Any vet nurses about? Question about product?

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My dog is having a hydrolyzed diet starting soon to try and figure out if her skin issues are allergy related.

Went to vets today and they also 'prescribed' a medicated shampoo.

Its malabeze shampoo and was charged £33 for it. Only I can see online that this isn't a prescription medication and I could have bought the same bottle on Amazon for £20.

There is an actual medical shampoo that is prescription only called malaseb and that is £33.

Do you think they've mixed them up or are they just selling shampoo at a 3rd more than available generally and pretending its a vet only shampoo 🤔

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If you think they meant to give you malaseb, then you could check the label as it will have the name of the product they prescribed on it. If it says malaseb and it’s been stuck on a malabeze bottle then someone has probably just grabbed the wrong one from the shelf.

Sometimes we do advise / supply non prescription products though, if appropriate - in the same way you can buy food, ear cleaner, tick removers etc at the vet, and also online, you can buy non prescription shampoo; unless they specifically told you it’s prescription-only / vet only, then they aren’t ’pretending’ anything. It is ‘medicated’ because it’s got chlorhexidine in it.

If you would rather source anything online then you can take the initiative to ask the vet the name of it, and for a prescription if it’s prescription-only. Similarly, if you find something you like in John Lewis, you can check if it’s cheaper on Amazon but when you arrive at the checkout, it’s not the job of the John Lewis staff to ask ‘did you check Amazon though?’

Most people tend to like the convenience of getting the products at the time of the appointment, and knowing they’ve got the right thing.

It is often the case that you can get veterinary products cheaper online than at your local practice. Vet practices have much higher overheads than online pharmacies and simply cannot compete on price. There are several medicated shampoos which are non prescription but frequently used which may be sold in practice but also freely available online.

I just assumed it would be something I couldn't buy myself as he said I will prescribe you a medicated shampoo. So I thought it was something you needed a prescription for.

The bottle has no sticker on it.

We’ve been “prescribed” probiotics and hairball paste stuff for our cats - both readily available from Amazon for substantially cheaper so when we needed them again we just bought online rather than get from the vet. It didn’t cross my mind to ask if I could buy them elsewhere at the time, I tend to get quite flustered in the vet!

vet here
malaseb shampoo is prescription only so should only be available online from a licensed pet pharmacy and with a written prescription. (you can get a written prescription from the vet but they will likely charge you). Anyone selling it without will be illegal/fake.

There is a product called douxo pyo shampoo which contains chlorhexidine, the active ingredient in malaseb. It is not as strong as malaseb but less drying of the skin. I recommend this a lot and haven’t dispensed malaseb for ages. It is available without a prescription.