White willow

Research corpus coverage

Chemistry notes

• CHEMISTRY: Relevant reported constituents include salicin and salicylate glycosides; constituent presence alone does not establish clinical efficacy.

Traditional / historical use

Documented traditional use — not a claim of established efficacy.

• TRADITIONAL: White willow has been used for pain; fever; this records historical/traditional use and does not establish efficacy.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

Modern evidence

• EVIDENCE: For the major use set (pain; fever), the evidence assessment is limited/mixed: Limited/moderate evidence for some musculoskeletal pain; fewer data than for standard analgesics.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph and mixed scientific literature · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

  Mixed findings, product heterogeneity, or indirect evidence are preserved in the detailed profile.

Forms used traditionally

A listed form does not imply it suits every plant part, or that one preparation is interchangeable with another — see the plant’s own notes below.

Cats

• Caution

  Oral white willow bark (capsule, liquid, or powder) contains salicin, an aspirin-like active constituent. Cats are more susceptible to toxicity, so liquid forms require particularly careful measurement; gastrointestinal upset and serious allergic reactions are possible.

  Allergy · ORAL · bark capsule, liquid, or powder · HIGH · veterinary_hospital_guidance · White Willow Bark

Dogs

• Caution

  Oral white willow bark (capsule, liquid, or powder) contains salicin, an aspirin-like active constituent. It may cause stomach upset, vomiting, or loss of appetite, and serious allergic reactions are possible; avoid in aspirin-allergic, pregnant, or nursing dogs and use caution with gastrointestinal disease, bleeding disorders, respiratory disease, young age, or interacting medications.

  Allergy · ORAL · bark capsule, liquid, or powder · HIGH · veterinary_hospital_guidance · White Willow Bark

Additional safety notes (general, unstructured)

Free-text safety notes carried from their source — not broken out by species, route, or hazard type, and not equivalent to the structured records above. Each note names the kind of source it came from.

• SAFETY: Major issues include GI irritation, allergy, bleeding, kidney effects. Contraindications/cautions include Aspirin allergy, ulcers, kidney disease, children with viral illness.

  HIGH · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

• SAFETY: Clinically relevant interaction concerns include Additive with anticoagulants, antiplatelets, NSAIDs and nephrotoxic drugs.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

  Some interactions are theoretical or based on case reports/pharmacokinetics rather than outcome trials.

• SAFETY: Pregnancy/lactation reference: Avoid in pregnancy, especially third trimester, and during breastfeeding without medical oversight.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph or evidence synthesis · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

  Absence of evidence is not evidence of safety.

• Oral white willow bark (capsule, liquid, or powder) contains salicin, an aspirin-like active constituent. Cats are more susceptible to toxicity, so liquid forms require particularly careful measurement; gastrointestinal upset and serious allergic reactions are possible.

  HIGH · veterinary_hospital_guidance · White Willow Bark

  The page states that cats are more susceptible to toxicity but provides no cat-specific toxic dose, poisoning case, or clinical threshold.

• Oral white willow bark (capsule, liquid, or powder) contains salicin, an aspirin-like active constituent. It may cause stomach upset, vomiting, or loss of appetite, and serious allergic reactions are possible; avoid in aspirin-allergic, pregnant, or nursing dogs and use caution with gastrointestinal disease, bleeding disorders, respiratory disease, young age, or interacting medications.

  HIGH · veterinary_hospital_guidance · White Willow Bark

  The page does not explicitly classify white willow bark as toxic and provides no toxic dose or poisoning threshold.

Taxonomic identity note

• White willow is treated here as Salix alba L. in the family Salicaceae; recorded older names include Salix vitellina L..