

You want feedback.....take your dog to the vet ASAP.
He is obviously in considerable pain and you are walking him He should be rested until you find the reason for his pain and get VETERINARY medication to treat him NOW. Not in another 4 months.

If you had a similar problem and the pain that your dog suffers I'll wager you would seek medical advice for yourself.

[spidey]

Yep, get medical advice here! And there are many dog-safe pain medications which are far more effective and suitable than aspirin, but you should not be treating the pain without knowing the cause.

[Zumie05]

Gary is 8 months and we do feed with food. I am only giving him 1 dose a day instead of the two that the bottle says he can have.

I really don't think that the problem he has is anything with a ligament. He hasn't got any worse, and he only gets sore if he has done too much exercise. I just wanted to know if giving aspirin is dangerous or not, and I definitely am not going to do this long term.

Will get him to the vet when we can though, thanks for all that. We are just broke now especially after purchasing his water therapy program! Everyone that has seen how he walks either tells me it is a hip problem or just growing pains. I don't think it is a ligament problem, but I can't know that for sure unless he sees a vet.

[poohbearsdad]

Zumie

Have you thought about using white willow bark instead of aspirin? Willow bark is much gentler. My vet told me aspirin is only for short term use only because of the potential problems associated with it. Poohbear took aspirin with her food for a month and a half and the vet said that was too long. Also migh consider using devils claw as an antiinflammatory?

[Paulos]

My suggestion: When the vet OK's it...try Ascriptin.