We recently had one of our older dogs seen by our vet, and wound up trying a couple of types of pain meds for him (generic rimadyl and tramadol) and it really seems to have helped him. He’s a 14 YO lab and doing OK for his age, but the meds seem to have given him a bit of a new lease on life, and we want to let him keep taking them as long as he can tolerate them, or until he moves on to the big squirrel park in the sky.
The problem is cost. These drugs are expensive through pretty much any of our local vets (tried a few), and while I support these businesses for examinations and such, I just cannot justify paying the nearly double cost of these medicines vs. online suppliers like Foster & Smith. If this were a one-off, I probably wouldn’t mind so much, but the dog may need these for some time to come, and I just don’t have the resources to pay the full markup that the vet places seem to need to run their businesses.
So - anyone here have any experience with online suppliers of vet RX meds? Recommendations?
Anyone ever use any Canadian suppliers? (I’m in the US) I understand they can be quite a bit cheaper than US suppliers for human meds, but don’t know anything about the quality of their medications.
How does one convert to an online supplier, anyway? I’ve never done it, so I’m pleading ignorance here. The dog was just recently examined and has a single prescription that we can refill through the vet. I can’t believe they’d just rewrite a script for another supplier when it is in their financial interest to force me to pay their markup.
Any advice/suggestions/“your stories” are really appreciated here folks.
I have used KV Pet Supplyfor Rimadyl in the past. $79.99 for 180, 75mg generics.
There should be an international online pet pharmacy that could help you, but I’m unable to find it. Unfortunately, pets.megastore.au doesn’t carry rimadyl/novox.
How it worked with my vet was that the pharmacy would call/fax the vet, and ask the vet to fax over their prescription. No different than your doctor faxing your particulars to Walgreen’s, etc… If your vet won’t do that—mine was happy to—it might be time to look for another vet, IMHO.
Fosters and Smith are great, IME; it was just that KV was slightly cheaper. Think I ended up going with Fosters & Smith for Comfortis anyway.
The veterinarian shouldn’t have a problem providing the scrip to whatever pharmacy you want to get the meds from. Often, the veterinarian just doesn’t offer it as a first choice, preferring to have the meds filled at his/her hospital since they do make some money on it, but as soon as you request a written scrip, they’ll give you one no problem. It’s usually easiest to have the pharmacy contact the doctor’s office.
tramadol was much cheaper from my vet than I could find it for online. You might check with other local vets as to what they charge.
My local vet had a substantial fee ($16.50) to send out a script. It was still worth it for Rimadyl, which I got from: http://www.petmedsnmore.com
For other pet supplies I have used:
Thanks for the replies so far, folks!
I really like the vet and our dealings with them have been positive, generally speaking. I wish they had the ability to move on price regarding meds, but I assume they either are boxed in by (low) volume, or just don’t want to get into price wars with other suppliers.
Never heard of a fee to send out a scrip, PastTense - I will ask if they do this when I talk to them later this week.
My primary concern at the moment is to have a prescription that is good over time, as the doggie in all likelihood doesn’t have a whole lot of time left anyway. He was just examined, as I mentioned - Diagnosis: old.
We just want him to be as comfortable as possible in the time he does have left, at as reasonable a cost as possible.
I haven’t needed medication for my pets, but I’ve used Foster and Smith to order Heartgard heartworm preventative for my dogs. It runs about $75 for a 12 month supply (for a 75 lb. dog) vs. $95 from my vet. The vet has no problem providing a prescription to Foster and Smith, doesn’t even charge me.
Smarkpakequine.com (click “Dog” off the main banner) has a compunding pharmacy and usually, really good prices. They will also pack it in doses in airtight packaging, deliver on a set schedule, etc.
I used to use them for my horse and they are a wonderful company to do business with.
I’ve been using Canadavet.com for my dogs’ Revolution. Never had to send them an Rx, but for all I know, it’s OTC up there. I do get annual heartworm tests from my vet.
I have no worries about the quality of the stuff, but this specific product takes a ridiculous path to get to me. It’s made in the US, packaged for sale in Australia, bought from a Canadian company and shipped from New Zealand back to me in the US.
When I had a tramadol scrip for one of my dogs, I was able to get it filled at Harris Teeter pharmacy for $4.98. Harris Teeter is a grocery chain in my area. When I tried to get the same Rx filled at CVS is was going to be over $40.
Just be sure the pharmacy you use is VIPPS certified. Since Tramadol is a human drug, you can sometimes find it super cheap if you shop around. If you aren’t insisting on having the chewable Rimadyl tablet, you can get carprofen tablets, probably cheap as well.