Animal Drug Investigation Reveals Pet Medication Often Doesn't Work 279
KentuckyFC writes: "Americans spent an estimated $14.2 billion on veterinary care for their pets in 2013 — and that doesn't even include proprietary health diets and food supplements. Put another way, pet owners pay about $850 annually in veterinary expenses per dog, and about $575 per cat. Factor in the emotional energy we invest in keeping our companion animals healthy, and you'd hope for high confidence in the end results. But when one journalist investigated the science behind the meds being used to treat his aging dog's osteoarthritis, he was in for a nasty surprise. Glucosamine and chondroitin food supplements? Next to useless. Tramadol to kill pain? It's probably just getting dogs high. The one treatment that's been proven to help, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug called carprofen, is often left on the shelf because of fears — likely overblown — that it might damage dogs' kidneys. In part, you can blame this sorry state of affairs on a lack of financial incentives for drug companies to run clinical trials on animals. But often, vets aren't paying attention to the studies that have been done. If we want our dogs and cats to receive the best possible medical care, we need to ask our vets some tougher questions about why they think the drugs will work."
Re:Animal Testing (Score:5, Funny)
I only use pet meds that have been tested on human prisoners.
Re:Just bought a puppy (Score:5, Funny)
most human children don't...spend time eating dirt, plants, and bugs outdoors
I'm not so sure about that one...
Re:What else is new? (Score:4, Funny)
Of course, arguably the homeopathic drugs are just as effective as the prescriptions with less harmful side effects at 1/100th the cost.
If you're going to buy placebos, buy the cheap ones :-)
Re:Fish antibiotics (Score:4, Funny)
Honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead
Gotta love someone who has a bunker full of fish antibiotics but forgets to think ahead...
Re:What else is new? (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, arguably the homeopathic drugs are just as effective as the prescriptions with less harmful side effects at 1/100th the cost.
DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER!
Homepathic pet medicine can be extremely dangerous. I gave some to my cat once. Two days later she died of an overdose while drinking from her water bowl.