#Otc amoxicillin for dogs how to

“A lot of people, especially in the poorest sections and on the farms, have been using for a long time,” he says. It's hard to know for certain how many people take antibiotics made for animals, but in this part of rural Pennsylvania, Shecktor says there are plenty of residents who would rather use cheap, easy-to-obtain veterinary medications than go to a physician. “It’s big agriculture, you know, cramming too many chickens, jamming in your pigs and your cows into small spaces then feeding them antibiotics,' he says.'Nine million, billion times as much of this same medication is being given to cows and other farm animals every day,” he says. Instead, he blames the mass use of antibiotics in agriculture for that problem. Shecktor doesn’t believe personal use of antibiotics is a significant factor in the growth of antibiotic resistance. “I’ve had great success with it actually,” he says. Now, he keeps fish antibiotics in his fridge all the time.

#Otc amoxicillin for dogs how to

Shecktor says he did research online about how to use them, and they worked. Then, hacking with a chest infection, he took them himself. The antibiotics were originally for the fish, but Shecktor used them on the guinea pigs once when they got sick, too. They also have a large rabbit named Cinnabon, two guinea pigs, and they used to have a fish. He and his wife care for a “persnickety” aging feline named Muffy or - sometimes - Stuffy Tiger. They told to come back the following week if he was still sick, but Shecktor wasn’t going to wait that long.Īt home, Shecktor already had bottles of penicillin. Shecktor went to the doctor’s office, but he says they wouldn’t prescribe him antibiotics. I had bronchitis and a sinus infection, and it was absolutely terrible.” Shecktor says he knows that's important - antibiotic resistance costs more than 35,000 Americans their lives each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s tough to even see a doctor.”Ībout 15 years ago, Shecktor says doctors in his area began tightening their use of antibiotics in an effort to curb the growth of bacteria that no longer respond to most antibiotic treatment. It’s tough to get the medications you need. It’s just tough to get the care you need. “It’s just the way the medical industry is these days. “It’s not so much the cost as the availability,” Shecktor says. And misuse of antibiotics or other medications can result in serious illness or breed resistance.”Ĭoncerns about safety haven’t stopped people like Shecktor, who find acquiring antibiotics through conventional means - a doctor’s visit and a prescription - too troublesome. Plus, she says, “There can be dangerous contaminants. For one, medications are often formulated specifically for certain animals - though not always - and may not work in humans or even in other animal species, says Claire Fellman, a veterinary pharmacologist at Tufts University. There are lots of reasons you shouldn't, medical professionals and researchers say. So, he figures, if he has a bacterial infection, why not just take these instead of going through a doctor? “The penicillin used for fish and that sort of thing are actually the exact same pills ,” Shecktor says. Instead, he pulls out a stash of medicine from his fridge that is clearly marked - not for human consumption. “I get a sinus infection that requires antibiotics and a doc at least once a year.”īut on these occasions, Shecktor, a 63-year-old man from Berwick, Pennsylvania, doesn’t go see a doctor, and he doesn’t get a prescription for antibiotics. When phlegm invades Andy Shecktor’s face or chest, he says he knows if the culprit is a bacterial infection. Facebook Email Animal medication is seen at the Forest Avenue Veterinarian Hospital, in Portland, Maine.