# Vets and perscriptions



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

When I take my dog to the vet they just give me the meds. How do I get perscriptions off the web. Is it normal that vets just supply the meds, or is it OK to ask for a written perscription?
Are the pet meds on line reliable? Can you recommend a web site to use? Is there really any savings?


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

Well, for an example, I can get a bottle of the nighty antibiotic Clavamox for 13.99 at 1800petmeds... at the vet, I've been charged up to $40!  (hey, I was desperate, not price checking)
Amoxicillin... $6.49 for Amoxidrops. At the vet... 15 bucks minimum. And I have a cattery, so I basically keep it all on hand... 

So, when I have a litter with a plain old COLD, which I catch early enough that it doesn't get too serious, I can either pay $35 for an office call and a round of antibiotics ranging from 15-40... or I can take care of it myself and not expose itty bitty babies to freaky doctors office bacteria. 
Of course, anything out of the ordinary and in they go, and are always checked over at least twice before going to new homes.


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## AlaOutlaw (Sep 3, 2006)

A lot of your drugs that you have to have a prescription for, labeled for dogs or cats, can be bought without a prescription labeled for livestock or fish at a fraction of the cost. Most antibiotics can be bought from pet supply catalogs without a prescription. The only difference is they are labeled for fish. They are the exact same drugs and if you can do basic math then you can calculate the dosages exactly like the high priced stuff from the vet.

http://www.revivalanimal.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_88048022_A_name_E_Birds and Fish

http://www.revivalanimal.com/category.asp?start=9&name=Birds and Fish&c=88048022

You can also buy several nonnarcotic drugs labeled for humans from overseas pharmacies legally. It is perfectly legal to import up to three months worth of nonnarcotic drugs from foreign sources. I buy most of my pet meds from online sources without prescriptions and save a ton of money. I even bought three cases of lactated ringers from overstock.com. The government and pharm. companies will tell you that these meds are not safe and strongly advise you not to go that route but that isn't true. They just don't want you going over their heads to get what you need. I have been buying online meds for over 5 years and currently have a fridge full in the kennel house and have never had a problem with any of them being harmful or not working. I have bought nonnarcotic drugs fairly cheap from Romania, Bangkok,and Australia with good results. There is a ton of ways to beat the cost that your vet won't tell you about because a large part of their revenue is from gouging the prices on the exact same drugs you can legally get elsewhere. 

If you give me the name of the meds your looking for and they are nonnarcotic chances are I can find them for you right here on the net legally.

ETA: I'm not saying you shouldn't take your animals to the vet if they are sick or need help but if you know what is wrong and you know what they need then you don't need a vets high priced prescription for everything.


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

Yes you can ask your vet for a prescription. Oftentimes there is a small record keeping fee (this fee is normally built into the price of prescription meds that you buy from the vet). If the meds do not work (ie your dog gets heartworm even though on preventative from the online place), the meds will only be guaranteed from the place you got them from instead of the company that makes the drug standing behind the product like they would if you bought the product from your vet (if your dog gets heartworm and they are on for example heartgard, the manufacturer will pay for the whole treatment). Many on-line places will only refund the money paid for the product, instead of paying for the treatment.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

My dogs got kennel cough. Ruger my 80 pound Catahoula was given Clavamox and to be honest I don't see near as much improvement as I would like.
MY 22 pound schnuauzer Murphy was given Zeniquin and has improved alot.
I still have Ruger on Robitussin and Murphy has not needed any for 2 days. Ruger started his treatment Dec. 26th. Murphy did not show signs of Ilness until Jan 5th.
If I could get Ruger a round of the Zeniquin for a reasonable price I might try it. My vet charged me $85 for Ruger and $55 for Murphy, with $30 each being for the doctors visit. 
He had Murphy on 1 1/2 pills of 25 mg of the Zeniquin , but only once a day.
I seriously wish they had given Ruger the Zeniquin the first time.

He is being such a good boy though he licks the robitussin right out of a bowl when it is time for him to have it. He wakes up up every morning still with his coughing , but does better when he is up and around after awhile.


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## troy n sarah tx (Dec 31, 2005)

I order my sentinel from Entirelypets.com for all of my dogs. It cost about 2/3 of what the vet cost. :bouncy: On their site (when you order) you can put in your vets phone and they will call for the information needed. It is really very simple. 

Sarah


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## Oregon Julie (Nov 9, 2006)

AlaOutlaw said:


> I even bought three cases of lactated ringers from overstock.com.


I have looked on overstock.com for ringers and can't find them. What sort of a price did you pay for a case? 

