Asking vet for a prescription

No!!!!! (sorry:o )

When a vet prescribes a med for a patient the animal has to be under their care and they are responsible for them even if they don't supply the drugs.

For instance my animals are all treated with avocate, a POM product for fleas, ticks, ear mites etc and have been for some years. IMO this isn't a high risk med and until they could charge for prescriptions the vet was happy to only see the animal at least once a year and to issue a prescription for a 6 pack of advocate (6 months supply) twice a year.....they always saw the cat twice a year anyway ( she is hyperthroyid) and the rottie usually goes to the vets a few times a year for various ailments but the JRTs very rarely need a vet and they were happy to prescribe for them on one visit a year.

As soon as they could charge for prescriptions they said that they wanted to see every animal at least every three months, prescriptions would only be issued for a month at a time (£10 charge) and when in quite a heated discussion with the practice manager ( Owners wife!) not on the premises btw I asked if the same terms would apply, minus the £10 charge obviously if I bought the meds from them, she said probably not! Now if I could get proof of that I would report them like a shot (vindictive moi?:D ) but they are now my ex vets.....and that attitude has lost them a lot of custom in recent months.

Oh I see...
Can I ask my vet just to complete a prescription then? And get the meds elsewhere?

I have recently lost a cat to Kidney failure and she had hypothyroidism. I was paying £38 for 100 Felimozole (sp?) and it was £18 online. She was also taking Fortekor and was charged £28 for 28 tablets from the vets and could get them for £10.08 online.

Now, whilst i understand that vets have overheads to pay for (as do most other jobs), those kinds of mark ups (£20 difference in 1st meds and £18 in the other) is plain greedy and IMO, taking advantage on animal owners who would do anything for their pets. I wasnt told how much her meds would cost, i found out after they filled the prescriptions.

Dont get me wrong - i understand that vets work hard to get to be qualified, but i think something needs to be done about the prices. I'm not sure if pet insurance will pay for these meds, but it didnt help me. My cat was 15 when she died a few weeks ago, i had had her all her life and i am 28. When we moved out of the family home 4 years ago, she was too old to be insured, so i had to find the money.

cjsktc wrote: »

but i think something needs to be done about the prices.

what?

I posit that it would be nice to put the prices on a par with dentists or lawyers ( my dentist is £39 for 10mins and my lawyer is £45 and the private doctor I use is £45). Perhaps then I could have an income comparable with these other professions. Perhaps you could start a BBC HYS or a Daily Mail campaign on this!

You can't complete the full insurance form, at least half of it needs to be completed by the vet. Even if you fill that section in, we need to check it before we put our signature to it which takes the same amount of time. There is a new internet based insurance filing system coming on-line soon which should speed up claims and reduce the cost.