Beware if buying Pet Meds at local drugstore

[opus88]

be sure to read this all of you who are getting your pets meds or insulin filled at a human pharmacy....

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/01/11/retail-pharmacy-errors.aspx?e_cid=20130111_PetsNL_art_1

[opus88]

yes I get many of my kitties prescriptions filled at my pharmacy also for cost purposes, the difference can be remarkable. thats why I too was very interested in what dr.Becker had to say..the headline caught my eye.

Its good for us to be aware of these dangers and be even more vigilant in the future.

it shocked me too that a pharmacist wouldn't know how toxic Tylenol is to animals..besides the fact that its nearly useless for arthritic pain even for us humans..
always need to be on our toes with any medication and if in doubt wait and speak to your Vet or doctor before using...I'm like you FM...I use only when absolutely necessary and with tons of caution.

♥

[FurballsMom]

That is good information.  At the moment, I only occasionally give Akira Zyrtec to tackle her allergies, but only at the dosage recommended by the vet herself.  Therefore, at least I have correct dosing information for this antihistamine.  But, I can see what Dr. Becker is talking about here.  And, I have used a human pharmacy in the past for my previous cat.  At that time, however, I was already familiar with the dosage I needed to give to the cat for IBD, as I had picked it up so many times at the vet's office.  So, by the time I started picking it up at the human pharmacy it was only a matter of saving money on the prescription.  Since it was a cat, I didn't have to buy as many of the pills at any one time as I might have picked up for myself if I were using the same medication.

What she was talking about concerning Tylenol makes me very nervous.  If I had a dog I wouldn't give the dog any Tylenol whatsoever, because I know Tylenol is one of the most dangerous medications a dog can get a hold of.  If I had a dog I would only be able to have a toy breed, and the toys are about the same size as a cat.  Therefore, I wouldn't give Tylenol to the dog at all.  I wouldn't even be comfortable giving that to a large breed dog.  I would never give anything to the cat without talking to the vet first.  I would be terrified of harming the cat.  And, I know how Tylenol makes me feel, so I won't even take it myself.  We may metabolize things differently than our pets do, but I know that if a medication is harmful for me and that same medication is supposed to be given to the animal I would question it all the way.  I would rather give a pain medication that is meant for animals to the animals that is appropriate to species and size of species.  I don't want the animal to suffer pain, but pain is better than being even sicker or dead.

I once spent money on a medication that I had to get for Akira that is incredibly expensive that I ended up not giving to her that I got at a compounding pharmacy.  I still have it on hand, but I will throw it out if it expires and she doesn't need it.  This was back when she had been limping for unexplained reasons.  The vet thinks it's possible that she landed a little wonky or something.  I never saw what happened to cause her limping, but it actually resolved on its own without the compounded medication.  Still, I know it's a lot safer than the wrong pain medication.