Doctors treat humans and vets treat animals. Pharmacists can also give medications to human patients but it is not the same for animals.
Pharmacy is a method of providing medications to a Human patient as prescribed by the doctor. Pharmacy has many types but more broadly, they can be categorized into two-
Regular Pharmacy-
It gives the doses of medicines in regular and fixed amounts. They don’t follow the concept of the addition of drugs into medications.
Compound Pharmacy-
It can fluctuate the doses of medicines as per the patient’s need. The trend of Compound Pharmacy has increased more. It may include drugs in smaller amounts for medicines, especially for children. The patient can change the form of medicines being given ( For eg. From solid to liquid)
What are pet prescriptions and why are they necessary?
If the pet’s health is not good enough, then the veterinarian or the doctor gives pet prescriptions suggesting that the treatment is necessary to improve the pets’ health.
Just like humans need medications from time to time for a disease or anxiety, pets also need prescriptions from time to time. These prescriptions include medications including medicines, drugs, steroids, or other compounds needed by the pet for health improvement.
Not giving proper medications to the pet and ignoring the prescriptions by the veterinarian will adversely affect the pet’s health and the infection inside the pet’s body may increase to a disastrous level.
Ways for pet prescription-
There are two ways to get prescriptions for your pet-
Provision of medication by the veterinarian. The veterinarian will suggest a pharmacist that will do the prescription. The veterinarian will give the prescription and suggest the pharmacist who will provide the medication as per the prescription by the veterinarian.
How Human Medications Are Different From That Of Animals?
The medications for the treatment of a disease common to both humans and animals can be very different. Also, the approach for a single disease for both is different.
In some sense, we can say that the medications for humans are likely to be appropriate for animals but it is not the same every time. Instead, it can be very threatening for animals if they share the same medicine as humans. Also, it is considered illegal to share human medication with animals and vice-versa.
Some human drugs can be provided to animals like prednisone and are not harmful to them. Some drugs and medicines that are applicable for medications in humans are very fatal for pets’ health. Also, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) like naproxen, a drug used for human medications, can be very harmful to animals even in smaller amounts. The same applies to Asprin. Asprin is not suggested by all vets for medications for pets.
Whether a medicine for humans is appropriate for pets or not depends on the pet’s weight to a larger extent.
Pharmacy and pet prescriptions-
Many people buy drugs from their local pharmacist and do regular pharmacies rather than visiting the veterinarian. There are many reasons behind these prescriptions-
The high cost of prescriptions by the veterinarian. Availability of medicines is present that their doctor prescribed for them and they share the same with their pets. Lack of awareness among people.
Many people purchase medicines from pharmacies in their name and give them to their pets which is illegal and harmful for the pets too. Other people self-diagnose the medicines for their pets and go to the pharmacies to buy the same medicines that they use for a certain disease.
They don’t understand this can be vulnerable to their pet’s health.
Advantages of regular pharmacies-
Using regular pharmacies and buying medication after taking the prescription of veterinarians is good. It will save both time and money, but the pharmacy should be regular until the health gets appropriate. Some medications are common for both humans and pets. Pharmacies like Walmart and CVS have good pharmacists and will fill prescriptions safely. Though it is illegal to mix the medications, it won’t affect the health of the pet.
Disadvantages of regular pharmacy-
There are disadvantages as well-
It is considered illegal if not prescribed by the veterinarian. Self-diagnosing or mixing the medications of humans and pets might result in bad health for pets. Also, further treatment of pets after bad health can result in heavy costs.
Can regular pharmacies fill pet prescriptions-
Regular pharmacies can be used for pet prescriptions if-
The pharmacy is done after proper prescription by a veterinarian. The pharmacist should be trustworthy and intelligent if the self-diagnosing method is applied.
Online pharmacy is also good as it will allow us to communicate with the best and most trustworthy pharmacist with wider knowledge and variety neglecting the distance and time problem.
Regular pharmacies can fill pet prescriptions but it needs precautions and depends a lot on taking prescriptions by the veterinarian.
