Yes, that was also my concern.  I am delighted that Joe called his vet, but
81mg still sounds *much* too high.  That is the "low" dose used for adult
people who use it on a daily basis as part of a program to reduce the
likelihood of heart attacks (but far too high for cats, in my opinion).

MaryL

Hi Jodie,

I called yesterday, and 81mg every 48 hours is what the vet said.  That
seems consistent with what the links that Mary posted state.

It says that aspirin stays in a cat longer than humans or dogs because it
takes longer for them to metabolize.

I haven't given the cat any aspirin for 40 hours now, and I'm going to wait
another 24 hours before giving him any more.

"Tom's" condition seems to have worsened a little.  He doesn't seem groggy,
but he can hardly drag his rear-end around.  This has developed over the
last two months, which seems very fast to be arthritis (to me anyway).  I've
been reading all the info I can, and I'm wondering if cortisone might help.
I plan on asking the vet about that today.

At this point, we're just worried that it's something life-threatening.

"Tom" was my wife and son's birthday present to me when we lived in
Switzerland (now in Minnesota).  It was the longest I'd been without a pet
of some sort - dogs, cats, guinea pigs.  He's seen just about everything...
fallen from a 3rd story apartment kitchen window, been in more fights than I
can count, two trips to the emergency room, and flown in the cockpit of a
747 flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis - no, I am not kidding (pre 9/11
when we moved back to the US).  Then, because he screamed bloody murder the
whole way up, he and I sat in first class for the landing (the only way to
fly!).  I've installed two "cat flaps" for him to go outside - well to come
in, actually.  Before this condition developed, we used let him out
ourselves but then wanted to make sure he was in at night when he could get
in the most trouble.  My wife badgered me for two days to "name" him and
then, when I still didn't have a name, she named him 'Tom' after some soap
opera star that she thought was cute.  Of course she didn't tell me right
away, and then it was too late to give him another name.  He is sure one
special cat.

Thanks to all for the advice.  I'm open to any and all suggestions you may
have.

Joe.

Sorry to hear about your cat, Joe. Sounds like there's nothing that
could have been done for him.

You're kids are learning a tough lesson in life; I'm sorry you all have
to go through this.

Take care,

Rhonda

So sorry to hear about your cat. He was lucky to have a family that loved
him so much

W