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

[Laiste]

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?!

Vet nurse here ,it's not as simple as 'handing over a paper prescription' if most vets work the same as my practice then each time a written script is required they are written individually ie not a duplicate printed off from a previous script.
Some pets are on multiple medications and each one requires an individual prescription, then as in all pharmacies everything has to be checked by a 2nd or sometimes 3rd person before being given to client - quite responsible and time consuming.
It is then the responsibility of the client to get the script to whichever online pet pharmacy they choose to use.
Many vets choose to email the script direct as there are so many incidences of fraud.
If there is any query a dispenser/pharmacist from the online company will call the practice for clarity.
It is up to yourself to do the price comparison and work out the most cost effective company to use - not the vet.
A client would tend to only use a human pharmacy if the product was a human drug /alternative and also if it were needed quite urgently.
Unless a product is needed urgently from the vet everyone is able to order their pets meds this way , i'ts not hidden , its is the norm now for a very large number of pet owners.

I have had to get human anti virals from a chemist for my cat. 6 tablets for £50. This was about 15 years ago. I had to quarter them, the vet said if she had prescribed the correct size they would have been three times as much

Our regular vet charges £67 for 100 of the Vetpen needles (50 days worth), I found that I could buy the same at an online pet supplies store for £37. A good saving you’d think. However, I’ve now found that there are the exact type of needles available for human use and they’re £4 for 100. I ordered a box and there’s no difference whatsoever apart from the price!

our dog is on ... drops, we ordered through vets and it was about £100 for a tiny bottle, husband did a bit of research and found he got get it from boots for about £10.

Wow!
😳

For long term meds it's an absolute must to research this!

Fortunately <touches wood> our animals are all ok at the mo. We've mainly only needed the occasional cream for itches and eyes over the years.

The exception was a baby rabbit. We were given it by someone who didn't want it any more. They knew we kept (lots of) piggies (i know they don't go together. This person didn't) and handed her over on the doorstep one day. Baby bun was sickly. We took her in and spoiled her as she'd had a rotten start. Wanted to get her strength up/neutered ect and then find her a forever home. A week later this bump came up on her face between her eye and her jaw.

Took her to our vets - abscess was HUGE and growing all inside her head 😢Had to help her, so: Specialist in lagomorphs to do surgery, daily packing, weekly vet visits and months of us washing it out at home and squirting in this £££ cream.

Result - 1 year and just under £1000* *later she was all better. We kept her. We loved her.

Bun died last year. Aged 15 ! And without another single trip to the vets in all those years!

I am sitting here now wondering if we could have saved a bit of that 1k by shopping around ... 🤔 🙄 😜

The vet can refuse a written script if they consider it not in the animals best interest, if a particular drug's efficacy is potentially altered by its storage /transport from online supplier to pet owner this would be a valid reason for refusal.
It is very unusual but i have seen it happen.

I used to buy antihistamines for my dog from boots...never told them they were for a dog, but you could buy a big pot of about 500 for £7 as opposed to £10 for 30 from the vet - my vet told me to do that. He also used to give us the prescriptions so we could get drugs cheaper from the online vet pharmacy - I think now there is a standard charge for them to give you the script but you'll probably still save loads.

I agree that you can use on-line vets; my niece did this for her dog's very expensive medicines. I worked in a retail chemists, and we wouldn't have had animal medicines in stock.

I once had a long discussion with my vets about this subject. The reason why meds are often so much more expensive from them than on-line is because they have to buy in the meds that they stock. In most cases they know that they won't ever use a lot of each one they stock, but they have to have them for when needed. Because they buy in low quantities they get charged higher prices. And there is something in the terms and conditions (you know, the ones nobody ever reads) that they cannot buy from these sites we can use for business purposes! Then, on top of that, they have to price for wastage, because they may have to have some things in stock, but they also may never use them. So my vet, when I have needed something for a chronic condition (which admittedly hasn't been for 7+ years) will advise people to pay for a repeat presceription of 3 or 6 months (depending on the rules they must follow) then price it cheaper on line, and only give people imediately what they really need at this minute.

Effectively, the vet is buying from the same retailer / company as Viovet or Animed or whoever - but the vet is priced as buying (for example) 10 packets of something and these sites are priced at buying 100,000.

For other meds, these are often only required short-term and you need it now, so a prescription often won't be cheaper, or you may not need a prescription but it would take two or three days to obtain it which is too long. In those cases our vet advises on whether an item is worth having in the dog first aid box - a particular wound gel, for example, costs them (the last time I asked) nearly £40 each to buy a few for their stock, but costs me only £19 direct. So that is now in my first aid kit and if the dog gets a small wound I have it already so I don't even need to go to the vets. I should probably say that he doesn't get wounds all that often, but he's somewhat energetic and has been known to throw himself into something without looking first and getting scratched!

