In addition to the problem of fake veterinarians offering their services on social media, there is now the sale of cloned medicines that are administered to dogs and cats without really knowing their content.
This happens after many people in Cancun choose to avoid paying between 700 and 800 pesos for a veterinary consultation for their pets and buy the drugs that would be prescribed, leading them to buy any type of medicine on social media, WhatsApp groups or flea markets. However, these products may simply be water, expired or not contain the appropriate active ingredients.
These medicines can cost up to 100% less than the originals, but in many cases they have no effect or can be dangerous for pets.
Veterinarian Mildred Lezama García explained that these products are sold in areas where there are no veterinarians nearby or are sold through Asian applications, Facebook groups or WhatsApp.
“They are deworming medicines or vaccines for respiratory and skin diseases, which are sold for 100 pesos, when their real value is between 200 and 300 pesos,” he said.
He warned that the danger of administering these medications is that they do not work, but they can also worsen the pet’s symptoms or even cause its death.
“The most common is the injection against ticks, where they sell you the syringe with a liquid and a label written in marker that says ‘tick killer,'” he explained.
There are also products such as powders and liquids that are sold in hardware stores, places where substances for pets should not be sold.
“In many cases, it is not known what they contain and they can be toxic,” he warned.
He pointed out that many people, to avoid going to the vet, use these products and there have been cases in which pets lose their lives or end up poisoned, which forces them to receive emergency professional care.
Other fraudulent items include chewable tablets and collars that supposedly repel pests, but which turn out to be ineffective.
Lezama García also warned about the sale of original but expired medicines in some Cancun markets, where they are resold as if they were new.
Finally, he emphasized that an equally dangerous practice is to administer medicines designed for humans to pets, since it can seriously affect their health.
Source: sipse
