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Original poster

Is it true you can take a vet's prescription to a normal chemist and save money?

131 replies

Laiste · 27/10/2022 09:04

Just that.

Someone has told me that you can ask a vet to give you a written prescription (for medicines which you have to administer yourself of course - pills, cream ect) and rather than buy it from the vet (£££) you can go and order it from a chemist and just pay the prescription fee.

You still have to pay the vet's consultation fee obvs, for the time and expertise.

If this is a thing why isn't it better known?
Or is it just me that didn't know? 😫
Or are they talking bollocks?!

OP posts:
Riverlee · 27/10/2022 09:14

High street pharmacies can dispense veterinary prescriptions. It’s not charged at the NHS rate, but the chemist will set its own rates.

Stillavetjust · 27/10/2022 09:14

Animal medicine has a POM-V licence which is different from POM for humans. Under a thing called the cascade, vets are not allowed to prescribe human medicine unless there is no other alternative available.

Cavviesarethebest · 27/10/2022 09:15

Yep. Boots. And other normal high street pharmacies.

we’ve moved around a bit and never had a problem

in fact last week there was an issue with the prescription and the lovely pharmacy people called the vets to sort it out 😁

they also asked me if I would like the incorrect prescription to be shredded for data protection. So my dog also hasn’t had to worry about his data being shared 😁

toomuchfaster · 27/10/2022 09:16

Yes, I work in a pharmacy and we do vets prescriptions if we can order the item through head office. It works like a private prescription for humans, it has to be legally written and it has to be available and you have to pay. It may be cheaper, we can normally give you a quote. You will have to pay the vet to write a prescription which they sometimes over charge for to make up some of the money they are losing out on.

Cavviesarethebest · 27/10/2022 09:16

Yes the med is prescribed under the cascade - so maybe not work for all prescriptions and obviously not dog only meds (not sure what they’d be)

cluckinhell0 · 27/10/2022 09:17

Yes it's true (obviously only if it's also a drug licensed for humans) my dog was prescribed an inhaler most commonly used on humans and I took it to Sainsburys pharmacy and got the inhaler.

Itloggedmeoutagain · 27/10/2022 09:17

Yes you can do this. I've done it. You pay for the prescription at the vet. If it's a human drug you can get it at boots etc. My dog was on gabapentin i got it from boots but it was quite expensive and it actually worked out cheaper to buy it direct from the vet because then you're not paying for the prescription as well. If it's something that's not human eg metacam, it's cheaper to get the prescription and get it online

Original poster
Laiste · 27/10/2022 09:22

toomuchfaster · 27/10/2022 09:16

Yes, I work in a pharmacy and we do vets prescriptions if we can order the item through head office. It works like a private prescription for humans, it has to be legally written and it has to be available and you have to pay. It may be cheaper, we can normally give you a quote. You will have to pay the vet to write a prescription which they sometimes over charge for to make up some of the money they are losing out on.

This is fascinating!

So, i take from this that i would have to:

  • ask the vet at consultation what they would charge to 'hand over' a paper prescription.
  • ask if they know how much the online vet pharmacy would charge for the med.
  • take paper scrip to 'human' pharmacy and ask them if they could fulfill it and how much it would cost.

Then i would know how to save and how much.

Not good for urgent topical treatment i guess, but i'm so interested.

I recently paid just over £100 for the world's tiniest tube of eye cream for my cat. £40 of that was consultation, rest was for the tube.

OP posts:
dottyrobin · 27/10/2022 09:24

Itloggedmeoutagain · 27/10/2022 09:17

Yes you can do this. I've done it. You pay for the prescription at the vet. If it's a human drug you can get it at boots etc. My dog was on gabapentin i got it from boots but it was quite expensive and it actually worked out cheaper to buy it direct from the vet because then you're not paying for the prescription as well. If it's something that's not human eg metacam, it's cheaper to get the prescription and get it online

Can I ask how much your gabapentin was roughly? I've just bought 100x 300mg tablets for £63 from the vets and I'm supposed to give him 4 a day!
Anything cheaper would be amazing!?

AnnieCannyFrangipani · 27/10/2022 09:26

I was on holiday with my pet when I ran out of his prescription only ointment which was for both human and animal use. The vet emailed the prescription to me and I got the ointment at the local pharmacy. I don't remember how much I paid but it was less than the usual NHS prescription charge.

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 27/10/2022 09:31

When my dog needed long term medication I had a week's supply from the vet and ordered 6 weeks from an online pharmacy.

My vet was very supportive. She said she could not buy the medication wholesale for the price I could order it online.

NightOwl101 · 27/10/2022 09:43

there are companies online you can use to fulfill a pet prescription, quite a few actually.

However a vet can charge whatever they like for writing the prescription and it doesn't always make it worthwhile (depending on what your having), they can also only do it once per month instead of giving you 3m+ until next check up is due

toomuchfaster · 27/10/2022 09:43

@Laiste it would work best for items we stock!
The vet wouldn't know how much anyone else charges, you'd need to contact the online supplier direct.
Also, that tube of ointment may well have cost the same amount from any pharmacy. Medicines are really expensive and the NHS prescription tariff hides UK citizens from the reality of that. Also, we'd charge a dispensing fee and VAT on top of the basic cost.

