Or do pet medication require prescriptions or some equivalent from a professionals?
[Just curious. Question occurred to me reading another thread somewhere about a cat with an injured claw.]
If it’s a drug also used by people, you need a Rx. I think the same is true for most drugs that are only for animals.
How would you really know what you needed for your pet unless you went to a veterinarian? :dubious:
Yes, most medications for pets require a prescription by a veterinarian. Veterinarians can prescribe “human” drugs, within certain guidelines (mostly, if there is not an equivalent, animal-tested brand drug available).
There are some human “over the counter” medications that can be used without a prescription, but it is safest if the person first consult a veterinarian to make sure they’re giving the animal the right dose. The “right” dose for a human may not be what the dog or cat needs. In fact, some perfectly safe for humans medications are NOT safe at all in pets, and are the cause of poisonings and/or death.
There are also feed stores, which tend to sell products for lage animals (livestock and horses). Some sell bulk dewormers and preventive medicine that could be used in small animals. Again, the dosages between the different species of animals will vary, and if someone gets a dewormer from a feed store, they should double check they are giving their dog or cat the right amount.
Lastly, these feedstores may also sell vaccines. AVOID! If vaccinating the pet is expensive, many places offer a “vaccination only” clinic every few months. But please, do not depend on vaccines from the feed store.
I use Revolution on my cats. It is an anti-fungal and anti-parasite contact medication which is absorbed through the skin. It is by prescription only in the US. Your vet can call in the prescription to any source from which you want to buy it. However, there is a firm in Australia, PetSmart, that will sell it w/o a Rx. It has a distribution center in Virginia (IIRC) but is still able to sell without a Rx.
I get most drugs from my vet and most of them are the same drugs people use. Antibiotics, steroids, etc.
A few times the vet did not have the drug my dog needed so they called it in to the local pharmacy.
No, no. She means what if she knows what prescription she needs for herself (or another human), and that drug is also used for animals…does she need a prescription to get it? Or can she walk into the feed store and get a few grams of, say, Augmentin w/o a scrip?
For what it’s worth, which is absolutely nothing, one of my favorite books as a kid was a field manual for just this sort of thing my folks had. In the 70’s, you could indeed buy a bunch of veterinary drugs without a prescription, and self medicate to your heart’s content. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that they’ve tightened that up a lot in the last 40 years.
One of my co-workers bought antibiotics from an animal website without a prescription. He had dental work and thought that he had an infection. The dentist disagreed and wouldn’t give him a scrip. I’ll get the details tomorrow.
Found it myself.
Amoxicillin for pets can be bought without a scrip.
That same website has all sorts of pet meds available. They don’t seem to require a prescription for any of them but I haven’t done an exhaustive search. I buy my dog’s flea medication there for significantly cheaper than from the vet. One time I ordered them over the phone and they read me some statement about how it’s recommended to talk to a vet first or some shit. I wonder if that was a legal requirement.
Is it breaking the law, or is it technically over the counter but no other pharmacy will sell it OTC because they are afraid of lawsuits/druggies/etc.? Afaik you can get legally get codeine cough syrup OTC in Virginia, but good luck finding a pharmacist to actually agree to sell you some.
Am I being wooshed? The OP isn’t saying this.
And KarlGrenze, sometimes it’s fairly clear what medication your pet needs. For instance, one of my cats had tape worms. Easy to diagnose. It would be nice to get easy to dose wormer OTC. Or, for instance, my lab gets nasty ear infections. They’re always yeast/fungal and always require Mometamax. I’ve changed vets several times when they won’t issue a script without charging a fee for a vet visit when the issue is all over the dog’s chart-twice a year, without fail.
Many states have requirements where a prescription cannot be issued if the patient has not been seen in a year. This may be why they refuse to write the script without seeing the animal beforehand.
Nope, you’re not being whooshed; I had a reading comprehension fail. Sorry about that, truly.
http://m.1800petmeds.com/mt/http://www.1800petmeds.com/Mometamax-prod10821.html
Buy it here. Why do you need a scrip?
Every vet where this was an issue saw the dog at least once a year for a checkup, and at least once that same year for other stuff-usually at least one other ear infection. I understand requiring a prescription for some things, but I’m unaware of Mometamax being crazy dangerous. I guess it’s because of the gentamicin. I also don’t see the harm in having a good dewormer available OTC for cats. Yes, anybody can misdiagnose an issue, but if people are actually buying these medications, my assumption would be that they generally aren’t the types to completely forego a vet visit if the symptoms aren’t taken care of by the purchased meds. This is, of course, limited to medications for obvious, non life-threatening conditions.
Thanks haj. I swear I looked online before and the reputable places required a prescription. Either I missed that one wasn’t required there or things have changed in the past year. Hooray!! Free at last, free at last!
Important point: animals have different metabolisms than we do, so check dosing carefully. I’ve seen some places on the net with data, but be careful.
My breeder told me a long time ago that you can get amoxicillin from the FISH department of on-line vet shops. Never checked on that, though.
When I order through 1 800 Petmeds, they contact my vet for permission before sending me the drug, and sometimes the vet won’t allow it if my dog is late to his yearly checkup. It’s Sentinel and not something I’d use on myself.
However, my dog did get a prescription for an anti-anxiety drug, based solely on my word that he suffers from separation anxiety (he really does). And I do take one occasionally. He’s currently on another anti-anxiety drug but I can have both refilled at least one more time each without seeing the vet.
You still need a prescription. They’ll call for you to get it over the phone, but if the vet isn’t willing to give it to you without seeing the dog, they probably won’t give it to 1-800-Pet-Meds, either.
Marginally related:
If you do use a Website retailer for pet meds, ask your Vet what the reputable retailers are. Many quality medications are not sold to discount web sites. Unethical sites sell fake placebo meds.
slight tangent, but you will have no luck getting Sentinel no matter what. It’s out of production due to some factory production issues the manufacturer had. Has been off the market for a number of months now. I just switched my dog to Trifexis. Little more costly, but worth it to me.