One of our doglets isn't very well (arthritis and a heart murmur) and the short-term prescription is now going to be long-term. Because of her age, we have to pay a % of the cost (ie, the insurance doesn't cover the full cost) and it would also max out the claim limit per year (we have been quoted just shy of £200 a month by our local and reputable vet). So the vet has suggested we simply pay them for the prescription and look online for a pharmacy. Does anyone have any recommendations (or equally ones to avoid)?
Thank you
Can you not just take the prescription to any pharmacy? Our dog (god rest his soul) had diabetes incipidus, the medication from the vet was £200 a time, went to ASDA and it went down to £50, worth a try unless it's canine specific?
Is it for Metacam for arthritis?
Our pup was on it from about 14 to 17 years old for arthritis in one leg. Exactly the same situation, vet said buy online and gave us the prescription. For the life of me I cant remember who we bought from, but it definitely helped him and he was very active pretty much til the day he died. No limping and always wanting to chase a cat
Viovet, Animed or petdrugsonline all have pretty good reputations.
as long as the pharmacy has a logo saying ‘VMD approved’ should be fine (VMD = veterinary medicine’s directorate)
Weldricks are good. Try and get repeat prescriptions from your vet, we could get a month prescription with 2 repeats for £20. Unless of course it's controlled drugs, can't get repeats for them, and got to send the original prescription to the pharmacy.
I used petdrugsonline. They were the cheapest and I'd use them again. Pain for the prescription at the vet (after making it clear this was what the appt was for), I think we paid £22 for the prescription and got a years supply of the drug
My vet charges £20 per item to write the prescriptions and can do them for six months. Unfortunately one of the prescriptions is a controlled drug so the vet will only write out a prescription for three months and will need to see doglet each time before re-prescribing. I have got initial prices from Pet Drugs Online and the cost will be about half what the vet would charge, but it is still going to be about £85 a month. Ouch.
Is it for Metacam for arthritis?
No, at the moment it is a combination of Loxicom, Pardale and Gabapentin (this is the controlled drug). The vet did suggest that we could try dropping the Gabapentin to keep cost/hassle down and see how she gets on without it.
Our vet says it can only offer 3 months script on all drugs, change in their regulations apparently - and they need see him before each reissue - call me cynical but they get regular income from our visits for new script.
We use Petdrugsonline with no issues for his Thyroxine at a fraction of the cost from vets, even with prescription fee. Have used Viovet before too with no issues
Another vote for Weldricks. Both human and animals so I like to think they are a bit cheaper, also our cat is prescribed human meds so widens the choice.
Our vet gives us a prescription with 5 repeats to cover 12 months and will do a repeat prescription once so we only have to go to vets once a year.
I didn't realise when I used a local pharmacy that I can use all 5 repeats at the first visit, would have saved loads of hassle before my pharmacy closed down and I switched to online after the other bricks and mortar one insisted on a real signed prescription rather than the printed one the vets sent me.
