My dog is limping, leg swollen. Should I give her dog aspirin?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would still keep the appointment you have with the veterinarian. In the meantime, you could start a pain medication to help her out. I would recommend Well & Good Buffered Aspirin. You can find this product at PetCo and it is specifically for dogs. Follow the dosing on the bottle as directed. The veterinarian will likely give you a different medication that is safer to use long term. I hope this helps! I would definitely get x-rays of the leg tomorrow to look into this further and rule out any bone fractures.

Poor Wednesday! Unfortunately, I am unable to prescribe any medication without examining Wednesday myself. I do not recommend giving her aspirin, as it may have some unwanted side effects in dogs such as damage to the kidneys, gastric ulcers, and bleeding issues when given in high doses. She should definitely be seen by a vet as soon as possible, especially because she is limping. Your vet can take x-rays to see where the trauma is, and perform blood work to make sure that Wednesday's organs are functioning properly to handle any pain medication, as well as place a cast or splint if necessary. You should try to keep her as calm and quiet, with as little activity as possible until she is examined by a vet. Good luck and I hope Wednesday feels better soon!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I am concerned that this may be a broken bone injury judging from the pictures. For pain relief, you can use Well & Good Buffered Aspirin, which you can find online or at your local Petco quite easily. I would also consider looking into CareCredit to see if you are able to apply for a line of credit to address any medical problems for Chino. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I would not recommend continuing with the aspirin, it can be dangerous for dogs. a bandage is probably not the solution either. if it is just a sprain then he should get better within a few days of complete rest (no stairs, no jumping and very short walks). if the problem persists then this is probably arthritis which is very common in large breeds. if this is the case you will have to take him to the vet in order to get treated as he will need dog specific medications for this condition.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If you can see an an obvious swelling, I recommend taking Trigger to the vet. Many times with mild limping we don't see any swelling at all. So I worry that Trigger may have torn a muscle or have an abscess or other injury that may cause worse problems if left alone. Until he is seen, I recommend keeping him confined (as possible with a pup). If he is crate trained, then keep him crated and leash walks only until he is evaluated to prevent furhter injury. I hope he's back to normal quickly!

Do not give any medications to your dog without the advice of your veterinarian. Many OTC medications can be toxic to pets. Ideally, Ziggy should be examined by your veterinarian or a veterinary orthopedic specialist to diagnose ligament damage, arthritic conditions, fractures or tumors. X-rays of the knees and hips will likely be recommended. These can be done under anesthesia or sedation. A veterinary house all service may be an option for an exam. Afterwards, a sedative and/or pain management can be dispensed to make the trip to the clinic easier and less stressful for all parties.

I always recommend against giving baby aspirin to dogs. It makes it more difficult to give them medication if we need to switch them. If Jack hurt his rear leg I do recommend a physical examination be performed on him at a vet. Dogs can have just a simple soft tissue injury but they can also have issues with their knee cap or even an Cruciate ligament rupture (like an ACL in a football player). Going to the veterinarian they can prescribe good anti-inflammatories that would not be able to be given if you gave the aspirin. They can also dispense good pain medication to help Jack. Until you can get him to a veterinarian I recommend strict rest and only leash walks to go outside to the bathroom and then back inside. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I hope Jack feels better soon.