Faster horses said:
Be very careful when buying the generic product. It had to only be 80% as good as the original avermectin products.
There is a real immunity building up to these products and 80% effective
is part of the reason why.
FH - you are absolutely correct in your connotation concerning the "80% as good as the original" product!
For those breeders who are skeptical regarding the effectiveness of generic products, look at the WHOLE picture from a little different angle. I am as eager to save a buck (or a LOT of bucks) as the next person, but let's consider the physiological aspects of - - - well, ANY substance - the above-mentioned Ivermectin products, for example. Application of medication "X" does it's job 100%, and that is what we expect it to do. Generic product is much cheaper, is only 80% as effective -but - 80% does a fair job, and it is a lot cheaper and - and - and - - well, you know the rhetoric. But here is the rub, if you will pardon the pun: the 80% Generic product, in doing a - - well - FAIRLY good job, allows the Reticulo-endothelial system (explanation in a moment) to do only a FAIRLY good job. The Reticulo-endothelial system is a large part of the network of "disease-fighting" cells in the body endeavoring to resist invasion of the body of all kinds of negative bacteria, viruses, and other unhealthy critters. It includes cells of the spleen, lymph glands, liver, bone-marrow, blood cell formation, phagocytic destruction of old red blood cells, and bacteria, and the manufacturing of antibodies. By not destroying all of the "bad guys" right off the bat by functioning only 80%, we prevent the body from building up it's natural resistance to - "Whatever's" and the "bad guys" gradually strengthen themselves and get more powerful over time - causing the need for stronger and stronger "Anti" substances to be required to do the same job as the original would have done.
The 80 percenters may work okay in the immediacy of the problem, but in the future it will require stronger doses to accomplish the same results. That is exactly why the current anti-biotic products are so much stronger than they had to be 20-30 years ago-both for animals AND humans. The "bad guys' are stronger and the animals (including us humans) are less capable of resistance - therefore -stronger and MORE EXPENSIVE products are necessary. It is a continual "Catch 22" dillema, and we have nobody to blame for it but ourselves. If we continue to do a half-way job of correction and prevention, we will pay for it in the future, as we are doing right now - not only with our animals but with our Government as well! By NOT doing a 100% job of putting down traitors, insurrectionists and terrorists RIGHT NOW - - we have created a bigger problem in the future. Same thing with "80%" products. It will rise up and bite us in the buttocks sooner or later. Better to do the job right in the first place!
DON'T GET ME STARTED!!
DOC HARRIS