Cassandra9 · 27/10/2022 09:48

Laiste · 27/10/2022 09:22

This is fascinating!

So, i take from this that i would have to:

  • ask the vet at consultation what they would charge to 'hand over' a paper prescription.
  • ask if they know how much the online vet pharmacy would charge for the med.
  • take paper scrip to 'human' pharmacy and ask them if they could fulfill it and how much it would cost.

Then i would know how to save and how much.

Not good for urgent topical treatment i guess, but i'm so interested.

I recently paid just over £100 for the world's tiniest tube of eye cream for my cat. £40 of that was consultation, rest was for the tube.

Show quote history

Not really no.
your vet won’t know (without checking the same as you could) how much the online pharmacy’s charge, they will just be able to give you the price to buy through them.

you will only be able to get your medication from a human chemist if it’s a ‘human’ medicine and no animal version is available. You would then have to buy this from an online pet pharmacy or a veterinary clinic.

Itloggedmeoutagain · 27/10/2022 09:52

dottyrobin · 27/10/2022 09:24

Can I ask how much your gabapentin was roughly? I've just bought 100x 300mg tablets for £63 from the vets and I'm supposed to give him 4 a day!
Anything cheaper would be amazing!?

Show quote history

I can't remember the strength my dog was on i think it might have been 300. I used to get 56 tablets i think it was£25 ish from the vet so that might be about right. Shop around. Your own vet may not be the cheapest, mine was but they're all different, buying online was reasonable but you have to factor in the cost of the prescription if you get it from anywhere other than your own vet whereas if you get it from your own vet you don't pay the prescription charge.

Patchoomi · 27/10/2022 09:52

We buy our cat prescription online. Still not cheap but significantly cheaper than buying from the vet. Vet can be difficult about writing the prescription though. I guess it's easy money for them.

Maybe the confusion comes from the fact that a lot of human medicines can be used on pets eg antihistamines (not saying to do it! I'm not a vet so do do your own research on it!)

Sapphiresanddiamonds · 27/10/2022 09:53

Eweknowwhat · 27/10/2022 09:07

Q Is it true you can take a vet's prescription to a normal chemist and save money?
A. No, it's bonkers.

Well I've used a veterinary prescription at a pharmacy, so it's not bonkers. Similar to the poster above, it was a prescription for gabapentin for our dog.

Patchoomi · 27/10/2022 09:56

Oh, I missed the above comments. That is really helpful to know actually! Thanks for asking the question OP.

MrsPnut · 27/10/2022 09:58

One of our dogs had a slightly infected spay wound and the vet was going to prescribe flamazine. I told her not to bother because I had a spare tube at home from treating a radiotherapy burn and I’d use that.

fruitbrewhaha · 27/10/2022 09:59

Yes they are correct. But you have probably misunderstood where you take the prescription to be filled out.

Ask your vet for a prescription for anything they know you could buy cheaper online. Our
vet used to tell us which medication the vet practice was a reasonable price and which was expensive and could be found cheaper online

shinynewapple22 · 27/10/2022 10:04

We have regular apoquel tablets for our dog . We now pay for a prescription from the vet and order them online . This does work out cheaper - but we still have to pay vets consultation fee and they want to see him every 3 months before they issue the prescription .

It's an online veterinary pharmacy we order from - we don't just pop the prescription into Boots!

Original poster
Laiste · 27/10/2022 10:06

@toomuchfaster and @Cassandra9 thank you Smile Thanks to all who have helped out here.

So the first/best question to ask the vet is ''is this a 'human' med also?''. Because if not there's no point trying the human pharmacy thing.

(Would they know that?)

Then ask for price for paper scrip.
Then shop around online i guess.

I don't want to waste the vets time standing there quizzing them about prices. I don't want to appear reluctant to do the best for my animals.

I bet i'm not the only one who would feel awkward doing this.

But needs must in these times and this could help someone out so much.

If nothing else this thread may have highlighted the online vet meds. option for some who maybe didn't know. You don't know till you ask! 😃

OP posts:
longtompot · 27/10/2022 10:09

My pharmacy has a sign up saying they do not take vet prescriptions. We use pet drugs online, it's cheaper than getting meds from your vets by a long shot.

Somuchgoo · 27/10/2022 10:14

My local pharmacy advertises that is deals with pet prescriptions as well

It doesn't matter if it's a human is an animal drug, but they may need to order it in for you

Winterscomingagain · 27/10/2022 10:14

I've given amoxicillin to one of the feral cats who feed in my garden. It had been prescribed for a person but not taken.The extremely wild cat had visible injuries from fighting and I cut the dosage down to his estimated body weight.The vet wouldn't prescribe without seeing him and that just wasn't possible. This allowed him to recover from the wounds and left him healthy enough to be trapped and neutered.