Care plan advise please

[Cuckoomama]

i have a 9 week old Bichon Frise, he has already had his first jab, worming & vet check via the breeder. I called into my local pets at home store because they have an independent vets surgery in the store.
I asked the receptionist about his 2nd jab & microchipping. She told me they have an offer at the moment, £17-50 for the jab & £10 for the chip.
She also said they do a care plan for 12 months which covers worming & flea control, a six month check, his 12 month booster & 10% off various bits & pieces including neutering. This will cost me just over £12 a month for a year.
My question is if I've paid £27-50 for his jab & chip is it worth paying close on a £150 for the worming etc?
I can buy these products over the counter, presumably they're just as effective?
Obviously I'll be taking out insurance, that'll probably cost me about £23 a month? But I don't really want to pay out another £12 if it's not worth it.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

"Over the counter" wormer and flea control are next to useless, unless it is Drontal or Frontline. Bob Martin wormers and flea treatments are old, ineffective drug formulations that really are crap.

To give you an idea of whether you think pricing is reasonable, a 3 month supply of Frontline (flea treatment) is around the £16-£20 mark for the pack, Drontal wormer for your puppy, is around £3 every 6-8 weeks. - That's purchasing effective treatment online through somewhere like VetUK.

I think vets charges are slightly higher, (a vet can correct me on this) as the Frontline used by them is a slightly different formula to the over the counter one (and supposedly more effective) and they have access to different prescription wormers. The other Flea control they sell (things like Stronghold) are prescription only, so you'd have to get them through the vet.

An annual booster is around the £30 - £40 mark, depending on where you are. I would say that £12/month is slightly on the high side - but that is because I have access to discounted drugs as I buy in bulk through my vet due to the shear number of animals I have. It depends if you want to spread the cost, or can afford one-off payments. I think vets encourage a payment plan, as it ties you into their practice (so repeat business) and it is a good way to make sure their clients (the animals) have routine health care.

HTH.

I would say that it depends what level of flea and worming they do. I use Advocate which is prescription only and it protects against fleas and worms including lungworm which is a killer. I believe it is the only licensed product for lungworm at present. Then a tape worm tablet. This costs me approx £12 per month. I think value depends what they worm with, but no, they are not all the same.

I'd also use caution as have you met the vets ? You may find that you don't like the vet for whatever reason and then you are kind of tied in or losing money . My mother signed up for lifetime injections a few years ago at her vets and since then the personnel have changed and now we don't really like any of the small animal vets there yet she doesn't want to take them elsewhere and pay again . Hopefully they'll employ someone we do like soon , I know it sounds picky but to me it's important that you know and trust your vets opinion .

Thanks so much for the advice. I have met the vet already! I only picked up my pup last Saturday, called in to the vets on Monday re the jabs etc. On monday afternoon the pup refused to have anything to do with anyone & just wanted to stay in his bed, he was practically comatose. I panicked because I had exactly the same thing with a very new Pekingese pup a few years ago. That turned out to be parvo virus, luckily he survived.
Off I dashed to the vet after making an emergency appointment, he checked him over & said he's fine, thankfully. When back out to the receptionist to pay a consultation fee, the vet came out & said there was no charge. I know we were only in a short time, but he could have charged me.

Most practices running these kind of these schemes can tell you what the saving is over pay as you go and exactly what is included so you get better idea of value. In my practice the scheme represents 5% discount on prices at the beginning of the year much greater by the time you get to the end of the year.

In our practice the monthly plan doesn't actually save you much on the cost of the flea/worm products and vaccination, it just spreads the cost equally throughout the year. The advantage with ours is that you get an additional 10% off most things including consultations, procedures etc. so if you're fleaing and worming to schedule anyway then the plan is usually worth it.

Over the counter stuff is ineffective with the exception of Drontal and basic Frontline but Frontline combo is prescription only. Our current recommended schedule is Stronghold monthly, Milbemax three monthly (monthly until six months of age) or ditto Frontline combo and Milbemax. The Frontline can go to 6-8 weeks if tick protection isn't needed.