# Drug Expiration Dates?



## Beverrlly (Nov 12, 2007)

Is there anyway to know how long any given drug will last? I know on my CD/T bottle it says to use the whole thing upon opening which I will probably never be able to do with only 6 goats! I bought my CD/T bottle in September and it's been in the fridge since. Is it still OK or do I need a new bottle? Thanks!


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## Chaty (Oct 25, 2007)

I ket mine as its fine and still usable...I have 1/2 bottle left and us it when needed.


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## Katarina (Oct 25, 2007)

we kept it.

and lost a valuable goat to tetanus.

i guess it depends upon how much your goats are worth to you? less or more than the cost of a new bottle?


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

I would get a new bottle of cd/t myself as it is cheap insurance.


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## Kaye White (Oct 25, 2007)

With C/DT I'd buy a new bottle in the spring to start the kids on. It's cheap insurance.
Now, more expensive...say, Baytril 100 at $138.00 a 100ml/bottle...I don't even look at the expiration date. I use it till it's gone. Same with Nuflor,Naxcel (though it's usually frozen in syringes), and other expensive drugs..I use them till their gone. I just bought another bottle of oxytocin because I have about 2cc left...the expiration on it was 2/04 and STILL WORKING. Since it's ALWAYS kept in the refrig. no temp flucuations, and it's still clear as the day I bought it...no worry.

Oxytetracycline has the bad habit of turning dark when air is let in the bottle...but it's still good. I've pulled one shot...then not another one for several months and it's dark. Still did it's job. Only time I wouldn't use a med. is if it has a drastic change in color or consistancy. You can tell if it's gone bad. 
Kaye


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## KJFarm (Oct 26, 2007)

I have a bottle of Oxytocin in my frig. that has a 1997 expiration date, and it still works great!!! Used some last week, and it worked like a charm.


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2008)

My vet told me that just about any meds are good long after the expiration date, he said ten years if unopened, three if opened... Its a money thing with the companies that make the drugs.. he leaves pencillin and many setting out on countertop, of course he uses it up fast.. within days.. So I keep mine for a very long time, unless there is a drastic change.. 
Barbara


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## Katarina (Oct 25, 2007)

"Its a money thing with the companies that make the drugs.."

Not always. There is a BIG difference between keeping drugs like antibiotics or banamine and vaccines--they are a whole 'nother ball of wax. Every vet and people doc I have spoken to has referred to vaccine effectiveness being lost within even a week after opening.


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## Kaye White (Oct 25, 2007)

I can understand MD's...but vets use it regardless. Reason lots buy multiple dose vials of dog vaccines rather than individual...it saves money. But, a good tech has the vaccination shots pulled up and waiting. That's pulled at the refrig. and vaccine returned to the frig., not sitting on the cabinet. Kept cold at all times. If an order of vaccine comes in hot...it's returned and replaced. Especially Parvo/rabies vaccine.
Now, cow vaccines that's another subject. They do not change needles between cows..just when the needle gets dull, so the container is contaminated. Those get trashed after the herd is vaccinated.

My advice on vaccinations...buy the smallest bottle you can, set all your kids up on the same day routine, give the shots, trash the vaccine and have another bottle. 
Kaye


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## Pairaka (Jan 12, 2008)

It's a law that things like pharmaceuticals carry expiration dates mainly for the very purpose that stock gets rotated and doesn't "sit on the shelf" forever. That goes for everything from things that lose their efficacy after a period of time (like vaccines), to that bottle of mineral oil or triple antibiotic ointment that has been sitting in your bathroom drawer for the last ten years. It's to encourage people to throw things out and replace the OTC meds that they buy and stop using them way after they might stop being effective and to not keep old prescriptions after they might have expired. Mostly, though, it's to make sure stores are rotating their stock. That includes pharmaceutical supply houses. 

It's also why foods now have expiration dates and "shelf lives," including some things you wouldn't expect to have a "shelf life," like water and beer. The expiration dates make sure that the stores are rotating their stock and you can look at an item and tell how old it is and know it hasn't been sitting there forever. You can pick out the freshest eggs, the freshest butter, the freshest bread, etc. But, of course, never the milk.  

This, of course, does not include Twinkies. We all know that they never go bad and will last forever. :crazy

-- Wendy


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