Petco Pulling Fish Medication from Shelves....

[Icewall42]

I was in Petco just yesterday looking for fish medication (specifically praziquantel), and I learned that Petco is nixing almost their entire fish medication stock. I left angry over that since I've been relying heavily on medications for over a year now and would have lost so many more fish without it. They told me their new policy was "prevention over treatment." Because we all know how that works out in real life--without meds, or accessible vets to provide them, they seem to be trying to sentence fish to death. I understand that some people are less informed about such medications, but I don't think it's right to punish those who do know what they are doing.

Thought that might be something to know just in case anyone has a Petco in the area.

Found this article about it: http://www.petcoscoop.com/2009/08/petco ... oing-blue/

They are apparently still offering some "remedies" though event he Petco I stopped at had none of those, and I've found most of those to be useless in the face of the diseases I've seen.

Thoughts? This has me worried especially because I've had very quick killing diseases that needed immediate treatment, and if no one sold what I needed... I'd have no fish right now.

[chefkeith]

Sound like they got a little too "Blue".

[Icewall42]

I'm not totally in left-field thinking this is a ridiculous move? I sure hope this "idea" doesn't spread. It doesn't solve any issues that might exist--at least, not in my opinion.

[bigpow]

I've seen bad customers there and as the old saying goes, customers are always right.

I felt bad for the petco girl that tried to educate the customer, only to get barked at by this vicious mom with 2 kids wanting a baby giant catfish for their fish bowl

[Icewall42]

I'd feel bad for her, too, and as much as I care about fish... I'd be disinclined to even sell her any after an outburst like that. Luckily, we didn't get such characters at our fish store so I never had to turn anyone away.

People will generally listen, but sometimes you do get those bad apples, and really wish you could put the fish's care first before the unruly customer's

[raecarrow]

I am really frustrated by the lack of treatments and cure options out there. I also do not really know of any fish vets out there who can diagnose diseases and dispense treatments for those aliments. It is impossble to find soluable levamisole anywhere and hardly any stores sell treatments for internal parisites.

[chefkeith]

If they promoted quarantining new arrivals and sold healthy fish, then I think it would be a good idea to pull many of the meds off the shelf.

It's my believe that if a pet store is selling lots of meds, then they are also selling lots of fish infected with pathogens.

In general, antibiotics and meds are not environmentally friendly. The disposal of medicated fish water should be the biggest issue here. I hope this is a change for better things ahead.

I don't think my local Petco ever stocked Prazipro. I'd have to get that at the LFS.

[Icewall42]

I see where you're going about pathogens in fish sold to customers... and those customers coming back for meds... sounds sort of like a sleazy deal if that's what's going on. But my sincere concern is with fish I've had for years and years that are long past anything the pet store might have had. It's like cats and dogs--they might be healthy for years after leaving the store/breeder/shelter, but like people they eventually catch something from outside, get sick, and need medication. Sometimes fish catch something out of the tap water regardless of conditioning. Not everyone has a tap water filter (or can even install one if you're in an apartment), and people do make mistakes, especially, on occasion, with quarantining. Perhaps the quarantine wasn't long enough. Perhaps whatever it had went dormant. I'm not certain that a person can keep all fish 100% disease free for the rest of their lives.

Maybe someone put their hands in the water when they shouldn't have. What if you're moving, have to move the fish, and they get stressed and thus sick? What do you do in those cases if there aren't any medications to treat it? If effective, safer alternatives can be offered for the meds coming off shelves, I'm all for it, but right now without accessible fish vets and with ineffective "natural" drugs, the heavier ones are all I've got. And they have actually helped (some individuals here might recall all of the problems I've been having with a particular tank--so many unforeseen problems that would have wiped out all my fish without medications). I don't like it anymore than anyone else might, but... it's something of a dilemma. This whole business should be an opportunity to develop safer, effective medications, and an opportunity to offer advice to customers in need of help--not just a blatant attempt at taking options away and offering nothing in return.

Maybe it's just me. Am I perhaps missing something here? Perhaps I'm extrapolating too much, thinking that this change might become widespread? Perhaps I'm having horrible thoughts of a Petco being the only nearby store... I did, after all, live in a city that had no roads in or out and only one pet store. I guess I'd have to stay one step ahead through mail order. Hmmm. Provided that online suppliers still offer such medication. There certainly aren't any nearby vets, here or there, who can.

Selfish, maybe, but then most people will do anything if their child is sick and needs medication. Why should I have any less love for my fish?

I'm not sure of anything at the moment--hence the discussion to get an idea of people's thoughts.

I don't think Petco had praziquantel either, though it does show up in Prazipro along with some sort of fizzy tabs that I've seen at other fish stores.

[Holdstrong]

In theory. I like this idea - a lot. It is essentially a move to promote proper fish care.

However, in practice, what are the chances that a store like Petco will be able to do all that it takes to accomplish this?

Are they going to greatly improve and monitor the health of the fish they sell? Are they going to encourage customers to use quarantine procedures? Are the really going to adequately inform customers about proper care... including stocking levels, water quality, and compatibility?

Properly pulling this off would entail things like NOT selling clown loaches to people who buy a 30 gallon tank, or talking people out of spending money on a new setup if they can't afford proper filtration.

Will they realllllly do that? If not, it seems like they will be doing their customers a disservice by not providing them the meds to keep their fish healthy after the fact.

[raecarrow]

In theory, these places shouldn't carry fish tanks under 5-10 gallons. Do you think that is going to happen? No! The larger part of their fish business is in the smaller desk tanks that nothing but algae should live in.

[Icewall42]

In theory. I like this idea - a lot. It is essentially a move to promote proper fish care.

However, in practice, what are the chances that a store like Petco will be able to do all that it takes to accomplish this?

Are they going to greatly improve and monitor the health of the fish they sell? Are they going to encourage customers to use quarantine procedures? Are the really going to adequately inform customers about proper care... including stocking levels, water quality, and compatibility?

Properly pulling this off would entail things like NOT selling clown loaches to people who buy a 30 gallon tank, or talking people out of spending money on a new setup if they can't afford proper filtration.

Will they realllllly do that? If not, it seems like they will be doing their customers a disservice by not providing them the meds to keep their fish healthy after the fact.

I agree whole-heartedly. It won't happen, but it should. People ought to be discerning about who they sell fish to, like dogs and cats, but that won't happen--bad for business. There won't be effective alternatives to the meds they are pulling, which is probably my biggest grievance. The staff won't be educated, they won't be able to properly help people buying fish.

Will they stop over-crowding sale tanks? No... and you're right, the tanks won't ever be big enough. We managed with 15 gallons and some larger tanks, but from the business angle I know it can be hard.

If people really want change, they HAVE to see the whole picture. They HAVE to take into account that medications shouldn't be given out like candy, but they shouldn't be 100% restricted either.

[NancyD]

This is the same company that has a jar of salt in all it freshwater tanks, at least the stores by me