Expiration Of Prescription Meds

[charbess]

We just lost our Bess on Tuesday and I have some leftover meds. Generally speaking, how long can I keep them in the event of issues with my other greys? I will donate them to our group for immediate use, perhaps with fosters if it is not feasible to store them myself.

1-Prednisone 10 mg

2-Cephalexin 500 mg

3-Vitamin B injections...syringe is filled to the "1" line, cap is marked "25 x 5/8 A, Monojet 250, Sterile Non-Toxic"

 

The above meds were dispensed in Oct/Nov.2013.

 

Then I have

4-Clindomycin, 150 mg from April 2013. Bess was on pulse therapy for dental issues and got these 5 days each month..

5-Rimadyl 100 mg dispensed June 2012

6-Tramadol 50 mg dispensed June 2013

7-DES tiny tabs, 1 mg, dispensed Sept. 2012

8-Metronidazole 500 mg, dispensed July 2013.

 

Thanks.

[Houndmommy03]

Great question! I'll be following this.

[Time4ANap]

Here's a good article regarding this. http://www.drugs.com/article/drug-expiration-dates.html

 

Most pharmacies automatically put the expiration date on the bottle as 1 year from the date filled. That is not necessarily what the expiration date was on the large bottle that they filled it from.

 

Hopefully someone here can tell you if any of those have a shorter shelf life, but our vet will usually have me keep things on hand like Metronidazole since we end up using it quite often with Rocket. When I call with an issue, she will usually ask if i have X, Y, or Z on hand and then tell me to use it.

[ZoomDoggy]

They should have expiration dates on the prescription bottles. But a call to a trusted vet (or maybe even a pet poisoning hotline) might be more informative on how long past those expiration dates the meds might still be viable. Some definitely deteriorate faster than others.

[Houndtime]

I have a friend who has her doctorate in Endocronology. She says, that most food and medicines don't expire on the posted dates. She said, you can use them for a long time after. Of course, if they look or smell funny, I would discard them. I don't have any ideas about the injectables.

[charbess]

They should have expiration dates on the prescription bottles. But a call to a trusted vet (or maybe even a pet poisoning hotline) might be more informative on how long past those expiration dates the meds might still be viable. Some definitely deteriorate faster than others.

Some were filled by the vet from big bottles, I presume. I can call the vet directly but I have found not all info is accurate. I learn more from this forum!

[rschultz]

My vet use to tell me that most meds can stay 9 months to a year after expiration, but I would check with your own vet to be safe.

[Remolacha]

I generally go with the one year rule for pills, but for other forms, especially liquids, I would probably go by the date on the bottle.

[4My2Greys]

This may be of help.

 

http://www.drugs.com/article/drug-expiration-dates.html

[JJNg]

Since we can't sell them at the clinic, I use expired meds for my own dogs all the time. There are a few drugs you have to be careful with as they can become toxic due to chemical changes if they get too old (tetracycline is an example of this).

Other than that, the main risk is decreased potency with time, so I'm more careful with meds where lack of efficacy can have more serious effects (like antibiotics). With antibiotics, I'll usually only use them for about a year after the expiration date. The exception is using metronidazole for diarrhea, since you're not actually using it to fight an infection.

With pain meds, I don't hesitate to use them well after expiration. I've used Previcox, Rimadyl, and Tramadol that were 4-5 years past the expiration date, and they worked just fine. Prednisone is good for a while too.

The vitamin B injection is one that you probably shouldn't keep on hand. Vitamin B is light sensitive, and if it's already pulled up into a syringe, there is also the possibility that it will bind to the plastic and be less effective.

[Hubcitypam]

Totally an aside but in one of my incarnations I was a Health and Safety Specialist for The American Red Cross. I had a terrible headache and my boss tossed me a bottle of aspirin. I said "Doug - these expired three years ago". He said "So take three".

[cleptogrey]

Totally an aside but in one of my incarnations I was a Health and Safety Specialist for The American Red Cross. I had a terrible headache and my boss tossed me a bottle of aspirin. I said "Doug - these expired three years ago". He said "So take three".

that's me all the time. my physician is always telling me NOT to take the dog meds and how old are the meds that i have on hand!

 

jjng- just curious about the toxicity of amoxicillin? i do have a good size jar of that on hand. and yes, i have administered old metacam, no problems. w/ the cost of that drug and the vet who sold me a large bottle (and the dog didn't make it past 5 weeks of using it- osteo) i'm not about to trash that small fortune.

[charbess]

Thanks to you all....I am older and wiser than I was when I asked the question! From now on, I will take a list of meds with me to the vet and hopefully I can shop from my own supplies on hand.

 

P.S. what do I do with the injectables? Should I find someone who can use them or should I give them to my other (healthy, thank God) greyhound? Or will that do harm? Maybe I should give them to myself??? Only kidding, folks, I would pass out before I had the cap off the syringe...!

 

Kills me to toss $17.50 for 2 syringes...

[JJNg]

cleptogrey - expired amoxicillin will not become toxic and is safe to use.

 

charbess - I wouldn't give the injectable vitamin B to your healthy greyhound. The vitamin won't hurt, but the needle will. LOL Definitely don't recommend injecting yourself either. Try calling your vet and see if they will dispose of the needles/syringes for you. Depending on what state your are in, the needles may need to go into biohazard waste.

[Hubcitypam]

I had a tooth pulled last week and the dentist wrote me a script for Vicodin (sp?) and said if I didn't feel the need to fill it I could take Advil, etc. I told him that I had a ton of Tramadol for the dogs and he almost fainted. When I assured it was from Sam's Club he calmed down and figured out the dosage.

[charbess]

cleptogrey - expired amoxicillin will not become toxic and is safe to use.

 

charbess - I wouldn't give the injectable vitamin B to your healthy greyhound. The vitamin won't hurt, but the needle will. LOL Definitely don't recommend injecting yourself either. Try calling your vet and see if they will dispose of the needles/syringes for you. Depending on what state your are in, the needles may need to go into biohazard waste.

I will offer the 2 syringes to the group, maybe a foster can use them. Thanks.

[Guest Maxidog9]

I would hate to encourage anyone to poison their dogs, but the US military did tests years ago and found that that 90% of meds were still effective after fifteen years! One or two can become toxic, eg aspirin breaks down to acetic acid and salicylic acid but you can smell it when that happens.

I am retired now but I was a pharmacist (UK) and a member of the veterinary section of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

[charbess]

So these meds have a longer shelf life than do the dogs... !