Risa asked:
>Does anyone have suggestion for where to buy revolution online
>inexpensively?
I just sent this today to the FHL to answer some other med questions
but the on-line expired meds problem comes up in some expert resources
near the end:
Expired drugs tend to be useless or unsafe.
It's is not just pets who should not take them but humans also should
not. I had an elderly aunt and uncle who did this without anyone
knowing until after and both suffered serious neurological damage.
There just are times when it pays to put up with losing a little money
and get rid of things and expired medications certainly fit that bill.
People forget that the age of the medication is not just the time
they have had it. There will have been time that it was shelved at
the manufacturer, in distribution, and at the hospital or pharmacy.
Furthermore, other factors affect whether a medication has altered.
I'll share a few of the things that pharmaceutical experts have shared
here or otherwise taught over the years.
Light is a problem for some meds. Some need to be shielded. We keep
a well cleaned Ovaltine bottle around because it is brown to help on
that score and people will notice that pharmacies use opaque or colored
bottles for a number of meds. When we have had syringes of meds that
needed to be protected from light we have put them into a box or
wrapped them in foil.
Some people think that any med will keep better if it is in the
refrigerator. NOT SO! Some meds should not be stored at those
temperatures. Always check. In your reading you will find the original
bottle, box, or materials which echo them at the manufacturer's sites
or drug information sites such as those mentioned in past FHL posts
and the FHL Links section:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
and
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/links
Humidity can damage other meds.
Some medications last longer in dry form but once they have been mixed
with water their life-span is limited.
How long they last if they are compounded also depends on what they
have been compounded with.
There are other medication tips in the resources given above. For
example, if a pill or caplet has a cutting line on it then the
medication has been manufactured in a way that the active ingredients
are spread evenly throughout. It is safe to cut those meds and use
segments. If the medication does not have a line like that then, being
careful to keep the conditions safe ones for the med, the med must be
compounded, or it must be crushed, mixed very, very well, and measured
into the right size doses, and of course, stored in the right way for
that specific type of med.
Some meds can be given with food. Some can not. Some can not be given
with anything high in certain minerals, for example ones that bind to
calcium. Some can be given with water, but others are destroyed by
exposure to water or to saliva so if they are given by mouth withou
a protective coating in place they can be mixed well with something
fatty enough to shield them until they reach the stomach. Examples are
dietary oils or Nutrical. With meds that may need to be released more
slowly there may not be a good enough or safe enough oral route to use
them for ferrets PO.
Notice, too, that it is illegal in the United States for non-medical
people to ship prescription drugs to each other. You can ship your own
drugs under proper conditions if you are moving or will be somewhere
for an extended time from what I have been told, but prescription meds,
whether for animals or humans have to shipped only by those who are
okayed to do so by federal law.
Notice that when places like compounding pharmacies ship they will use
special shipping conditions for some meds.
Compounding Pharmacies:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2598
(includes some very useful links)
<http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/gM4NSZeJkD06aeDPg-Wxdk3gyCA4R3ltufe6Zd4-KYLrXXRl6giWpGSzooJS3Ioe3tZajbcMrYrMCUSKvaa0ZQ/comp_pharm.html>
and if that second one does not work [It won't. BIG] go to
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/files/
and click open [Login required for that. BIG]
BEGIN QUOTE
comp_pharm.html
List of compounding pharmacies FHL members have recommended. Most will
ship. Compounding pharmacies are experts in making medications more
tasty.
END QUOTE
Notice that there are regular pharmacies which do some compounding but
that an accredited compounding pharmacy will have people who better
know how to compound best, and how to offer medications that are given
by a range of routes, not just oral. The first URL under "Compounding
Pharmacies" above will show you ways to find such pharmacies.
Some resources found in a Google search (and there are more for
those who want to look):
Notes from vets:
<http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesconditionsfaqs/qt/QT_expireddrugs.htm>
http://www.portageanimalhospital.com/
Chemo Drugs Specifically:
<http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/Medicine/Take-precautions-when-using-chemotherapeutic-drugs/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/76349>
An FDA warning about expired drugs sold as pet meds over the internet:
http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/petdrugsonline121407.html
Illegal to use expired drugs on research animals:
http://www.ahc.umn.edu/rar/umnuser/formulary.html
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6143]
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