Well, we all knew it was coming. The US Food and Drug Administration has finally achieved their goal of further curtailing our ability to purchase antibiotics without a prescription. While this is ostensibly aimed at ensuring that antibiotics are appropriately administered to livestock, it is really just increasing the costs farmers and ranchers have to pay and which they then pass on to consumers. You can read more about the headache it will be for them in the articles linked below.
However, beyond the rising costs we will be paying for our animal products, the FDA’s new regulation also eliminates one option Americans had for procuring a supply of antibiotics. And that’s because this new regulation also extends to the so-called fish antibiotics. It was through this loophole that we commoners had a way to build an emergency supply of life-saving medications without leaving any paper trail. Once this regulation goes into effect, the only ways to get antibiotics will be through your physician, through an overseas pharmacy, or by crossing the border.
Fortunately, those who are comfortable with the whole fish antibiotic concept (many physicians who advocate being prepared are perfectly comfortable using fish antibiotics—they’re manufactured in the US and curiously in the same dosages as used for people) now have a limited opportunity to build their antibiotic supply. Merchants of all stripes now have to clear their shelves of the soon-to-be-contraband antibiotics. They’ll be on sale until they are sold out, and there will be no re-supply.
My sister-in-law informed me that she found someone on
Facebook selling his stock. I don’t know
whether he had anything besides amoxicillin, and I am satisfied with our
supply. I thought his prices were too
high. You might find something similar in your area, hopefully at more reasonable prices.
I would guess feed stores will sell off their stock and choose not to re-supply, so I’d keep an eye open for any deals there, but I wouldn’t plan on finding anything.
Happily, the fish antibiotics are still available online and all on sale. I checked WalmartPetRx and Chewy and both still had a wide selection, but some items were sold out. CalVetSupply.com had some good prices though most items weren’t on sale yet. TheFishAntibiotics.com (I’m guessing they’ll be totally out of business in June) offers all the antibiotics prepared people like to store, but wow, are those prices high.
All Day Chemist still has the best prices (about 1/3 of the cost of “fish” antibiotics sold in the US), and those are manufactured for human use.
For those who wonder about these fish antibiotics being short-dated and whether they will be efficacious when you need them, re-read the Shelf-Life Extension Program article and take a look at the FDA link in the references below.
We’re living in interesting times. We can make our lives a little less
interesting by being prepared, and that includes having some potentially
life-saving medications on hand.
Its been that way here in canada for a few years. Its killed the market for pet fish . Now you need a prescription that means $100 vet bill and $20 filling fee to get $5 of meds for a $3 fish.
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