£47 for pack of 28 Pepcid Tablets At Vets!!!

mleonard79

Hi Everyone,

I wasn't sure where to put this so I decided to put it on this board. My friend has a cat that takes Pepcid tablets 20mg (quarter tablet a day). The cat has been quite unwell so she is been being treated by the Vet Hospital here as opposed to out regular vets. My friend was running out of tablets this week and the next appt at the hospital isn't for a few weeks so instead of going out there which is quite a trek she decided just to go to our regular vets for the tablets. When she arrived to collect them, though, she was flabbergasted at the fact the 28 tablets they were giving her cost over £47.00(it works out at approx. £1.70 a tablet!!!) She's never noticed what they charged her at the Hospital before so she was quite taken aback. She thought this price was excessive and unbelievable and queried it with them. The assistant was quite rude and acted as if it was strange for her to be querying this - To be honest I would have queried it too and would have found it strange if someone didn't query such a large amount for a few tablets! I was just wondering, out of curiosity, if anyone else has a cat that takes these tablets and what they get charged?? Thanks.

Regards

Michelle

Ian_W

Hi Michelle,
One of our dogs has an itchy, scratchy type allergy which when it gets bad requires regular shampooing with a specialist shampoo called Epi-sooth. Our vet, and in fact, other local vets all charge £12+ per bottle for it so I did an internet search and came up with this website where it's sold for £8-odd a bottle.
https://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21

They are vets in their own right and the link I've pasted relates to vet prescription only medicines [which Epi-sooth isn't]. Seems you're entitled to a vet prescription free of charge and you need to send it to them if they sell the tabs cheaper than your own vet. I did a search for Pepsid but there is no trace - if it has another generic or manufacturers name you may find it is cheaper from them.

mleonard79

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your reply. I should've said in my first post I have a cat that needs 2 different types of tablets and I actually get both of them from VetUk myself too - great minds eh?! I'd already checked the site to see if they sell it and I've already emailed Iain at VetUk to ask him how much he charges for pepsid as like you I find him to be the cheapest and best of the online vets. If something isn't listed on the VetUK site that doesn't necessarily mean they don't have it - he's already added some things on to the site for me before. I was just stunned when my friend had told me about it and wondered if anyone on here had had to buy it as I've never known a pack of pills to cost nearly £50 for a cat before! It's strange as all the pepsid is is basically an antacid as far as I'm aware. I was also stunned at the fact the assistant found it rude that my friend was questioning such a high price! As far as prescriptions are concerned vets are legally obliged to give you a prescription free of charge until October 2008 when it'll be reviews again. I'll let you know what Iain comes back with.

Regards

Michelle

mleonard79

Well I've just checked my email and I've had an email from VetUk saying that they can't dispense Pepcid at the moment as it's a human drug so that appears to be a dead end. I didn't realise it was a human drug as such although my cat also gets aspirin so I know cats can get human drugs on ocassion. Any ideas on how or where she might get it cheaper - I just feel nearly £50 for a pack of tablets is daylight robbery. Thanks for any help.

Regards

Michelle

zzzLazyDaisy

Is it worth checking the ingredients / dosage per tablet against the human version?

I did a search for pepcidtwo and came up with 12 tabs for £3.49!

Becles

Check the human version active ingredients and if they are the same, you can use them.

My dog has a bit of arthritis in her back legs, but rather than pay for expensive vet drugs, the vet told us to give her human cod liver oil tablets instead. Much cheaper!

Clive_Woody

Becles wrote:

Check the human version active ingredients and if they are the same, you can use them.

I would advise a note of caution, while the dose of active ingredient may be the same, the formulation of the tablet may be different for the animal product to allow for the different physiology of human and various animals. The result of this may be that if you give your pet the human version it receives too high or too low a dose of the medication with undesired effects.

While I would not for one minute defend the ridiculous prices charged by vets, I would be cautious about giving a loved pet medication intended for human use. Think of it the other way around, would you consider taking a drug intended for animal use.

myrnahaz

Not all vets are like the OP's. My dog needed artificial tears but the vet said that it would be cheaper if i bought 'human' artificial tears from the chemist. Bizzarrely, it was the CHEMIST who queried my request (even though I told her that the vet had told me to use them) and said that I had to sign a disclaimer in case anything went wrong as a result of giving human medication to a dog. I have to add that my ancient mutt now has lovely watery eyes - with no side effects.

mleonard79

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks £50 for a box of tablets is worth questioning! The cat has been ill with cancer so I would be wary of advising my friend just to get the human version in case the formulation of the tablets is different as Clive points out it could be. On the other hand I really expected VetUk to be able to get it for me as everything else I've ever asked for they've been able to get so when they said they can't sell it as it's a human tablet I'm not sure what to think.

At the end of the day if my friend has to keep paying the high price she will as the cat's wefare is by far the most important thing but I just find it a shocking price for a few tablets and was hoping to find somewhere else she could get them. Do any of you use other online vets that I could enquire with? It's maybe worth a shot. Thanks for any help.

Regards

Michelle

Voyager2002

Surely, for 47 pounds she could buy a new cat.

mleonard79

Voyager2002 wrote:

Surely, for 47 pounds she could buy a new cat.

If a person has nothing constructive to add to a discussion it is preferable if they refrain from posting in it. As for the statement you have posted itself I refuse to waste my time dignifying such a repugnant comment with a proper response. It costs nothing to respect another person's views on the worth of pets even if you do not share them.