Over the counter antibiotics are going away soon (at least not without a prescription). Is there anything worth adding to my first aid kit before they are gone? Since horses tend to hurt themselves on weekends or at the most inopportune time and you can’t always get a
vet up. Just wondering what antibiotics people keep stocked up on (if any).
I’d say none? Antibiotic resistance is no joke and most superficial wounds can just be cleaned with regular products. Anything deeper really should be seen by a vet anyways. And if possible, it’s always better to not use any antibiotics at all. Antibiotics don’t just kill the nasty bacteria but all the good ones too.
The only OTC antibiotic I keep on hand is terramycin, but only because I have a mare prone to eye infections. Everything else really should be prescribed by a vet.
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I just keep topical antibiotic ointment on hand (Polysporin or equivalent).
We have required a vet prescription for antibiotics for a while in Canada. Antibiotics aren’t usually urgently required, and I have found that our regular vet will prescribe an antibiotic over a phone call IF they are unable to make it out in a timely manner and the issue warrants treatment. I DO keep left over TMS “just in case”: the compounded bottles always have more doses than needed, but I ONLY give in on the advice of a vet, and just to save an immediate trip to the vet.
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Ditto the “none”. Most people aren’t educated enough to know which situations require antibiotics, much less which abx.
Just because you won’t be able to get them OTC doesn’t mean you can’t get them from your vet. If you have a good VCPR (vet client patient relationship) then vets are likely to get you the drugs you need based on what’s going on even if they can’t come out.
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I don’t think any of my vets that I have used will prescribe anything based on a phone call or pictures. Not when they could risk a malpractice lawsuit. And for that matter, good luck getting a vet to come out after hours. The last time I needed an emergency vet, I called 5 vets. Only one called back and told me she wasn’t coming because I didn’t pull a coggins with her (even though she had seen my horses.) Then the emergency vet I did end up with wanted to euthanize (before she had even seen my horse!)
My faith in local vets is extremely poor. I don’t really trust any of them. And if there is an emergency, it’s going to be the newest vet at the practice that is on call, assuming you can even get them to come out. Or maybe you end up with the pig/goat/cow vet.
A few years ago, I could call and not only get a call back, I could get someone up right away. I don’t know why things have changed, but it’s not for the better.
Human medicine is not much better. I went to the ER and never was seen (only 1 doctor in the building) and ended up leaving, then called for an appointment with my GP and was told it was a 5 month wait.
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Usually if the injury is bad enough to need antibiotics it’s bad enough the vet needs to come stitch something up.
However. I will say I once lived in an area that didn’t really have vets. (Called one and was told ‘you know how to sew? You do that. On the wound. Good luck’) Because of this I know how to stitch up wounds, place an IV, etc.
Tractor supply co sells antibiotics for cows and fish. I really stress use these as an absolute last resort. You can find dosages online pretty easily.
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A vet who knows you and your horse, can absolutely Rx antibiotics if the situation fits. Whether a given vet WILL is the question. The VCPR generally requires the vet to have seen the horse in the last 12 months.
That’s totally separate from the big issue of a vet shortage in general, and those people who live in a “vet desert” area.
Not as of June 11 they won’t, at least the “medically important” ones
What Antibiotics Will No Longer be Available OTC? | Drovers
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This is all news to me. My reading of the above link includes both dewormers and fly control products as products that will require a vet Rx as well.
If true, I am blaming Trump for pushing ivermectin to the general public.
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No - those are still OTC products.
Retailers are allowed to sell through their stock of OTC antibiotics until it runs out. Manufacturers have known this is coming and have stopped making OTC labelled abx and labels have been updated to Rx labels instead. This is why so many things have been on a long term backorder because manufacturers didn’t want to have a bunch of OTC stock in their warehouses with the June 2023 deadline approaching.
This is part of a 5 year implementation plan that included the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. Data collected for this started a decade ago.
https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/antimicrobial-resistance
ETA - for anyone living in California, no much will change. These products have been RX in CA since 2018.
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No, those things are specially in the “not included” list
Stop. Deworm resistance has been an enormous issue for years.
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Ohh this is going to make the fish owner people PI**ED. I wonder if the ban will be on the tablets too.
There really aren’t fish vets, so they have to have access to antibiotics. I wonder what the workaround will be.
Also I thought I should say on here in case anyone reads this in the future and gets ideas: Absolutely DO NOT inject/ingest/use fish antibiotics for yourself! The dosages are not monitored as closely as for human grade antibiotics. It’s meant to be put in a tank of water for fish to swim in, not to be ingested by a person. Using antibiotics off label is no joke! The side effects can be really bad.
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I think the factory farmers with chickens will be equally upset. I don’t know any vets that would allow people to throw antibiotics at the entire flock.
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None. Anything that you think needs antibiotics should be seen by a vet anyways…
We need to cool it on the use of antibiotics. Resistance is becoming (or already is) a huge issue. We need them to work when we use them, so we shouldn’t be using them for every little thing.
What you need to do is create rapport with your vet. Have a good relationship with them. I have a great relationship with my vet, and he will call/text instructions that he feels I can handle by myself. If things are more dire, he will come out and not make a big deal. I’d rather pay an emergency farm call with a horse in the barn after it’s all said and done…
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I have a lot of stuff that my vet wants me to have here.
You’ve gotten good advice on nonscript stuff. I would keep some things on hand from or through your vet. A tube or two of Dormosedan paste would be one and a bottle of SMZs would be another. Your vet will be happy that you have them, and that they either save a trip, or slow things down until they can get there.
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It’s a long time coming. Now if we could only crack down on human misuse of antibiotics! (Which is 10x worse and you can’t even buy them OTC like you can livestock meds.)
I think horse people’s biggest loss will be access to Tomorrow/Today for thrush, but that honestly is no big deal. There are plenty of ways to address hoof funk.
This is the only part that worries me about phasing out OTC antibiotics.
The good thing about TSC and similar farm stores carrying the basics is you can get them 7 days a week. A lot of people are rapidly losing large animal vet access. It’s one thing to say, “you just need a VCPR” but that’s 0% helpful when there is no “V” to be found.
All the more reason to continue expanding telemed!
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I always have a big ass bottle of SMZs on hand.
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What about those tubes of triple antibiotic (neosporin,etc)? Or the antibiotic shampoos like E3?
Agree
Totally different categories. Neosporin is a human ointment, shampoos are not 'medically important antibiotics"
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Having had horses in a rural area with only one vet, access is going to be a real problem for some. Our one vet covered everything - dogs, cats, cattle, horses, and also occasionally needed a day off. Imagine your horses with strangles and the vet is on a week vacation. It happened to me. Thank goodness for TSC and OTC penicillin. I did the I&D’s myself. Of course I had no access to a lab to do culture and sensitivity testing, but sometimes you just have to play with the cards you’re dealt.
That is one big reason I eventually moved to a farm just down the road from an equine clinic with eight vets.
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