Prescriptions from vets, what is the norm?

[BigBoysDontCry]

Before I fire off an angry email to my vets, can I just ask if there is a norm re prescriptions?

My cat has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and requires daily medicine only available on prescription.

I paid for the initial bottle (almost £60) and she was reassessed a few weeks after and they agreed the dose was good. I researched and found the medication at under £20 so asked vet for a prescription for it so I could order. They charged me neay £30 for the prescription which I was a bit miffed at, however I ordered it and all good. At least I thought it would just be the £20 a month ongoing.

Anyway ordered it again when started to get low and the supplier came back saying it wasn't a repeat prescription and I'd need to contact the vet.

Contacted the vet as presumed it was an error. No, they've taken best part of a week to come back and said I'll need to pay again and then every 3 months as they agree she is stable.

It's nothing but greed as far as I can see. I have no choice but to pay for it this time as I now need it more urgently but I'm angry. If they'd charged a reasonable price in the first place I'd have never gone elsewhere as I fully appreciate they need to pay staff and premises so they are there when required.

Is this charging normal or is it worth paying this time and then going somewhere else?

That seems odd. My vet was very happy to give me a private repeat prescription for 6 moths worth. Perhaps they expected you to specifically ask for a repeat.

It never occurred to me that it wouldn't be since it's a lifelong condition tbh. Probably my fault there.

How much does your charge if you don't mind me asking?

I think more just covering their backs and not thinking about the consequences for you or discussing it . It takes a few months and a few blood tests to make sure that the cat is on the right medication and the right dose. I think the thought may have been that if they issue you a six month prescription for a certain dose, if that's not the right dose it could cause issues ( say you didn't bother to go back for repeat blood tests )
But..they should have had that conversation with you
Once stable most vets will do a prescription for six months worth of medication.

Is your vet a true independent? If not, try to find a practice that is, as service and costs would be so much better.
So many vets have sold out to the big companies (but still trade under their old name) and are now more concerned about profit for the shareholders than welfare of the animals. Have a look in the small print to see who actually owns the practice.

Thanks all. Yes they are an independent highly renowned vet and I was otherwise happy, we've not really needed much in the way of treatment over the years.

Sounds like I probably need to tone down my email but I'll certainly be looking elsewhere.

You can be clever with this as I found out. Unlike the NHS there is no joined up directory for animal prescriptions.

Go to the vet and get animal examined and a prescription written to take away.

Come home and register with a few online pet medicine providers.

Upload the prescription to each one and ask for it to be dispensed.

They will all dispense. The only downside is there is postage on each dispenser as they are coming from different companies.

But as previous poster said, it might be they are waiting for the condition to stabilise before giving out a longer duration. Once she's stable and it's your regular prescription then try my suggestion to get duplicates.

This is fraud. The pharmacy should require a physical copy of the prescription. If the vet finds out you will be sacked as a client and reported to the VMD.

Is it a human medication or one specifically for cats? Our dog is on tablets for life, but as they are a human medication and not licenced for dogs we have to get the prescription renewed every month as they aren't allowed to do anymore than a month at a time. Maybe that could be the case with yours?

Is it thyronorm? My cat is on this and we pay £20 for the written prescription (4 repeats, lasts about 6 months) and then £20 per bottle off the internet. It does sound like your vet is a bit on the expensive side.

Thanks all. I've gone back saying that I'm unhappy about the delay and it not being explained about the prescription not being a repeat etc. They confirmed that she is stable and yes it's thyronorm. She goes through a 30ml bottle per month.

She is insured and I get all bar 20% refunded (she's 17) so it's not likely to be forever, but I will consider my options going forward as it does sound like they are a bit more than average.

The vet is legally obliged to offer a written prescription for the same amount of medication as they would dispense themselves. This would often be 6 months worth for a stable patient but it is completely normal and in the data sheet recommendations to blood test fairly frequently during initial treatment phase for hyperthyroidism until the cat is stable. My practice charges £15 for a written prescription for a non-controlled drug.

Ddog is diabetic, I get his insulin online. I get a prescription that lasts for six months and pay £10 to the vet for the prescription.

With our vet, to prevent fraud, they require you to go and order online, getting the order code. You then ring the vet, with the provider, and the order code. It costs £20 for a written prescription, and the amount of time between seeing the animal before they can prescribe again, and the number of repeat prescriptions varies according to the animal, the condition, and the drug.

Ours is £35 for a prescription.

They can’t give you a repeat if your cats dose is going to
change.
Once the dose is stable your vet should be then able to put repeats on the prescription.

Is your cat insured? Some insurance companies will pay the cost of written prescriptions

£10 is very reasonable.

Ours charges £35 which I think is too much

We had to take ours back for a blood test every six months, to check if the dose needed tweaking. A six month precaution would not be unreasonable but an indefinitely repeating one is not going to be in the cat's best interest.

Yes she is insured and we do get all bar 20% back but in my view that's no excuse to rip the piss and be greedy, it affects everybody's premiums.

Just to complicate it now, I placed the order for 30ml, paid for it and then sent the receipt to the insurance who refunded me the 80% and now the vet has prescribed a 100ml bottle to cover the 3 months. It doesn't look like the company I've used supply 100ml bottles...

Ffs!

I agree - I worked in the vet industry a long time. It’s not necessarily the vets being greedy and making lots of money it’s the business owners and managers on top.

One of our big bosses that owned us knew nothing about vets he’d come from WHSmith- random I know

Also the big corporate companies spend a lot of money on middle management. There’s lots of sales targets and they have a lot of people managing that- half of them had probably never set foot in a vets there entire life but worked in offices miles away from the practice.
A lot of the sales targets are aimed at receptionists. Health plans sold, 4 weeks free per insurance, bags of food sold, appointments booked.

Unfortunately these business owners are making having a pet a luxury

I even knew a lot of vet staff (including vets) that didn’t own pets as they were more than aware of the cost of having one.

Definitely shop around- you don’t have to stay loyal to your vet. There is also a lot of online pharmacies to choose from.

Also some of the larger corporate companies actually own the online pharmacies. So they can be writing out an online prescription for you to still buy it from themselves.

As I say, I completely understand that they need to charge more than an online retailer as they have staff and premises to maintain and we need them to be there when we need our pets to be seen face to face.

I was incredibly grateful to them for their care and attention when Dcat was unwell prior to diagnosis.

That just seems soured now by petty greed when they've already said she is stable and they are happy with her. At the end of the day she is 17 and we thought she was on her last paws. She's like lazarus though and currently looks healthier than I do, I'd love her glossy black coat 😁

They haven't requested she be retested at all. I think as long as I'm happy she is doing well, they are. I think she is on a pretty standard dose.

Anyway, tomorrow is a day to try to unravel my order and get it all sorted.

Actually looking at the email they've sent the prescription on, they haven't attached a bill... 🤔

Their previous email does confirm that they are charging it though.