# Can I  buy useful prescription antibiotics OTC at a pet store?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-buy-useful-prescription-antibiotics-otc-at-a-pet-store/119498>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 18, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-buy-useful-prescription-antibiotics-otc-at-a-pet-store/119498 "2002-07-18T00:03:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-buy-useful-prescription-antibiotics-otc-at-a-pet-store/119498/1 "2002-07-18T00:03:42Z")

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This story says you can. I assume these anitbiotics are the same kind I normally have to buy via prescription. Or are they?

[Soldier exposes drug loophole](http://www.msnbc.com/news/781787.asp?0dm=C13LH)

> [@](#):
>
> Following up on the soldier’s disclosure, one of the doctors visited two pet stores and found a wide range of antibiotics available without a prescription, including erythromycin, penicillin, ampicillin and tetracycline.
> 
> Reuters also found antibiotics available on pet supply Web sites such as [petsmart.com](http://petsmart.com) and [Drsfostersmith.com](http://Drsfostersmith.com) where tetracycline, for example, is sold to prevent “cotton mouth disease and bacterial fin and tail rot” in fish.
> 
> “You can’t get antibiotics for your dog without a prescription. But for some reason for fish they break all the rules,” one of the three doctors, Brandon Goff, told Reuters.

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**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-buy-useful-prescription-antibiotics-otc-at-a-pet-store/119498/2 "2002-07-18T00:34:53Z")

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Probably, but I believe the point of this article was:

1. Shouldn’t do it as you do not know if the pills/tablets really contain what they say they do.
2. It would be hard to figure out human dosage.
3. Mis-use leads to increased danger of infections as your body becomes immune to antibiotics.

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**Author:** ![miatachris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@miatachris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miatachris)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-buy-useful-prescription-antibiotics-otc-at-a-pet-store/119498/3 "2002-07-18T01:49:59Z")

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I have seen the tablets available in pet stores and can offer this advice-- don’t take them.

The pills in the pet stores are not, usually, the same exact medicines used in human beings. Usually, they are a different “salt form”, a distinction that’s hard to explain without a lot of chemistry. Differing salt forms can lead to differing dosages. Some antibiotics, gentamicin for example, can be quite toxic when overdosed. You could wind up deaf and on kidney dialysis. Also, the drugs in those packs are not pharmaceutical grade, but technical grade, a key difference in quality control.

The pills in the pet stores are designed to dissolve in a fish tank and be taken up by a fish’s system, not yours. At best, you’d be wasting your money. At worst, you could wind up much much sicker than you were before.

No one likes high prescription prices, especially pharmacists who have to listen to it all day. The pet store is not the answer, though. The four antibiotics you named are probably the cheapest available - I would be surprised at a price over $10-15 for a week or so of therapy. Aren’t you worth that?

miatachris, R.Ph.  
Ole Miss '95