Humans widely use Aspirin and it is considered to be harmless when taken in the recommended dosage. However, you may have already asked yourself, as a loving dog owner, whether you can give your dog aspirin at home.

You maybe thought that it is a cheap over the counter pain killer and effective for mild to moderate pain and discomfort.

As stated above, aspirin is a convenient medicine for humans and works brilliantly for relieving headaches, toothache, or sore throats, as well as it being a blood thinning agent. However, is it safe to give to your dog and other pets?

Accidentally giving your dog and overdose of Aspirin?

If you accidentally give your dog an aspirin tablet that is intended for human use, your dog will almost certainly refuse to eat, or he will get sick and vomit, or become depressed and lethargic. In some cases, you may find that there are blood tinges in your dog’s vomit.

If this happens, it is absolutely vital that you take your dog directly to your veterinary surgery and seek assistance. Your vet may perform a stomach lavage and need to give your dog an i.v. infusion. Your vet can assist the aspirin in being absorbed from the intestine by orally giving your dog activated charcoal.

As a pet medicine, aspirin has been used in recent times to relieve a dog of mild to moderate pain. However, nowadays, veterinarians prefer to use other forms of medicine as a first choice drug. Vets prefer to use one of the six other most used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the first instance, that are available on the market today, as they are safer in comparison to aspirin.

Gastric irritation and bleeding occur in approximately 10% to 20% of dogs that are treated with aspirin. Giving a dog a repeated dose of aspirin will considerably increase the danger of gastric ulceration and perforation.

Listed below are the side effects of giving aspirin to dogs:

• Black stools or faeces

• Convulsions

• Depression

• Falling over or stumbling

• Fever

• Increased breathing

• Kidney failure

• Poor appetite

• Ulcers

• Upset stomach

• Vomiting, which may contain blood similar looking to coffee grounds

• Weakness of the muscles

• Or in more serious cases, coma or even death within one or more days

There are buffered tablets and enteric coated tablets available.

• Buffered aspirin

These tablets are covered with an acid-neutralizing substance. This substance assists the tablet in passing the stomach and dissolving in the small intestines. If the tablet is dissolved in the stomach, acid levels will greatly increase and cause gastric irritation and ulceration.

• Enteric coated tablets

Dogs are not generally successful with these tablets. A dog’s digestive system cannot dissolve the coating well and you may well find whole tablets present in their faeces. Therefore, if the tablet is not digestible, it cannot work.

Taking into account that more side effects are delivered with aspirin than therapeutic benefits, it is less frequently prescribed for long term use.

There are other NSAID drugs on the market today that contain more effective anti-inflammatory properties and relieve pain more efficiently than aspirin with fewer side effects.

It is important to note that aspirin should NEVER be given to puppies, as they lack the enzymes in their bodies that are required to process aspirin.

In previous times, pets have been overdosed with aspirin. The main reason for this is that pet owners assume that giving their dog an aspirin, or even half an aspirin, will not cause any harm to their dog. However, unfortunately for the dog, this is simply not the case. Fatal side effects can be caused.

If a dog suffers with an aspirin overdose, then he will most certainly require veterinary attention. It is imperative that you take your dog directly to the veterinary surgery without hesitation, so that he can receive attention and the correct treatment necessary.