How to get a perscription from your Vet ?

Jo_Blev

Hi

Could anybody please advise if you get charged for getting a written perscription from your vet ? Ive been told by law they must give you one for free, unsure if this is true.
Our dog has repeat ear infections which are treated by the vet, however he has a repeat perscription which the vet likes to see him before perscribing each time. Im sure its just to get the visit fee and then perscribes the same medication ! In all it costs us nearly £50
Weve looked on the internet and we can get the same medication from a vet store online however he needs a perscription to dispense the medication to us for £12.99 ex p&P
Can anybody please advise the procedure ?

bijouinnuendo

Hi

You are definitely right the vet is charging you for his time.

My dog is on steroids for mouth cancer and every 4 weeks we ring on the Friday and pick up the scrip and tablets on Saturday morning. The cost £3.33. She has to see the vet every 6 months for a check up that costs £45 inc tablets.

I think your vet may be trying it on slightly!!!!! :rotfl:

Bijou

bijouinnuendo

Hi me again

Sorry to answer your question the scrip is free:rolleyes: we just pay for the tablets.

Bijou

Jo_Blev

bijouinnuendo wrote: »

Hi me again

Sorry to answer your question the scrip is free:rolleyes: we just pay for the tablets.

Bijou

Thanks for your response, So if i call the vet in the morning and ask them to do me a perscription to collect, i can then get the pharmacists over the internet to dispense the med for him ? And this should be free ?

Fleago

It would depend on how often your dog has the ear infections. Vets can only prescribe if the animal is "currently under their care" and for an animal to be under their care the vet must see it regularly.

Like bijouinnuendo's, our vet practice has to see the animal at least every six months in order to issue a prescription, but doing a google on it, I found a lot of practices who want to see the animal every three months in order to consider it under their care.

One of my gang is on a repeat prescription; when I phone to order it I only pay for the tablets. If it's the six month time, I pay for the consultation (£15) plus the tablets, no charge for writing the prescription though.

I must admit, I would never ask for my prescription to take away. The reason for this is that my vets charge very reasonable fees, listen to what I have to say, don't order superfluous tests and would pitch out at any time of the day or night if we needed them! Because of this level of service and the trust we have in them, I wouldn't take away a source of revenue from them that helps them to go on providing me with such a fabulous service.

That being said, I can understand that if a person has a vet with unreasonably high fees etc then they would want to money save if they possibly could. I know that not every one is as lucky as I am with my wonderful vets.

red_bertie

Please keep us updated. One of our local vets has told me their professional body has advised [all to do with claims] their members against doing this. Yet many of the on-line pet medicine suppliers have template prescriptions to print off. I haven't had to ask for this yet, but I would be extremely interested to hear how you get on.

RB

looby-loo_2

I too value the expertise the vet offers and as his charges are reasonable I am willing to pay. If he, as a one man independent goes bust my other choice is a consortium who charge at least twice the price and cannot often see the same vet each time.

bijouinnuendo

Hi

Must admit I assumed yours was under constant care like my dog. If it is a different ear infection each time I can sort of understand your vet wanting to see you. Must admit they are very expensive though!

My 6 monthly appointment includes blood tests and xrays so I believe we get a very good deal.

Bijou

tishywish

You are entitled to ask the vet for a prescription and he isn't supposed to charge for that. It's reasonable for them to insist that your animal is seen regularly - mine says every 3 months - but they have to give you the option of getting the drugs on prescription yourself. I did this for my horse as her drugs from the vet would have been £300+ per month - they worked out under £20 per month for generic drugs from the chemist so a bit of a difference

I think this link might help explain

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/products.asp?dept=174

You can get some drugs from high street chemists as well - my local one ordered mine in for me with no hassles.

Jo_Blev

Hi All

Just to let you know how we have got on, firstly my dog is under constant care by the vet and insured. It isnt as though we were trying to avoid him beng treated by the vet. I was just looking at a way of not having to pay the consultation fee for the vet to look and say " he needs a perscription for otomax eardrops again ! " ching ching !!!!

Anyway Robbie has been to the vets this morning and we were told same problem - ear canker !! probably from all the swimming he does. The vet has agreed its the same treatment and we have paid the normal consultation fee along with the ear drops.

We discussed with the vet about a perscription only in future when we ring up. even though the vet doesnt agree with it ( i suppose it takes business away ) As long as an animal is treated every six months they should write a perscription that is free of charge to enable you to order the item either from your local pharmacy or over the net.

Ive just ordered him some spare ear drops to keep in as they have a year lifespan ( we need them every 6 weeks ) and believe it or not they were just over £6, yet weve just paid the vet nearly £50 to be seen and drops.

Hope this helps for future reference.

Fleago

Ah, I can see where you're coming from wanting to buy online now, Jo. If we had a situation such as you're describing, I know our vets would give a repeat without needing to see the dog any more than every six months.

Interestingly enough, to show you how good ours are, I once priced up wormers online as a matter of interest and our vets were actually as cheap!