Unlicensed treatment ... WWYD?

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Greylegs

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Just out of interest ... if you were offered (by your vet) the opportunity to try a treatment on your horse which was licensed for other animals and/or other conditions but unlicensed for use on horses for any purpose, would you go for it ... even given that it had been used successfully and without undue ill effects by other owners /horses?
 
I would ask for evidence of how successful it had been treating the other horses have their owners given any reviews on it? and go from there x
 
Probably yes - when my rabbit was very ill, he needed certain drugs which aren't licensed for rabbits, and I had to sign a disclaimer to say that I knew the drugs weren't licensed.

If the same came up for my horse then yes I would too, look at the horses who where on pergolide before it was licensed under prascend, and the difference it made to them.
 
Depends on the colour of my vet's hair. If grey, and she/he advised it, I would follow that advice as I wouldn't be using a vet I didn't trust in the first place.;)
 
Yes, I use unlicenced treatment

Porcine regumate, dectomax and frontline are 3 I can think of straight away.

these products are perfectly safe, have been thoroughly tested but the manufacturers don't want to pay out twice to licence them for use on different animal groups.
 
Yes, vets can prescribe like this using a system called The Cascade. It costs such a lot to license products that the companies don't always do it even though the product would be fine to use on that particular animal.
 
Be very careful! My boy had to have a ligament op a couple of years ago and when I asked our vet how we were going to keep him on box rest for the next 10 weeks (he was not a very good patient) I was offered an injection that would keep him calm, its name escapes me at the moment but it was behavioural drug. However, as I later discovered it was an unlicensed drug for horses but had been used many times before. He was given an injection before I picked him up on the Friday and the following day he was easy to handle and calmer than I’ve ever seen him - great I thought. On Sunday he started to shake, twitch and was very unsteady on his feet and as we thought he was in pain we called the vet, later that day he was in a very poor way and he was rushed back to horse hospital - by this time his coordination and balance was very poor. After 48 hours on a drip and under constant supervision, thank god he survived.
On looking into this a bit more we understand that it is not illegal to administer unlicensed drugs to horses BUT, the owner must be informed that the drug is unlicensed and that there may be either known or unknown side effects of varying degrees. We were not told this and were p***** off to say the least.

The bottom line is if it is a minor drug such as Piriton, front line, eye drops or other over the counter non-prescription drugs, then with common sense they may be ok. However, I would avoid any non-licensed prescription drugs after my ordeal. Hope this helps.
 
Welly said:
However, I would avoid any non-licensed prescription drugs after my ordeal. Hope this helps.
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I suspect your case was quite rare,and TBH there are examples of horses experiencing side effects from licensed drugs just the same as non licensed.You are quite right to be mad at your vet though for not telling you of the risks if you were unaware.

If it were me OP and vet was fairly confident the drug would help then I would definitely do it.
As others have said there are a few drugs that are not licensed but are safe and effective,up to you to decide if the potential benefits are worth taking a chance I guess.

Good luck with whatever you decide:)
 
Borderreiver said:
Yes, vets can prescribe like this using a system called The Cascade. It costs such a lot to license products that the companies don't always do it even though the product would be fine to use on that particular animal.
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And that's. Why I'm surprised porcine regumate is still being dispensed!! Cascade should prevent that happening?!

Back to the original question......yes! Most vets have a lot of experience using drugs 'off label' as there isn't always the right class of drug available with an equine licence. The rabbit example is a good one, also applies to goats and alpacas, very few if any drugs are licensed for them so the vet has to think outside the box :)!!!
 
I would look carefully in to the tests and results.
Weight up the positive results against the negative possible ones.

I wouldnt be an instant no.

There seem to be a lot of unleicened drugs used forall types of animals.
 
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My horse has been given antibiotics that are only licensed for use in pigs and chickens but there is significant published data to back this up as the most appropriate drug to use in that situation.
 
