OT : Cheapest place to get Veterinary Prescriptions filled.

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

Anyone know of some good stores that sell Veterinary Prescription medicine , CHEAP!??

Took my German Shorthair to the Vet yesterday thinking it would cost about $100.00. Ended up being $192.00 and some change.

The office visit was Ok: $33.40
Distemper DHLPP $15.00
Rabies (3 -year) $12.00
Gastro parasite exam: 13.13
Ear swab/Gram Stain $20.04 :rolleyes: :eek: :eek: (all he did was stick a q-tip in his (the dog's:D ) ear and look at it under a microscope. I could have done that.:rolleyes:

DVMax 20 mg $22.30

Malacetic Otic $18.44 ( Found out it was half the price in a store.)

Advantix (55-100 LBS) $16.00 for 1 tube.


Cephalexin 500 mg $12.66 for 42 tablets

Hydroxyzine HCL 50mg Tab $30.00 for 30 pills

Total price came to $192.97!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I realize that buying an antibiotic or some anti itch steriod online might not be the way to got because I would have to wait a few days for the pills to come in the mail , when the dog would need the medicine now, not a week from now. But there has to be a less expensive place to buy these medicines. Pharmacy, maybe???:confused:

Thanks,

[Lee DeRaud]

Haven't used them, but I've seen this place advertised:
http://www.1800petmeds.com/
Don't know how great their prices are, but my vet has been lowering his prices lately...might be the competition.

[Ken Garlock]

Bob, check out BCP Vet Pharmacy (http://www.bcpvetpharm.com/). We have been using them for around 4 years to buy insulin for our 17 year old cat. Their prices are 1/3 the price the vet in Plano wanted. Our new vet in McKinney recommended BCP. I just call their 800 number and give them a prescription number, and it arrives the next day.

[Doug Shepard]

I finally went back to my vet Friday to get more Frontline because I was out and couldn't wait. But about a month ago I was web-surfing trying to find the best online prices. I don't have an answer for you yet but I intend to start buying some of the non-emergency type stuff online. But I did notice that a LOT of the google hits I looked were offshore - lot's of Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian companies. And it wasn't always apparent - prices listed in USD without having to click on a location box. The prices were definitely much better, but I'm not sure after paying the shipping how it would have compared. Plus there's the fine print about certain states not allowing shipments of certain drugs, yada, yada, yada. Some of the sites had FAQ sections claiming that pet meds were automatically higher priced in the US just because the market would bear it, and that's why they were so much cheaper. There might be some real savings out there on certain drugs but not without researching closely. I didn't find the website prices for US outfits to be all that different than my vet's prices so I'm still looking.

[Dave Lehnert]

I am sure they don't have everything but have a friend who gets one of his dogs at the drug store just like us humans do. If I remember right it is like 1/3 the cost. Never hurts to ask and see what they say.

[Larry Klaaren]

In the pharmaceutical world there is usually a reason for cheap.

If you can find prescription grade veterinary drugs cheaper than your vet can provide them, that's good. Most vets are aware of internet pricing and can provide you drugs that are guaranteed to be have been stored properly, not relabeled to extend the expiration date, and not counterfeit, for close to the same price. Ours are very close to the price you'll get on the internet for the same drug, same concentrations, at prescription quality.

Some folks buy drugs that have to be refrigerated to keep their potency, and then they are shipped out and sit in a mailbox or on a porch in eighty degree weather until they get home from work.

I believe it was DateLine that did a show on counterfeit drugs last week. It is a big problem. They had a woman on that show who sells millions of fake Viagra pills out of China every week to Americans, who mostly resell through mail order firms. The pills were gypsum and cement powder. She was producing fake Lipitor, Cialas, and several other drugs.

I know people that wouldn't dare buy tools on the internet, but do buy pharmaceuticals that their life, or their pets life, depends on online.

It's very competitive in the veterinary pharmaceutical world. If one retailer is quite a bit cheaper than others, I would have to wonder about that.

Yes, you can ask your vet to write a prescription and go to CVS or Walgreens or another pharmacy in most states.

Just for what it is worth . . .

Larry

[tod evans]

plain-n-simple i trust my vet. my ol` dogs lifes are in his hands so i go with what he says...02 tod

[Jim O'Dell]

Bob, the other posts are good ones. Specifically on the Hydroxyzine HCL 50mg Tab $30.00 for 30 pills, we used to give that to our first show dog. It's a pretty powerful antihistasmine. The dog we used it on had seizures about every 8 weeks. He had bad allergies. Keeping them in check helped him be seizure free for about 8 years. We had to get them from the local pharmacy and they were't cheap. We finally moved him over to Benedryl.
Is your dog a little groggy on them? We finally did some research and found out that some Asylums us it to keep the patients manageable!! My wife took one one day by accident...It was three days before she could fully function again! :eek:
Our vets will write us a prescription normally. I think we use Omaha Vaccine some, and another place I can't remember. Jim.

[Larry Klaaren]

I should have mentioned that those counterfeit medicines had some active drug, but they were not efficacious to standards and had some wierd filler substances. Pharmacists could not tell them from the real product by their appearance or by the packaging.