You most definitely can! My dog recently has been prescribed ursodeoxycholic acid which I could get from my vet but they actually recommended me getting it from a chemist. Online vets didn't have it in the correct dosage. The prescription from the vet cost me £12. I called the chemist and explained it was for my dog. They told me how much it would cost, I handed over the prescription and that was it. The vet also prescribed Gabapentin which I also bought via an online vet with a prescription for £50 instead of the vet's price of £120. I asked the chemist how much they would have charged for that and their price was £11 for same dosage so even with the cost of the prescription, it'll definitely be worth it for the next time I need to get it.

Gabapentin is a class C controlled drug. Not sure how an online pharmacy is dispensing it, as it requires a physical, hand-signed prescription. Not sure possession of gabapentin formulated for human use would be legal without a prescription in your name (rather than the animal's).

We use Pet Drugs Online. £30 for a check up and 6 month prescription from the vet, then £75 for 6 months of tablets.

Prior to this we were paying £30 for a check-up/prescription then £65 for 2 months of tablets!

Much cheaper to buy online.

Very transferable skills vets, doctors and dentists.

My friend who is a vet popped by sons dislocated shoulder back into its socket at his birthday party once.
Another does human dentistry extractions when they have had a few (alongside another friend who is a dentist but is usually too drunk to do much)
They have also both done minor human surgery on my kitchen table.

I trust them both. Country living!

God!

My BIL pulling 2 his son's teeth out on their sofa was bad enough ...

(dentist)

I know you can get worm medication from the pharmacist.

I doubt much more.

Normally the veterinary clinics prescribing the medication gives it on site.

It’s completely legal, as others have said, for a vet to prescribe a human drug, including controlled drugs like gabapentin, for animal use when there is no licensed version of that drug for animals. Online pharmacies can dispense it but they would have to have the hand signed prescription posted to them. Administering a human drug prescribed for a human to an animal, however, as you suggest, would be illegal.

These threads always panic me. Yes, but prescriptions from your vet - it’s more of a faff for them , and usually less income ( although most vets are salaried so it doesn’t make much difference to them), but please don’t start using random human drugs for your pets as it can be fatal. Even everyday drugs like paracetamol in cats or ibuprofen or dogs will cause death.

yes - some tablets are human ones (painkillers) take this prescription to a chemist - the vet will tell you if this is the case

or order online and the vets will take the reference number and send the prescription accross

much much cheaper. I have saved hundreds doing this

When I bought this online the prescription had to be posted physically not uploaded because it's a controlled drug

Hi, pharmacy worker here. Yes, you can take a vet prescription to any pharmacy, and if they have the stock they'll do it, but it'll be treated as a private prescription, so in some cases it can be more expensive than getting it from the vet.

For the pp, horses use a paediatric spacer over one nostril as they're obligate nose breathers. You cover the other nostril. Some horses take a while to get used to it, others are fine from the start.

Depending on the drug they can. We live somewhere small. The vet is very open about the stuff that can be got cheaper from the local pharmacy rather than them. The pharmacy won’t order non-human drugs though (they’re too busy).

We’ve had gabapentin and a gaviscon type medication for animals from the pharmacy as it’s cheaper.

I use vets for pets. My now elderly dog is needing medications. As he had no issues his entire life, at about 8 yrs old my DH took offence to my paying years for pet insurance insurance and never had a claim. Dog never ill and his parents were DNA cleared for potential breed issues. Now he is 13 and needs various things related to just being an old dog. As I’m not insured, the vet writes me prescription and told me to order on line as it is much cheaper than they can provide. Also told me “human” equivalent of things I can get from chemist at fraction of the price they could sell to me.

so yes, they can do this.

I am now over invested
can a dentist prescribe for my dog?

No and nor can a doctor prescribe for your dog.

Most pharmacies have the capability to do veterinary prescriptions if they’re for human drugs. Usually they’re cheaper. If it’s for a veterinary medicine you’re cheaper using one of the online pet pharmacies. I use an online pharmacy for dog 1&2’s painkillers and a local community pharmacy for dog 2’s Prozac.

Something to consider- the online vet pharmacies are quite often the owners of the vet chains.
By buying the prescription from the practice and then getting the medication from (in some cases), another arm of the same business, you are taking those funds away from the vet meaning they have less money to pay the clinical and support staff so you will end up with a shortage of vets.
Smaller practices may go out of business.

Just something to think about when weighing up the cost, for the extra hassle it's not always worth the saving so check out the prices first.