Horse owners run through bundles of baggies, preparing and
labeling equine medications and feed supplements. Why not save money (and the
environment) by recycling containers we’re already using?
Suppose the large animal veterinarian prescribes once- or
twice-daily doses of powdered or tableted methylsulfonyl-methane
(MSM) or phenylbutazone (BUTE) for a horse, but the equine owner cannot be at
the stables to administer all of the medication doses.
Empty prescription bottles make excellent receptacles
for storing these doses in advance, so barn staffers can add the medicines to a
horse’s grain at feeding times.
The pill bottles should be thoroughly washed
and dried, and the original prescription labels need to be removed or covered. Ducttape works well for concealing the labels, if they are difficult to detach. And
the bottles must be clearly marked with the horse’s name and dosage frequency
(such as AM or PM).
The
large-mouthed prescription bottles are easiest to use.
Traditional pill containers, often an opaque
brown or blue, are simple to repurpose. Target’s new ClearRx bottles have tiny
openings, so they are harder to manage. A funnel may be used, but many powders
will tend to stick inside, making full dosing difficult.
What about larger
medication and supplement doses?
Leftover lidded plastic containers, such as those in which
lunch meats and deli salads are sold, make super serving-sized supplement
storage options.
Essentially, any non-breakable plastic container with a
tight-fitting top may be considered for this purpose, so long as it never
contained anything potentially harmful to a horse and it has been completely
cleaned before reuse.
Related Item/s:
45 smart ways to reuse prescription bottles
Related Item/s:
45 smart ways to reuse prescription bottles
Image/s:
Horse Head graphic –
Classic Clip-Art
Target ClearRx
prescription bottle
Creative Commons Licensing
/ Wikipedia Commons
Traditional prescription
bottle
US CDC/US Government photo
Public domain
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