1-800- petmeds... not necessarily cheaper.

[Papa Deuce]

You know how they always claim to be cheaper than a vet? Well, I just took my dog to the vet, and she needs 3 medicines.... I bought them at the vet, but when I got home I decided to check 1-800 petmeds...

The cost of the 3 medicines was a total of $7 LESS than Petmeds... and that was even before shipping costs ( if there even was shipping costs, which I don't know )....

Granted, I imagine that either way could be cheaper on any given medicine, but now that I checked, I won't be going back to PetMeds.

For a company that claims to be cheaper, I sure didn't see it.

 

[chisnpeke]

Everytime I have compared the price on 1-800 Petmeds to what we pay at the vet it isn't any cheaper. I'm sure it is for some things though, just not what we buy.

 

[npmommie]

we use Dr. Foster Smith, its always been cheaper for me for any med we have needed for our dogs.
check them out.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

also an fyi, if your pet needs a med like prednisone for instance, a lot of times filling it at cvs is cheaper than the vet.

 

[Papa Deuce]

we use Dr. Foster Smith, its always been cheaper for me for any med we have needed for our dogs.
check them out.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

also an fyi, if your pet needs a med like prednisone for instance, a lot of times filling it at cvs is cheaper than the vet.

You can do that? That was one of the meds we needed!

 

[npmommie]

You can do that? That was one of the meds we needed!

Yes, any pharmacy will fill a script written by a vet.

my dogs pills were labeled for "Dog Bailey" LOL

 

[rgf207]

The vet has always been $1 or $2 more expensive except for Frontline. They are cheaper than 1-800 Pet Meds for that.

 

[Jockaroo]

I am not saying that this pertains to 1-800-petmeds, but I do know that some of the online pet pharmacies get their medications from questionable sources. Some of the heartworm preventative companies stand by their product to the point that if your dog tests negative (blood test) at the vet and then contracts heartworm while on the vet-prescribed preventative, that the company will pay the costs of treatment. The company voids this if the preventative was purchased from an online site. I'm sure there are some owner compliance factors that must be met as well.

To keep costs down, the medications are often sent in from foreign countries, may be at or past expiration dates, and may have been stored inappropriately during some of the shipping. When my dog was seriously sick and on many medications, I did check into the online pet pharmacies and I didn't like what I found in my research. I also found that my family vet's office was very competitive in the prices. I choose to support my vet's practice. Now, that said, when my dog was seeing the specialists at the vet hospital, I found the medications were way more expensive at that facility, so I went back to my family vet for my girl's prescriptions.

Occasionally, I have had prescriptions filled at local pharmacies. Like another poster, my prescriptions read "dog's name, canine". Target and Walgreens offer some plans for families getting pet prescriptions. Medicap will compound medications to the correct strength for your dog's weight. Hope your pooch gets well soon. Prednisone is some nasty mojo though; be prepared for the side effects. Your dog may eat and drink to the extreme and, of course, need to urinate quite frequently.