Has anyone had the vet give them trouble about ordering pet meds online?

[tvguy]

It is state law in many states for vets needing to have seen your pet within the last year to provide a prescription. There are many drugs used in veterinary medicine that are the same drugs as human medicine, just different dosing. For example tramadol (pain), gabapentin (pain), phenobarbital (seizures), zonisamide (seizures), steroids (numerous uses), Benadryl (allergies), insulin (diabetes), amoxicillin (infections), etc are all used in both human and veterinary medicine, just with very different dosing, which is why you can't just give your pill to your pet. If your vet is prescribing a medication used by humans too, it is worth seeing if the human pharmacy carries the correct dose for your pet and the cost for the medication compared to the vet office and having your vet write a prescription for you to fill at the human pharmacy.

Yes, the dosage was identical.
On the human side, my mom was a nurse and it was her practice if her Doctor gave her a new prescription, she would ask if he had samples. I found that works with the vet too, especially with flea drugs. That way you can try a new product for free to see if there are any allergy issues of undesirable side effects.

 

[jeepnjudy]

My "Former" vet did the same thing, would charge $10 for a written prescription so I could get it filled at Petmeds. Notice I said FORMER vet. The current vet does not charge for the prescription at all. And if Petmeds was not a reputable Rx dispenser, they would have been out of business a LONG time ago.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Our vet will not write for online, but they will write for brick and mortar pharmacies, and actually encourage us to fill meds there.
They will not write scripts if the dog missed an appointment, is behind in shots, checkups, etc.
We learned about Costco and goodrx.com from our vet.
Before Costco arrived in our area, the vet mentioned he had families driving to Louisville(about 70 miles) to fill anti seizure meds at Costco. He said he can't touch the med for under $250 a month, it's $92 at Costco. He said his cost for phenobatbital was over $60, he alerted us the there was a coupon at goodrx.com for $25 at CVS.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Our vet will not write for online, but they will write for brick and mortar pharmacies, and actually encourage us to fill meds there.
They will not write scripts if the dog missed an appointment, is behind in shots, checkups, etc.
We learned about Costco and goodrx.com from our vet.
Before Costco arrived in our area, the vet mentioned he had families driving to Louisville(about 70 miles) to fill anti seizure meds at Costco. He said he can't touch the med for under $250 a month, it's $92 at Costco. He said his cost for phenobatbital was over $60, he alerted us the there was a coupon at goodrx.com for $25 at CVS.

Good RX is awesome. My cat takes the human form of diazepam (liquid Valium) and it was over $100 at Walgreens, but came down to $38 with the Good RX card.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'd be looking for a new vet.

 

[2disneywego]

The vet hospital I went to in Vermont was amazing! 7 vets, all women, some very specialized. Absolutely outstanding.
We got our fur babies, brother and sister kittens, at 5 weeks. They were barn cats in a terrible home situation. It was a co-worker of mine. She had a Mastiff that used to terrorize the kittens.
DH and I brought them home so early because of the dog, the lack of vet care, and the mom cat stopped feeding them at 4 weeks old.
They were so tiny, but strong and sweet. In their lives neither one ever scratched or bit me on purpose.
My female cat had severe dermatitis so I had to bathe her with medicated shampoo once a week, and condition with an organic, natural condioner. I know the shampoo burned, because her skin cracked. But it would have been so much worse without bathing her.

Back to the meds. The vet hospital encouraged me to purchase the shampoo, conditioner, arthritis medication, and calming lavender collars for my neurotic OCD male cat.

I wish I could have moved the entire practice with me down here.

 

[Green Tea]

The vet is the one responsible for your pet's health. If you buy your medicine online and have worms at check up time; you're out of luck. If the medicine didn't do what was intended then the vet gets the drug company to pay for all related treatments.

But on a human side; think about your job. You depend on money to live and pay your debts and obligations. So does your local vet. It might seem hard for you to pay $50 for an exam, but that vet to school for a lot of years to know how to care for your pet. If she/he thinks the animal needs a $100 prescription to make the animal well and comfortable, then the animal needs that medicine. You're not just paying for the drug. You're paying for professionalism, years of training, vet techs, sterile equipment, rent, phone lines, etc.

 

[dclpluto]

I don't know about my regular vet haven't tried ordering anything that wasn't from them. But my dog orthopedic surgeon they have you sign a paper saying that you know if you order drugs other from them it might not be safe.

 

[dhardawa]

I just ordered from Pet Shed. We've bought from them a ton of times. Their medication comes from Australia and has always been perfect. Plus, they didn't require a prescription for Revolution.

 

[MDSMITH574]

I need a refill on my dog's heartworm medication. I've purchased it from our vet (at an inflated price, of course) in the past, but last night I placed an order for it through one of the online pet med sites. You have to provide the vet info so they can call and verify the prescription. I just got a call from the vet's office saying they don't approve prescriptions for the online sites and I have to purchase it from them. Of course, they are now offering to price match. This ticks me off. My doctor and medical insurance company don't dictate where I get my prescriptions filled. Why should my vet?

Has anyone experienced this? Am I overreacting to be upset?

 

[TDSAXX]

Hi Maggie's Mom. I am dealing with an identical situation. The vet has flatly refused to write a prescription for my pet's medications so that I can afford to purchase it elsewhere. After expressing my dissatisfaction with this practice, the cost went from $100+ / mo. (for just one of her meds) to $34. While I'm not sure why this vet has elected to adhere to such ethics, it peeved me off as well. You can almost be certain he is doing something illegal or has just made it a habit of ripping off his clients. Don't know which it is, but in any event, I can not feel comfortable taking my pet to someone I perceive to be dishonest and unethical. The funny thing is this vet has raving reviews online, except for one or two who noted similar experiences. I guess the majority of the reviewer were so snowed by all the "I'm a good guy" facade, they missed the obvious. Too, this may also be a common practice in privately owned veterinary facilities, however I will surely be looking for some else. Believe me, I would feel better paying a little more than be treated like a sucker. Littlered

Considering the post you replied to is 10 years old, OP’s dog is probably beyond needing heart worm medicine by now.

 

[MDSMITH574]

Considering the post you replied to is 10 years old, OP’s dog is probably beyond needing heart worm medicine by now.

Tru

 

[MDSMITH574]

[QUOTE="MDSMITH574, post: 62173308, member: 668132"
[/QUOTE]

True! different year, same old problem!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Considering the post you replied to is 10 years old, OP’s dog is probably beyond needing heart worm medicine by now.

Lol! I was surprised to see an alert on this old post pop up. But that dog is still alive and taking heartworm medicine, just now also on thyroid meds and supplements for her joints. At the time I posted this, I was dissatisfied with that vet for a number of reasons and the heartworm medicine issue was just another irritation. This was a vet associated with a large chain, and I switched to another vet practice right after this and have been very happy. We adopted a 1 year old resuce dog last fall, so our vet costs are even higher than they were, but the new vet offers great discounts on heartworm and flea/tick preventatives if you purchase a year at a time.

@MDSMITH574, if you aren't comfortable with your current vet, definitely seek out a new one. Hopefully, you'll find someone you will be happier with.