Message Number: YG351 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Dr. Bruce Williams
Date: 2001-02-27 22:29:00 UTC
Subject: Re: baby aspirin

The dosage for aspirin in ferrets is 10-20 mg/kg once daily by mouth.

I know that an adult aspirin is 325 mg, but I'm not sure about the
total in a child's aspirin - Connor takes ibuprofen.

Maybe some of the clinicians on the list will give us their opinions,
but while I might be tempted to use aspirin as a short term
analgesic, I tend not to use it for anti-fever properties. Remember
that fever is a natural way for the body to fight viral or bacterial
infections, and serves a useful purpose. Pathogenic bacteria and
viruses have evolved to replicate at normal body temperatures. When
the human or animal's body resets the thermostat by running a fever,
it does so as a protective mechanism to minimize further replication
of the agent.

While extremely high, prolonged fevers may be harmful to the animal,
very few bacterial or viral infections ever achieve this. In my
mind, the use of anti-inflammatory agents should be carefully
considered prior to their use.

Tylenol, under any circumstances should NEVER be used in animal
species - the margin of safety is simply too low, and life-
threatening liver damage is always a possibility with Tylenol or
other acetominophen containing products.


With kindest regards,

Bruce H. Williams, DVM
Join the Ferret Health List at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-
Health-list



--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Otterdefender@a... wrote:
> About the posting where baby aspirin was prescribed...
> Does anyone else have any feedback about using this with
ferrets? When
> I had my first ferret emergency I used an 1/8 of a tablet to get a
> temperature down and my vet said that was a big no no. I don't
remember his
> exact reasoning, but he said it could be deadly.
> Any suggestions on what else to do if a fert has a high
temperature?
> Thanks
> Crystal