VETERINARY
PRESCRIPTION DIETS
 Medicines
are classified by law according to how much their use needs
to be regulated by a responsible person. This is to ensure
the safety of humans, animals and the environment.
GSL –general sales list medicines can be sold by anyone.
(Over-the-counter)
PML –prescribed merchant list medicines are restricted
to stockists who are familiar with their safe use. This might
apply to wormers, sheep dips etc.
POM – prescription-only medicines can only be prescribed
by a doctor or vet. This would apply to powerful or dangerous
medicines or those which might have far-reaching effects.
Some pet foods are sold only through veterinary
surgeons. This is not because they are POM medicines. In fact
they are not medicines at all. Their use is restricted not
by law but by a marketing decision by the manufacturer to
restrict the supply of their products. They argue that this
is because pets suffering from disease should be under the
care of health care professionals and that the diets should
only be used in the light of an accurate diagnosis.
This would be a sound argument if Veterinary
diets were only used in that way. In reality, a definitive
diagnosis is often impossible even with considerable expense
and using invasive techniques. Some Veterinary Diets are not
even intended for specific diseases. For instance, there is
a Veterinary diet which is intended to slow senility. The
manufacturer’s recommendation to vets is that it should
be given to all dogs over seven years of age!
Veterinary diets designed for diseases tend
to be aimed at a specific condition whereas pathological conditions
affect more than one organ system at the same time. For instance,
high liver enzyme levels are, in most cases, due to an (undiagnosed)
problem elsewhere in the body which is having a secondary
effect on the liver.
A holistic diet promotes the health of the
whole body rather than a specific organ or function. Certain
Veterinary foods of a specialist nature can be justified in
cases of advanced, life-threatening disease.
John Burns BVMS MRCVS
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