Vet quackery? eydrops for treating cataracts

[mwilson]

On a reptile forum I frequent we have someone touting a product called Ocluvet for treating many eye disorders in pets including cataracts.

I am suspicious right away because as far as I know the only treatment for cataracts in animals or humans is surgery.

I go ahead and check out the web page ocluvet.com expecting to see the normal testimonials as "evidence" of this product working. Sure enough we have claims that this product treats a wide range of eye conditions only 1 "study" of it (performed by the manufacturer) and is all natural and has no side effects.

Normally I would just followup to the original poster with my concerns about this product and leave it at that but the curious thing is this seems to be the only woo product from this company. The company that produces ocluvet is practivet.com and the other products they carry seem to be on the up and up. Things like a chest drainage tube with built in hand pump. Now maybe I don't know enough about vet science and these other products are woo. Even if the other products are on the up and up that doesn't mean these natural eye drops work. But if this company carries mostly legitimate products maybe they can be talked into applying some critical thinking to this new product.

Anyway since nothing showed up on Quackwatch about this company I thought I would post it over here and see if any of our resident vets have heard about them and have any thoughts on the product line they sell.

--
Mike

 

[Rolfe]

I've never heard of such a thing, and the idea that one treatment could be effective for more than one type of eye pathology seems in itself pretty woo.

There are some companies who are simply franchise-collectors, with little idea of what they are selling. It could be that this company is one of those, and has happened to get a woo franchise on its books along with some relatively legit ones. (Nevertheless, a chest drain with an active pump is also a new one on me, so I do wonder. But surgery isn't my speciality, and I'm not able to look at this in detail right now - on a cruise ship being charged 16p a minute - so you'd do better to get advice from the vets better versed in this area like Badly Shaved Monkey or John Bentley.)

Rolfe.

 

[Charlie in Dayton]

Don't hold your breath -- they got 'em for humans now too...

 

[Darat]

Don't hold your breath -- they got 'em for humans now too...

From that bumpf ..."According to homeopathic principles, the active ingredients in this medication temporarily relieve symptoms associated with cataracts and aging eyes, such as:..." , I see homeopathy has been redefined, again!