Greylegs said:
Just out of interest ... if you were offered (by your vet) the opportunity to try a treatment on your horse which was licensed for other animals and/or other conditions but unlicensed for use on horses for any purpose, would you go for it ... even given that it had been used successfully and without undue ill effects by other owners /horses?
Click to expand...

Of course have done it many many times over the years.
 
slightly OT but my daughter was treated with an off licence drug. She has a birthmark that was treated with a betablocker (and only licenced as a betabloker) We were given all the info including benifits and risks just as we would any other drug.

I'd be happy to consider an unlicensed drug for any of my animals providing i had all the info
 
Thanks to everyone who's posted a response.

As I have no experience of doing this with my own animals (horses / dogs) the thought of it was a bit daunting tbh as all sorts of "what ifs ..." run through your mind.

I have to say my vets are extremely reputable, highly competent, I've used them for years and have every faith in them .... I don't think they'd be offering a treatment which was potentially harmful / dangerous so I think the answer is to go for it and see what happens. However, it's good to read the experiences of others to help make a balanced decision. I'm probably over worrying this, but better that than make a reckless decision ....

Thanks again everyone. I'll keep you posted!
 
I've used Fasinex (triclabendazole) in my ponies to treat liver fluke that had been confirmed by faecal egg count. Fasinex is not licensed for horses. There is no flukicide licensed for horses. I asked about side effects etc and weighed it all up. Once fluke had definitely confirmed, it made the decision a no-brainer. I had been reluctant to treat before we knew for sure the ponies had fluke (even though bloods confirmed compromised livers).

What treatment is being recommended, and for what condition? Maybe you'll find someone on here who has used it and can let you know their own experience of it?

Sarah
 
Well, if I hadn't given my horse a drug only licenced for dogs she would have died aged 12 instead of nearly 29. It gave her the chance of a normal life. The only two downers were the fact that it blocked just about every other drug you might generally want to use for other problems, so that caused a few headaches over the years, plus it was wildly expensive but I lay the blame for that squarely on the idiot power-freaks in Brussels.
 
Welly said:
Be very careful! My boy had to have a ligament op a couple of years ago and when I asked our vet how we were going to keep him on box rest for the next 10 weeks (he was not a very good patient) I was offered an injection that would keep him calm, its name escapes me at the moment but it was behavioural drug. However, as I later discovered it was an unlicensed drug for horses but had been used many times before. He was given an injection before I picked him up on the Friday and the following day he was easy to handle and calmer than I’ve ever seen him - great I thought. On Sunday he started to shake, twitch and was very unsteady on his feet and as we thought he was in pain we called the vet, later that day he was in a very poor way and he was rushed back to horse hospital - by this time his coordination and balance was very poor. After 48 hours on a drip and under constant supervision, thank god he survived.
On looking into this a bit more we understand that it is not illegal to administer unlicensed drugs to horses BUT, the owner must be informed that the drug is unlicensed and that there may be either known or unknown side effects of varying degrees. We were not told this and were p***** off to say the least.

The bottom line is if it is a minor drug such as Piriton, front line, eye drops or other over the counter non-prescription drugs, then with common sense they may be ok. However, I would avoid any non-licensed prescription drugs after my ordeal. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the drug was Modecate (or Fluphenazine) ? I would not let any horse of mine have that drug under any circumstances, having given it to human patients many times over the years.

Other than drugs like that, yes, I often use drugs that aren't licensed for equine use. It would make life very difficult if it were not allowed.
 
cm2581 said:
My horse has been given antibiotics that are only licensed for use in pigs and chickens but there is significant published data to back this up as the most appropriate drug to use in that situation.
Click to expand...

Mine too - he had a nasty bone infection in his jaw last year, normal equine antibiotics didn't clear it up, so after surgery he was given a course of chicken antibiotics. If they hadn't got the infection under control it could have spread through his head and we would have lost him, so I would have given him anything that worked!
 
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