Aspirin? for Dogs? Is it Safe?

I just had a second dog come in along with a big honking bottle of Aspirin.  I cringed just a little.

I saw this same bottle the last time I was in the pet store and I cringed there too.

The answer to "is it safe?"  is  both "yes. and no."

Aspirin is a NSAID. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.  People take it for a variety of reasons.
And dogs can take it too, but it needs to be monitored closely for side effects.

I like how this says Veterinary Formulated.  That doesn't mean Veterinary Recommended.

There are 2 pathways when talking about inflammation-  Cox-1 and Cox-2.  There are some good things about Cox-1.  Protecting the stomach lining. protecting the kidneys.  Effects on Platelets and Red Blood Cells.   The Cox-2 pathway deals more with inflammation.  

Aspirin suppresses both pathways.  The good effects of Cox 1 and the bad effects of Cox 2.   If a dog is taking aspirin for arthritis and degenerative joint disease/ aging, the newer NSAIDs  tend to suppress more of Cox 2, and spare Cox 1,  leaving the good benefits alone.  Rimadyl, Derramax, Metacam are a few of these.   That is why veterinarians recommend these drugs over aspirin.   And because they are prescription, I can monitor the patients taking the medications for side effects before they get serious.

 I have no idea what people are giving their pet from the pet store.  I worry that people will assume that since Aspirin is so readily available, it must be safe, or safer, than other options.  That isn't the case.
The only thing that is more beneficial about aspirin is that it is cheap.  

Cheaper? Yes.  More Effacious? No  Safer?  No.

Here's one article about aspirin usage in dogs. 

Here's an article from Wiley that explains the Cox1 and Cox 2 pathways (about halfway down the page). 




Boo started walking outside on a leash this past week.  And she finally pooped outside yesterday.  HOORAY!

 Have a nice Easter weekend.  Stay safe if you are traveling.

The March Issue of Shelter Pet Magazine.

Hi all. The March issue of Shelter Pet magazine is finally out.

 Yeah, we sort of skipped February. and almost skipped March as it took forever to put together.

 Priscilla is on the cover. Here's the link in iTunes.  The pdf is also available at MagCloud.com and at Gumroad,  if you want to read the issue on your computer, or download and sync the pdf to your Android device.

If you download the issue, and have a free half minute, leave a comment or rate it in the App store.  Apple tends to like it when people comment on apps, I think.   Thanks. 

Happy Friday everybody.

This is the latest update with Boo.

 Yesterday, she barked at me as she waited for me to open her cage to let her out. This was new as she had only been whimpering and whining before. Sort of like she does on the first part of this video. She wouldn't bark when I had the camera in my hands though. (Isn't that how it always is?)

 I did get her to step out the door last night. It was dark outside so maybe she felt safer under the cloak of darkness. Don't know. We didn't get too far from the door, and we didn't stay out long. But she did sniff around in the grass.

 This morning, she did actually follow Lena outside for a little walk. So that is all improvement for her. The second part of this video is from Wednesday when Lena and Boo were wrasslin'.

Update on Boo.

We finally saw a tail wag from Boo.  First it was towards Lena.  and now she'll do it for me. 

Last week, she moved from the cat room, to the dog kennel, and that seemed to be good for her.  Seeing, smelling, and watching the other dogs.  She'll step out of her cage on a leash.  And just yesterday, she'll get back in her cage without me having to pick her up.  That is new. 

Over the weekend, I let her out with Blue, a pit bull puppy.  Blue was abandoned by her owner a week or so ago, when he (owner) decided to not pay his vet bill when Blue ate rat poison.  She (Blue) is fine now, but that is another story, for another day . . . .

I've been trying to get Boo to follow Blue or Lena outside on a leash,  and she doesn't want to do that yet.  What she does want is for them to come back inside and play.    This was Boo and Blue on Sunday- their first play episode.  

I'll try to tape her and Lena playing  tomorrow.  You can see her confidence growing.

I didn't tell you about Lena . . .

Here is a new video, just out today, of Lena.  I took her in back at the first of January.  Long story, but she was living on a chain, with no hair, in a makeshift dog house made out of chest freezer with no door. Sounds cozy, right?  I know . . . .

Her family couldn't provide for her, and if she went to the animal shelter, they wouldn't have treated her, and it is unlikely that anyone would have adopted her with her skin as bad as it was. So I felt like I had to do something to help her out.

She  still has a little ways to go, but this video shows how she has progressed over the past 10 weeks or so.  She's small, about 25 lbs. if anyone is looking to adopt a smaller dog.

Boo- 03/06/13

This is Boo's video from yesterday.  There are some subtle changes with her. She stands and sits up more in her cage.  If I go in her cage though, she still wants to plant herself on the floor.   She'll let me touch her all over . . .  she'll even stand up if touch her stomach which is new for her. 

We haven't tried moving her out of the cage yet.  There are floor drains under the grates, and the floor is sloped, so any urine runs toward the drain- it makes thing easy to clean up.  And the reason she started off in the cat room cages, is that they are taller. If she was a climber, it would be more difficult to get out of those than the regular cages in the back. 

We haven't seen a tail wag yet, but if I remember correctly, it took Jimmy 2-3 weeks to wag his tail, and then when he did it was at Bert first.  So I'm thinking it might do Boo good to have a little more contact with the other dogs.  There was another dog in the cat room Monday and Tuesday of this week, but she was more scared of people than Boo is.  You probably didn't think that was even possible, lol.   But, Moosha was not a good example of normal dog behavior for Boo. 

Getting her in the building involved a catch pole, and it was rather traumatic for her, never having anything around her neck.  I've ordered her a chain leash that she can't chew through so easily, and when it gets here,  I can attach it to her collar and start getting her accustomed to it.   And if you remember it took Jimmy a few days  to get out of his cage, and even then, I had to sort of make him get out. 

So that is the plan for the next few days- attempt to move to the other cage in the cat room, or move to a cage in the back, and look for the first tail wag. 

Why, Yes . . .

. . .  I believe I will have a rawhide.  Thanks for asking.

Boo Gets a Collar On.

and she didn't know what to think of it.

On Friday, you saw her figure out how to lick baby food off my fingers.  She finally pooped Friday night and with a fecal float, I found out that she is mild to moderately wormy.  Which wasn't a big surprise.  So she gets dewormer for 3 days. 

On Saturday, I opened a can of I/D dog food. Half of it was used for the dewormer and about half of it I made meatballs out of.  She'd pick them up off the floor and eat them, but wouldn't take them from my hand.  She would lick them a little but not with the same enthusiasm as the baby food the day before.  She ate the first dose of dewormer mixed in the canned food from the bowl when I left it in her cage. 

Yesterday, I opened both some baby food, and another can of I/D.  I set my ipad up on a chair in the room and ustreamed her eating.   With the meatballs, she still was reluctant to pick them up from my hand, but if I held them up high, I could sort of get her to take them and push them gently between her teeth. 

I was also able to get a collar on her too.  Notice how she wasn't even interested in baby food after putting the collar on her. 

If you want to watch the video on Ustream, go here.


Of course Lucky and Sunshine thought the baby food was for them.  It's "All about Me" with them. Photos on Flickr.

Enjoy your Weekend, Everybody

Happy Friday to you all.

Today, Boo learned to lick baby food off my fingers. It took her a minute or two as you'll see in the video.