The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, recently reminded veterinarians and farmers to stop using aspirin to treat fever and pain in milk-producing dairy cows.

Aspirin is not approved for lactating dairy cows, so this is what’s called extra-label use. There are approved products, such as flunixin [flue-NIX-in], for reducing fever and pain — products that already have established withdrawal periods so that the drug doesn’t contaminate milk and meat. In addition, Vazalore [VA-zah-lore] is the only FDA-approved human aspirin product that veterinarians may use in food animals.

It’s important to remember that extra-label drug use can only happen in specific cases and requires a professional veterinarian-client-patient relationship.