Can you give your dog Bayer aspirin?

Aspirin has the same problems in dogs that it has in people. It can cause gastrointestinal upsets and ulcers if the GI signs are ignored. It can cause renal failure if overdosed. It causes an increase in clotting time. This usually isn't a serious side effect but it does occur. Despite these shortcomings it has a lot of beneficial effects and it is inexpensive. The currently recommended dosage of aspirin varies a little from publication to publication but it is between 5 and 15mg/lb every 12 hours. Since there is a range I usually pick the middle of it and go for about 10mg/lb every 12 hours. This works well and seems to be pretty safe. That works out to an aspirin tablet per 32 pounds of body weight twice a day. I have to admit that I rarely advise giving more than 2 aspirin twice a day despite the fact that some big dogs could obviously take more based on the per pound calculation.

Any dogs who is going on aspirin should first have a blood work test done before the drug is administered. This helps to establish a "baseline" of your dog's health and also helps to gather a wealth of information concerning the well-being of your pet. With the blood work test results, your vet may adjust the aspirin dosage amount or have your dog switch to another medication.