A BOOTS customer almost sprayed an out-of-date pain killer for cats in her eyes following a sales bungle.
Lucy Skelton was handed what she believed was an anti-allergy eye mist.
But when the 34-year-old opened the package she was alerted by a foul smell to the fact it was a pain killer given to felines – that expired over a year ago.
Lucy, from Wirral, Merseyside, paid £10 for what she believed was Boots allergy eye mist at a store in Chester on Friday.
The operations manager says she was “covered in foul-smelling liquid” on opening the bottle and then spotted the phrase: “For animal treatment only.”
Photos show she had been handed a bottle of Metacam, a trade name for Meloxicam, which had expired in December 2018.
A perplexed Lucy took to the company’s Facebook page to complain to the retailer.
She wrote: “I don’t know if Boots UK are trying to kill me but I almost sprayed this into my eyes, when I quickly realised it wasn’t a spray.
“Then I saw it was out of date. Then I read it was for oral suspension.
“Then I saw it was for cats. How the hell did this end up in your packaging?”
Lucy’s post prompted concern among social media users.
Tina Ann wrote: “Wow that’s not good at all.”
Sharon Williamson added: “Equally concerning that some poor moggy was choking down Boots eyemist over two years ago.”
And Stephanie Eliza said: “It is disgraceful though.”
Speaking today, Lucy said: “It’s when I saw that it said it was for oral consumption I realised it wasn’t the right product, then saw it was for cats.
“I had to Google it because I’d never heard of it before. I had it all over my hands too – it stunk. I was just about to go into a meeting too and I was standing there in disbelief really wondering what the hell had happened.
“I was just duped and confused, to be honest – looking at it, like, ‘How on earth has this even happened?’
“It made me question my sanity, wondering if I’d somehow bought it by mistake. Bear in mind the packaging looks damaged because I’d thrown it in the bin.”
Boots said they were “particularly concerned” and apologised to Lucy, offering her a £30 gift card or Boots advantage points to make up for the mishap.
A Boots spokesman said: “We were concerned to hear about this and can confirm we have contacted the customer so we can investigate this fully.”
Meloxicam is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain, fever and inflammation in cats and dogs, as well as other animals.
Metacam is specifically for use in cats, dogs and guinea pigs and is the most popular pain killer used by vets to treat osteoarthritis in the UK.