I have a chronic renal failure dog and just bought my second case, paid $107 for a case of 12 bags, lines, and a box of needles, this included shipping. If I get the same thing from my vet I pay $21 per bag :grump:, it annoys me because while I don't have a problem with them making a profit this seems like a real rip off to me. When I ran out and had not gotten around to buying another case it really killed me to pay that price when I knew damn well they pay a few bucks a bag for the stuff.


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## Pyrenees (Oct 23, 2004)

As has been stated...yes you can get drugs very cheap online. Are they safe and effective, depends on the company. The FDA has been cracking down, but repackaging expired and foreign drugs was rampant 5-10 years ago when the online pharmacies started appearing. What I tell my clients is, if the pharmacy doesn't have enough staffing for you to physically get a pharmacist on the phone, that is a bad sign. If the pharmacy says they can "work around" the prescription issue and still get you the meds...that is a REALLY bad sign.

So yes there are some reputable pharmacies the operate via internet, but many that are not.

Regarding veterinary pricing of drugs...when we charge for antibiotics, IV fluids, whatever...we are covering a heckuva lot more overhead than a business that is able work out a low-rent warehouse. Employee wages, rent, taxes, the list goes on. If I could follow a business model that involved employing minimum wagers to do nothing but fill a thousand prescriptions per day and not provide any time-intensive personal care to my clients then I could match prices. But comparing the business model of an online pharmacy to your average vet clinic is comparing apples to oranges - I provide the onsite service of animal drugs, but am not set up to do so at low prices. When people challenge me on my prices, I just give them an honest answer, "I cannot compete against a business with no overhead."


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## AlaOutlaw (Sep 3, 2006)

Oregon Julie said:


> I have looked on overstock.com for ringers and can't find them. What sort of a price did you pay for a case?
> 
> I have a chronic renal failure dog and just bought my second case, paid $107 for a case of 12 bags, lines, and a box of needles, this included shipping. If I get the same thing from my vet I pay $21 per bag :grump:, it annoys me because while I don't have a problem with them making a profit this seems like a real rip off to me. When I ran out and had not gotten around to buying another case it really killed me to pay that price when I knew damn well they pay a few bucks a bag for the stuff.



You can't get the ringers at Overstock.com anymore. They were coming from a med supply in Atlanta and when we discoverd they were on Overstock several of us quickly bought out the entire lot. We gave $57 dollars a case shipped. They are Braun 1000ml bags. Cases of 12 bags and they expire 11/08. I only got 3 cases before they sold out. I wish I could have gotten more but they went quickly. $21 dollars a bag is outrageous. Even with a prescription they only cost less than $5 a bag. They don't come with lines or needles but I got a case of 48 lines sealed, off of ebay for $40 and a case of 100 needles for around $13 I think. The whole set ups cost me less than $7.00 each.


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## AlaOutlaw (Sep 3, 2006)

Pyrenees said:


> As has been stated...yes you can get drugs very cheap online. Are they safe and effective, depends on the company. The FDA has been cracking down, but repackaging expired and foreign drugs was rampant 5-10 years ago when the online pharmacies started appearing. What I tell my clients is, if the pharmacy doesn't have enough staffing for you to physically get a pharmacist on the phone, that is a bad sign. If the pharmacy says they can "work around" the prescription issue and still get you the meds...that is a REALLY bad sign.
> 
> So yes there are some reputable pharmacies the operate via internet, but many that are not.
> 
> Regarding veterinary pricing of drugs...when we charge for antibiotics, IV fluids, whatever...we are covering a heckuva lot more overhead than a business that is able work out a low-rent warehouse. Employee wages, rent, taxes, the list goes on. If I could follow a business model that involved employing minimum wagers to do nothing but fill a thousand prescriptions per day and not provide any time-intensive personal care to my clients then I could match prices. But comparing the business model of an online pharmacy to your average vet clinic is comparing apples to oranges - I provide the onsite service of animal drugs, but am not set up to do so at low prices. When people challenge me on my prices, I just give them an honest answer, "I cannot compete against a business with no overhead."


I understand what you are saying but alot of the vet prices are way outrageous. I know a clinic has bills to pay but charging a 400% + markup is wrong. It's like a hospital charging you $50 dollars for 2 tylenol and a box of Klennex. They use the same justification of paying for the nurse to dispense it and the paperwork involved but I would rather go to the drug store and get the same stuff for less than $10 any day. I admire good vets and understand they can't sell for the same price as a warehouse but I'm going to save money anytime I can. If a vet isn't needed and I can get the stuff cheaper I'm going to.


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