July 2008

Cutting Equine Drug Costs

You may be able to safely economize on the medications your horse needs.

By Eleanor Kellon, VMD

Paying for your horse’s routine needs is getting expensive enough. If you need to add medications, the cost can skyrocket. However, you can save a bit on medications if you know how to do it.

First—and most importantly—never change a medication or choose one yourself without your veterinarian’s consent. As a drug-oriented society, we tend to forget that every drug benefit also comes with a risk. There are also many species differences in regard to drug safety. For example, the safety of the common human pain reliever acetaminophen (Tylenol) in horses is unknown. It can kill dogs and cats. …