Hello,
You have posted several articles on penicillin over the years. There is usually a link to follow to purchase it online. The link almost always brings me to a website to purchase fish meds. Is fish penicillin safe for human consumption? Thanks for your response. – Mike
JWR Replies:
Those articles are posted for informational purposes only. I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice. Please consult your local licensed physician.
In other words they are exactly the same thing. There are no “fish medication factories” same thing and same formula and same code stamped on the pill.
From what I’ve heard and read, the same exact factories using the same exact ingredients manufacture both human and fish antibiotics.
That didn´t mean they are the same thing
But, they are.
Consult a PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) and check the pill indentification section.
An online search example here: https://www.drugs.com/doxycycline-images.html
This is used for positive identification of medication, I have done this with the fish medications and they are indeed the same as prescription versions.
Chemically same meds, but not held to same manufacturing and safty standards as those for human consumption. Probably safe, lots cheaper and in a SHTF situation better than nothing. Would not be my first choice, but good enough in a pinch. Think of tbem like generic canned food or seconds, stuff that iz made at the same place but couldn’t pass the quality controls. Rather than throwing them out, the company tries to make a little bit of money out of them.
Many years ago, my vet told me there was essentially no difference between drugs approved for human use and animal use. The difference was the label, “not for human consumption”. He passed away a couple of year ago, nothing can fix congestive heart failure. If you think about it, there ought to labels on “approved” foods that should have a label “not fit for human consumption” (or animals for that matter).
About 20 years ago I purchased amoxicillin from the vet for my cats. It was a powder in a bottle that was to be mixed with water. When mixed with water, the solution turned pink and had a cherry smell. Which suggests it was really manufactured for human use, probably for children, and was cherry flavored. Yet it was marked for use only in cats and dogs. Since when do cats and dogs like cherries? If it was made for them specifically, you would think it would be meat flavor. I’m sure it was the same stuff that was made for humans, just the label was different.
We compared a prescription amoxicillin tablet to fish mox and they were identical – same size, color and number. One & the same.
I regularly use medicine intended for human consumption on my animals and vice versa. If anything, the “for animal use only” is more pure. The difference? The drug companies can’t make as much money on it because the market will not allow the exporbitant prices on stuff for animal consumption, so their only solution is to make people fear how safe is the stuff for animal consumption. The animal bodies are not used to all the junk like our human bodies regularly consume, so they are more sensitive and react more strongly.
Oh Rose! Paranoid much? The medication is the same. They do not have an animal antibiotic manufacturing facility and a separate one just to poison humans. The pharma companies aren’t trying to “scare” you (now, the lawyers might be trying to scare you).
Check your PDR (you do have one don’t you? Even 2-10 year old editions [of the Physician’s Desk Reference] are available at thrift stores for $3+-)
Vet antibiotics are the same products just labeled differently for legal purposes. (Even my team medic in the army used vet meds on humans during multiple deployments over the years). Of course you can purchase many Antibiotics online and from several advertisers here on SurvivalBlog, but you can also buy injectable Penicillin-G or ProCain-Penicillin, along with syringes and needles at ‘farm & feed’ stores [in most States] such as Tractor Supply (and others). There is also a powdered penicillin typically for newborn animals to add to their water (usually chicks, but for other animals as well).
Another vet drug we used a lot of in the military (primarily in foreign lands where hygiene is minimal) was dewormer. Worms could cause you and your ‘family / community’ a lot of trouble… We all took a ‘shot’ everyday and none of us got worms so it must work!
One other vet drug I see at the feed store is Tetanus injectable but I’ve yet to do any research on it. Tetanus could / would be a very serious illness in a long term TEOTWAWKI situation.
Hope this sheds ‘a little’ light. Be aware and keep preparing.