Terramycin Cost & Availability

[Sef]

I have a 5-year old male with a blocked tear duct. Our vet flushed it this morning but wants him on two weeks of Terramycin, just to be on the safe side. I have some on-hand but thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and order a new tube. It is no longer available on Amazon, and the cost everywhere else is $30(!). That's nearly double what I have paid for it in the past. It looks like I can't even order it from Chewy without a prescription; same with Valley Vet and Lambert Vet Supply. That's something new.

Has anyone here found Terramycin online cheaper and/or without a prescription?

[Lynx]

I can't help you here but hope someone can!

[Sef]

Thanks, Lynx. I found a product that looks to be the same thing under different manufacture and labeling:

Terrapet

I'll post an update once I receive it on the ingredients and efficacy.

[Lynx]

I hope it works for you!

[ItsaZoo]

Warm compresses should help with a clogged tear duct, but I don’t know how you could keep him still.

I haven’t used Terramycin, but I have the Vetericyn eye wash and the opthamalic gel. Ruby Sue recently had hay or a hair stuck in the outer corner of her eye. She was squinting and it was inflamed. I removed it and used the eye wash and gel.Her eye was fine the next day.

[Sef]

Thanks Itsazoo. I started a medical thread for Chandler, but you're right---keeping him still for warm compresses is a challenge. We tried it for several days without much success.

The Terrapet arrives today. I'll post an update on whether or not it looks like a good alternative to Terramycin

[AviN4]

Unfortunately for us, manufacture of OTC Terramycin, which is oxytetracycline manufactured by Zoetis, seems to have been banned by the FDA effective June 11, 2023.

Best case scenario, the OTC Terramycin grey market copycats on Amazon are the real generic drug sold in violation of FDA guidelines. But it's also possibly ineffective or even worse. It may be tricky to reliability determine which is the case.

Sef, did the Terrapet have any clues regarding it's legitimacy? Such as a country of origin, company of manufacture, or some regulatory ID number that can possibly be verified? Also, do you think it helped Chandler or any of your other guinea pigs?

(This post was written by me, but I used Claude AI as a research assistant.)

[AviN4]

It looks like a number of online bird supply stores are selling Terramycin with the Pfizer brand name on it. Jedds, for example. I'm unsure what's going on here. I see some evidence that Terramycin in Malaysia is still manufactured and branded by Pfizer, so perhaps they are circumventing FDA regulations by importing them from Malaysia?

I already have an old unopened tube of Terramycin and some old opened bottles of ofloxacin and gentamicin. So I suppose I have what I need in a time crunch and don't have a good justification for ordering any of these grey market products to assess their legitimacy. But I am curious.

[AviN4]

Terramycin with Pfizer branding does seem quite cheap in Malaysia: 13.90 MYR = 3.40 USD. At a retail price of 19.95 USD, that could leave room for a substantial profit margin.

[Lynx]

Shipping can add to cost too. Years ago, I used a reputable company in Australia.