Prescription charges, is this normal?

[Fuss]

Our old boy has developed Cushings Disease, as he is rather old we started a rainy day fund for him rather than insure so are paying for his monthly medications ourselves.

The medication he's on comes in 5mg, 10mg, 30mg, 60mg and 120mg doses. Helpfully he's currently on a dose of 15mg so every month we need to buy a box of 10mg and a box of 5mg tablets.

It's a medication thats cheaper to buy online so I asked our vet how much the prescription will be. I'm told that even though its the same medication. because they are different doses they require two different prescriptions!

If he had 2 x 10mg boxes for example it would be a single script, but mixing the mg's brings a second charge.

Is this usual?

I don't know, but can you use 10mg tablets and halve one of them instead?

Surely you get one prescription for 3 x 5 mg tablets? (if that's any cheaper)

Yes, it's normal.

But as PP said, just get 3 x 5mg tablets?

3 x 5mg comes in at £115 whilst 1 x 5mg and 1 x 10mg is £79. Even factoring in one less prescription cost (£13 for the fist and £10 for the second) it still comes out more expensive sadly.

unfortunately the medication is Vetoryl and cannot be halved.

it is what it is. Just wondered if this was normal practice. He’s had some bloods this morning so might go up to 20mg and they will prescribe 2 x 10mg on one prescription so need to wait a few days now and see where it goes.

Just to add your vet is being very reasonable about the prescription charge. My little one was on 3 different medications that I bought online, so a different prescription for each one & my vet charged me £20 for each prescription every time.

Another £20 per prescription charge here, too.

Vet called tonight with blood results. They are a Really good practice in fairness to them, I was just curious if this was something that was usual.
Anyway, the 15mg isn’t bringing the condition under control. The vet said she’d normally go to 25mg next, but she’d worked out the costs of that (2 x 10 and 1 x 5mg) and decided her mortgage payments were cheaper 😂. With this in mind she’s gone straight to 30mg which is a single dose and one prescription, potentially bringing monthly costs down by half if this is the dose that suits.

Hooefully my boy will start to feel a bit better soon.