Q: My 17 year old kitty has started to limp. I give her half a baby aspirin every third day, but her limp is the same after 3 weeks. I hate to see her in pain. What else can be done? I have an appt scheduled with the vet who told me to start the aspirin.

What do aspirin and boy bands have in common with your cat?

Aspirin was probably used for arthritic pain in cats when girls en mass screamed for well known boy bands, in which the members could be identified as

the quiet one
the bad boy
the cute one
the heart throb

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When your cat was just a little tiny puff ball, aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was probably being used for arthritis or other sorts of pain (if the pain was treated - pain control for pets in the late 80's was still a new thing).

Aspirin was either the quiet one or the bad boy. Either it didn't do much of anything, or it had some bad side effects once your dated them.

Nowadays, Aspirin is like One Direction:

Yes, it’s still out there, it’s huge, but it’s really niche. If you’re not into boybands, you just don’t hear about them…they fall off your radar, because there are so many more options. You will maximize the options available with a set of xrays and bloodwork - know what the specific issues are, and know what her body is like on the inside before giving long term medications.

So when you get to the vet, and they diagnose some sort of arthritis, ask for other options for long term care. I’ll be writing a whole lot more about pain control soon. I know I keep saying that, but it’s true!

Dr. Kris

P.S. - Nowadays, low dose aspirin is used for antithrombotic purposes - essentially for heart disease. It’s margin of safety with cats is really low, which is partly why you are giving it every three days.