Does your vet give you a hard time if you order meds online?
I'm just curious if anyone else has this issue. Can they deny you a prescription just because you're ordering it online? I haven't had that actually happen yet, but I usually get a phone call about it with them trying to convince me to buy it from them instead. I'm all for supporting local businesses and I do like my vet, but sometimes the price markup is just so ridiculous I can't stand it (or afford it!). For example I need some Metacam for Luke...at my vet it's $40 for 10 mil, but I can get 32 mil for $35 online! To me that is just absurd. I know it's not really fair to compare an online store with a brick and mortar vet, but come on...more than 100% markup is more than I can tolerate lol.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Karen on
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Hi Jane,
I printed out some of the pricing from the on-line retailers and took it to my vets office with me on our next visit. I told the doc, during our office visit, that I really wanted to buy my meds from him, but the on-line prices were just blowing his out of the water. With 3 corgis and a cat, I buy a bunch of stuff, and it adds up! He took the information and we came to this deal - I buy from him and he gives me 20% off all the meds. He was upfront and said that there was no way they could match some of the prices, and I understand that. As a retailer myself, I know that I cannot buy some of my products from distributors for what some of the "big" retailers sell them to the public for. (Which sucks and I have had to limit my product lines for that reason) BUT ANYWAY - talk to your vet and see if they will work with you. While the 20% discount doesn't always make it as inexpensive as the online shops, I at least have the knowledge of local service, knowing that it's fresh stock, and if there is any problem whatsoever, help is just a few minutes away. Also, you might want to check that the medicine you are buying is actually manufactured in the same location under the same guidelines as the stuff from the vet. At one time there were some issues with overseas manufactured products. Good Luck - I hope they work with you.
Karen
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Luckily we have big animal vets and the cost for dog supplies is relatively cheap. Several years ago I did look into this but then my vet called and we talked. For us in the boonies we probably have the best deal. Many people come from the big cities for spaying and neutering as it's half the price or even less.
I like the idea of talking with your vet!
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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If they call me I will definitely try to work something out if they are open to that, I guess I'll have to wait and see. I really WANT to support them, but there are a few things I just can't bring myself to over pay that much for!
And I'm ordering from drsfostersmith which is a licensed pharmacy so I know the products are safe.
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Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on
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My veterinarian doesn't prevent me from getting a prescription for online orders, however they have stopped allowing them to be faxed in. This is due to the problems with bad/tainted medications that have been coming from China over the past few years. If I want to order online, then I need to mail in an actual prescription paper so that the company must dispense only the US medications. Given the hassle that this creates, I've since opted to just get medications through the vet's office. Luckily, they price them very fairly and it's almost as cheap as ordering off of Dr. Foster & Smith.
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Permalink Reply by Terry Irene Blain on
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Not our vet. And in our area Costo has started to carry the flea/tick/heartworm the vet recommened for our dogs
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Permalink Reply by Priscilla, CARLY, and Frankie on
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nope and im so glad...i was looking around and found a place to get the heart worm on line and its way cheaper!! they even called the vet for me and no trouble at all..
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Well I got the email from drsfostersmith today so they must have approved it, so that makes me happy. I was waiting for them to call my fiance and give him a lecture since his phone number is listed first on the account, haha. He would have looooved that!
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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Most vets shouldn't make you feel guilty about opting to get the medication elsewhere, instead they should educate you on the safe liscensed places to get it. Not all online pharmacies are created equal. My old vet (and current vet) require the owner to pick up a written prescription to get medications and this is mostly due to the fact that the vet becomes a go between and there are angry clients and annoying pharmacies calling constantly for approval or when meds aren't shipped on time or whatever, the hospital staff's time is better spent treating patients and talking one-on-one wiht clients than refaxing a med approval for the 3 billionth time that the pharmacy didn't get for some reason. Online pharmacies that fax also try to cut corners illegally (1800petmeds is one that used to do this until they got hit with heavy fines), they'd fax a request at 10 pm on a Saturday and say they would fill it if they didn't hear back in x number of hours, they'd purposely fax when hospitals were closed and then just go fill the prescription. They were also ones who carried a heartworm preventative that was labeled exactly the same as American heartworm but contained almost triple the Ivermectin because it came from overseas where ivermectin resistence was much higher, this resulted in MANY MANY sick dogs. I believe that issue has been resolved too and now they have more restrictions on what they are and aren't allowed to do and still stay as a liscensed and veterinary approved online pharmacy. Another thing to note is most of your vet's profit comes from the pharmacy, it does not come from surgery, treatments, bloodwork, etc it comes from the pharmacy so many times they have to mark-up their products pretty high to make up for lost profit in other parts of the hospital, they are a business after all and do need to make money to stay open and continue to be able to provide services to their clients and patients.
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Permalink Reply by Donna and Lilly on
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I order my heartworm thru DrsFostersandSmith. My vet just cant beat a 12 month prescription of Iverhart plus for $33.00. I get all my shots and heartworm testing thru him and he is just glad we give them a preventative. I havent had a problem with the company and they contact my vet and get the authorization. I think most vets these days realize that there are other ways to go.
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on
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The vet I used to go to did. Wouldn't even give me a prescription. The vet clinic I go to now will give me prescription for the online stuff with no problem, however they offer price matching so I just bring in a printout from the online supplier and they match it if it's cheaper than what the clinic charges. Very nice of them, I think.
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