Does your vet charge you extra fees on top of the prescription charge?

DINGDONG

My vet has just increased its prescription price from £9 to £18 ! I buy flea treatments for my two cats from online suppliers because it's still cheaper than buying it from my vet! They won't give me a prescription if they haven't seen my cats within a year , so I time requesting prescriptions with when my cats have their annual booster injections. If the vets prices were closer to the online suppliers I would happily buy from them but they are actually double at my vets! What concerns me is that people can't afford the prices & have no choice but to stop buying such items as flea treatments. I am a pensioner & it is expensive to look after my cats. It's no wonder that animals are abandoned because owners cannot afford to look after them properly.

teddysmum

Our vets work under what they refer to as Cascade rules and when I had a dog on regular heart meds he had to be seen every three months, when a prescription was given (in the days when prescriptions were free.).


Our current dog needed allergy tablets and was seen less often than 3 months (once a year at MOT time)as the vet was kind enough to prescribe 3 months of the medication at full dose, when in fact we were down to one a week. This covered him, as should there be a flare up a return to daily dosing would be required.


I notice nowadays that a prescription is over £20 for the first (having rapidly gone up from an original £5), with subsequent ones being about £15, but luckily we gave up on the meds which began to cause sickness, thus making them a waste of time.


A nearer newer practice was charging only £8.50 (last year anyway),but they are taking no new clients.

sheramber

Vets have to keep a supply of medicines that will still be in date when they sell them. So they cannot buy in bulk as online suppliers do.

Just like the corner shop cannot bulk buy as a supermarket can so cannot charge the prices a supermarket does.

Vets also have to train for years to be competent to prescribe the appropriate medicine. taking into consideration the species of animal- some medicines are dangerous for different species or contra indicated for other medicines the animal may be taking.

Your vet has to maintain a fully equipped surgery with trained staff who need to do regular update training. He has to pay wags, National,Insurance, council tax, electricity, insurance, renew equipment and maintain existing equipment.

Who do you think pays for all that?

There is no NHS for animals and a vet is not a charity. It is a business .

Some vets do have schemes to cover vaccinations and routine flea and worming treatments at a low cost.

But the cost of keeping an animal for the rest of its life should be considered before taking on a pet.

I appreciate the expertise that my vet has to deal with my pet's health and realise I have to pay for that., just as I have to pay a plumber or the car mechanic for their expertise.

wilsonpa

My vet charges 33p per tablet for Prednidale 5mg. Cost online is 7p per tablet. What a rip off.

sheramber

Tesco charge 80p for Elmlea

My corner shop charges £1.30

Same principle. The vet cannot buy in quantity as the online supplier can so does not get the benefit if bulk discounts.
The ver is restricted by regulations as to who he can buy from.

He has to make sure the medicine he stocks remains in date until it is sold. He has a much smaller turnover than an online pharmacy so cannot buy in the same quantity.

Your vet is a business. not a charity for pet owners.

Merlin's_Beard

sheramber wrote: »

Tesco charge 80p for Elmlea

My corner shop charges £1.30

Same principle. The vet cannot buy in quantity as the online supplier can so does not get the benefit if bulk discounts.
The ver is restricted by regulations as to who he can buy from.

He has to make sure the medicine he stocks remains in date until it is sold. He has a much smaller turnover than an online pharmacy so cannot buy in the same quantity.

Your vet is a business. not a charity for pet owners.

To add to that, online pharmacy doesn't have to make sure that there's anyone at reception to give advice on the medication including safe handling (for Prednicare - no bare handed handling by pregnant women), which dogs cannot have it (diabetics!!), and appropriate dosing, because that's all been dealt with by the veterinary practice issuing the written prescription and the online pharmacy bears no responsibility to employ anyone to provide that. Things like the time taken for telephone advice from RVNs and MRCVSs and the cost of that also have to be paid for somewhere (never heard of anyone ringing an online pharmacy about side effects!), and the online pharmacy doesn't have to waste money heating and lighting and paying mortgage/rent on reception space...

As with anything else in the world, there's a myriad of different costs between buying materials online and paying for a service in person. That's why you can get e.g. a free workout online but would be expected to pay if you went to a class where an instructor could give individual help, and choosing your own tyres online and getting them delivered is cheaper than showing up at a mechanics and saying "what does it need?"

So there's not only the difference between big company vs small company as sheramber said, but also the difference between qualified vs nonqualified and free additional support if needed...