Flea and worm treatment

[LaCerbiatta]

Our vet charge a fortune for flea and worm treatment, much more than it would cost if bought from an online pharmacy for example, so I decided to order online. Online pharmacy require a prescription that the vet want to charge us £20 for!

Am I being naive and this is all normal or is there a cheaper way? I absolutely hate being ripped off!!

I pay £10 per month for all yearly jabs, worm and flea treatment. This is through the 'health club' at the vet's.

I'm sure you can just buy alternatives at Pets at Home or similar.

£10 is not too bad. Ours charge £14 and I know that that's more than the cost of the jabs + worm treatment etc. They take advantage of people wanting the peace of mind of knowing it's all taken care of and paid in advance, but it's not good value and as I said HATE being ripped off.

Fucks sake, you're not being ripped off
Your vet has to put aside the time to check your pets medical history, make sure they have had a recent health check (as per the prescribing laws) and a recent weight, then take the time to write up your script (which they have to study for 5 years to be able to do so) and have the receptionist make sure you get it.
Do you think they should all work for free?
Honestly, prescription requests take up a huge chunk of time and are usually done at the end of a very busy 10 or 12 hour day on below minimal staff thanks to covid and general shortage of staff in the industry.

And vets don't decide which drugs are prescription only, nor do they decide how much to charge for prescriptions, the corporations that own most of them do.
Hopefully you are now more informed .

www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pet-protection?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6NmHBhD2ARIsAI3hrM02sfVlrIkNbKvF4H9mEMPEJH6bfdZDNh3W4gy-Fn1J6FE3wCTMcZ4aAn3lEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Well for fucks sake, the receptionist had already sent an email saying that the cat needed these 2 specific treatments that the vet prescribes probably 20 times each day and knows inside out so no time needed to check anything. If they were not making 200% profit on the treatments then none of this would be needed!! And it's not called rip off Britain for no reason. I'm actually going to get the treatments from my home country (EU) where the vet will just sell them to me for a tenth of the price.

And I work in the pharmaceutical industry but thanks for the lecture nonetheless

Fleas,ticks and worms are 11.50 a month using that link I posted. Which seems expensive seeing as I get the jabs for less than that.

I remember nearly crying when our cat was prescribed tablets he'd need for the rest of his life and they were £30 per month. Great relief all round when we realised they are a fiver on line !

[quote MrsPelligrinoPetrichor]www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pet-protection?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6NmHBhD2ARIsAI3hrM02sfVlrIkNbKvF4H9mEMPEJH6bfdZDNh3W4gy-Fn1J6FE3wCTMcZ4aAn3lEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds[/quote]
Thanks! Althiugh that's even worse value as it doesn't include immunisations.

I think I'll just need to give in and accept that this is what we need to pay 🙁

Do you have a Companion Care vets near you?

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Do you have a Companion Care vets near you?

Don't know, I'll have a look

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

I remember nearly crying when our cat was prescribed tablets he'd need for the rest of his life and they were £30 per month. Great relief all round when we realised they are a fiver on line !

How terrible! That mark up is unacceptable imo. I imagine they gave you a repeat prescription so you only needed one, that way is a bit more cost effective

Not really the question, but it's defo worth paying for the stuff that needs a prescription - the otc stuff is useless.

In paying for the prescription, you're paying for the years and years of vet school needed to be qualified enough yo sign a prescription 🤷‍♀️

How terrible! That mark up is unacceptable imo. I imagine they gave you a repeat prescription so you only needed one, that way is a bit more cost effective

No, it was easily available on line without the need of a prescription. Massive mark up!

I used Frontline or Beaphar spot on flea preventative, monthly for fleas, worming three monthly. Remember fleas carry the larvae of a tapeworm so important to have flea prevention as well as something that kills fleas and their eggs.

My cats never had fleas or worms, even as kittens.

A vet who administers this, and they don't all do it, is going to charge because it is a sort of consultation. You can buy cheaply online.

Viovet are very good: www.viovet.co.uk/bslp/frontline

You can also look on Amazon and ebay. It's not expensive.

@Maggiesfarm

I used Frontline or Beaphar spot on flea preventative, monthly for fleas, worming three monthly. Remember fleas carry the larvae of a tapeworm so important to have flea prevention as well as something that kills fleas and their eggs.

My cats never had fleas or worms, even as kittens.

A vet who administers this, and they don't all do it, is going to charge because it is a sort of consultation. You can buy cheaply online.

Viovet are very good: www.viovet.co.uk/bslp/frontline

You can also look on Amazon and ebay. It's not expensive.

Thank you that's really helpful

@LaCerbiatta

Well for fucks sake, the receptionist had already sent an email saying that the cat needed these 2 specific treatments that the vet prescribes probably 20 times each day and knows inside out so no time needed to check anything. If they were not making 200% profit on the treatments then none of this would be needed!! And it's not called rip off Britain for no reason. I'm actually going to get the treatments from my home country (EU) where the vet will just sell them to me for a tenth of the price.

And I work in the pharmaceutical industry but thanks for the lecture nonetheless

I may prescribe the medication 20 times a day, but for each individual pet I check their record to ensure they have been seen within the appropriate period time, I read the notes to check nothing has changed since the last prescription that may make the product contraindicated, I check the recent weight and calculate the dose rate to ensure the correct size is being prescribed. I then generate a label or written prescription. Last night I spent 2 hours doing repeat prescriptions after I had finished consulting and before I went home to my family, glad my time is so poorly valued. If you work in the pharmaceutical industry you will be aware that in veterinary pharmaceuticals their a volume discounts so on line pharmacies can buy much cheaper than individual practices. Plus the individual practice has to bear the costs of running the pharmacy over fewer sales than the on line pharmacy does.

There's no NHS for pets, we have to accept that vets will charge because it's their living. Many vets do some sessions voluntarily for a pet charity as well as having their practice.

@Lonecatwithkitten Apologies if I caused offence, it's really not my intention and not a criticism of vets in any way. But I do feel that the prices on some things are really unreasonable, this definitely being one of them. Maybe my perspective is very skewed from being foreigner and maybe more aware of when I'm being ripped off. My mum has 10 dogs and probably looks after 10 cats. If prices there were like here she wouldn't be able to do what she does. And sometimes I really struggle to understand why it has to be so much more expensive here.

Our cat for example went in for an examination because she appeared to have something stuck up her nose. We were quoted ~£600 for the treatment which would include flushing,l and x-ray and maybe labs if needed. In my mind that insane price but fair enough, labs can be expensive etc. Turns out she died after the flushing, something obviously went wrong. So no x-ray or labs, just some adrenaline shots to try to bring her back. The final cost came up to £950. I may be a bit spoiled but surely that's not reasonable??

I use an online service and buy advantage and drontal. Frontline doesn’t work on our cats even the prescription broadline one with wormer in it from the vets didn’t work and they still had fleas on them.

Forgot to say I use petdrugsonline.co.uk and got the 12 months flea and worm treatment for £36 for 12 pipettes of advantage and 4 drontal worming Tablets which is a years supply

@LaCerbiatta one of the biggest factor is the cost of staff in the UK is higher than in other areas and the massive shortage of vets and RVNs is only going to make that worse. 52% of my clinics costs are staff.