Advocate for cats

JodyBPM

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Have you asked the vet why?? Just because you don't understand doesn't mean you should immediately decide to complain to their professional body, TBH if you think that your vet will put profit above your pets' safety and comfort you need a new vet. As stated it *might* be down to ensuring people are not sharing prescription drugs or ensuring the pet is health checked regularly - for example weight changes affect the correct dose, doubly important if you will be dosing every three weeks - which is ethical practice.

I didn't ask the vet why, I was trying to do the mental arithmetic and work out if it was cheaper to pay prescription charges and get online or whether it was cheaper to just buy from them, so I was pre-occupied. I did ask if I could have a six month prescription, and was outright refused. When I asked about prescriptions, her first sentence was "It won't work out any cheaper because..." so I think its a deliberate policy tbh. I've been happy with my vet in all other ways, but interestingly I saw a different one today to the one I normally see at that practice, and I definitely found her more abrupt and less easy to deal with than the normal one. I think I might talk to my normal vet about the issue next time I'm in for a routine visit, as I think he would be a bit more reasonable, and I'm certainly more comfortable speaking to him as his manner is much more friendly and approachable.

If you have a major flea infestation get the professionals in to fumigate the house - reputable ones offer a guarantee so you will only have to pay once (I once had a house treated three times). You may well find this is cheaper and healthier for all concerned than extra doses of flea treatment and spraying the house yourself repeatedly.

We already have. £70 from the council (which I thought was a lot of money until I rang Rentokill who quoted me £215!), and as you say its a guaranteed service, so they will come back if not all gone in a fortnight. But obviously we need to treat the cats as well as just the house...

krlyr

The RCVS would be the regulatory body for vets. There was an order made in 2005 regarding prescription charges, vets can charge a reasonable fee but there is a term regarding to excessive fees

http://www.rcvs.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=90005&int1stParentNodeID=89643
"Implicit in this guidance, is that veterinary surgeons should not make unreasonable
charges for written prescriptions that could be regarded as a deterrent by clients who
might otherwise ask for a prescription."

Sorry, I can't get a direct link for the PDF - Google only copies their long link and the one RCVS listed is broken. Google "RCVS prescription charges" and it's one of the top result. Or see if this one works - http://www.rcvs.org.uk/document-library/an15-prescription-charges/Advicenote15.pdf

There is no set period they have to issue a prescription for but it seems they are only offering to prescribe as much as they are willing to sell you direct, so I'm not sure you would be able to argue that. The RCVS's stance on how frequently the animal should be seen is that it's up to the vet to decide. From the above PDF - "What amounts to 'recent enough' must be a matter for the professional judgement
of the veterinary surgeon in the individual case."