Does anyone here have advice regarding buying pet meds online?

[demmiblue]

My pup is currently taking Rimadyl, but the cost via the vet is becoming quite prohibitive. The vet did recently discuss the generic... much better, but still a wee bit of a hardship.

I have scanned some of the pet med sites for the generic version (carprofen), and the savings are pretty significant.

What are your thoughts and/or experiences with purchasing meds online?

TIA!

[Purveyor]

1. I've used Doctors Foster and Smith and save a lot of money when I was treating my Lab for

Cushing disease. Very easy to work with too.

http://www.DrsFosterSmith.com

[demmiblue]

4. Thanks for the input.

That was one of the sites I was considering.

[hollysmom]

2. Oh, I do have several suggestions here -

My dog was on it and the vet wanted 100 a month - since she ended up on it for 7 years, I was looking for ways to cut cost. I found Dogrx or something, forget now and had the v et write a perscription for double the amount for 90 days and then cut the pills in half and they lasted 180 days. It was less than $15 a month when all done. 4

And don't forget the liver tests for the dog each year, those pills do a number on some dogs. My dog died of heart failure at 17 after being on it for 7 years, but, if not for rimadyl, I would have had to put her to sleep, she was in such pain.

[demmiblue]

5. As far as I know, I will just order the med and the company will contact my vet.

I think the prescription is on file, I am guessing.

That is a good reminder RE: the liver fx tests. My vet didn't do bloodwork before giving her the med, but she had a complete work-up prior to a recent surgery (cancer). She is an old gal, hopefully I will have her for a little while longer.

Thank you!

[hollysmom]

8. you can still ask your vet to double the dose

Honestly the different sizes cost the same so you half the cost that way.

[demmiblue]

11. I am not sure what you mean about doubling the dose.

She is prescribed 100 mg divided twice per day (100 mg is the highest dose available). I currently only give her 50 mg once a day.

[hollysmom]

12. oh, you must have a large dog

mine had 50 mg once a day, so I had the vet write the prescription for 100 MG and gave her half a pill a day.

the 100 mg and 50 mg pills were only a few dollars different so I got almost twice as much for the cost.

My dog was 70 pounds, yours must be much larger. .

[demmiblue]

14. My pup gets 50 mg per day, but I can give her another 50 mg depending on her pain level.

She is prescribed the 100 mg pill in divided dosage (50 mg every 12 hours).

She is 55 lbs.

* sorry for the loss of your friend.

[LiberalEsto]

3. I bought flea meds for my dogs online

at CanadaVet.com. Saved a lot of money.

Last year I switched to Vectra, which is available only from veterinarians.

[demmiblue]

6. Thanks for responding... I will look into that supplier.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I have not bought online drugs, but I have some thoughts.

I do worry about where the drugs are produced when they are bought online, so I would go with a trusted site, and I would probably ask about where their drugs are manufactured.

I don't know what the drug you need is for, but I have worked with my vet a few times to use the people pharmacies where they have free or discounted drugs. I have a cat who is on steroids, and we found a drug store with $4 prednisole.

I hope that you find a cheaper way to get the drugs, and that your dog lives a long and painfree life.

[hollysmom]

9. I can't worry where the animal drugs are made since I am worrying where my drugs are made

2 are from China and one is from Vietnam. apparently all drug companies are moving manufacturing to nations with below standard living wages and still charging the same huge fees.

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Well, shit.

That scares the hell out of me, since I do not trust the quality standards in these countries. And it also pisses me off, because, like you said, they are still charging the same prices, even while they compromise quality and kill good jobs in this country.

[demmiblue]

13. Thanks Curmudgeoness, that is what my main concern was.

After perusing some of the more popular sites, I feel more confident in ordering online.

I also use people supplements for my dog: glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM... much cheaper!

Thank you!

[Stinky The Clown]

15. We're going to be gertting involved in it, I expect. Our oldest just went on Rimadyl.

I bought 30 pills today and it cost me $50. I take a fistfull of pills everyday and they cost less than that!

For what its worth, we were going to buy Heartguard from PetMeds. They seemed as if they were going to be cheaper than from the vet. But the vet gives us a free dose for every six we buy (3 dogs x 12 doses = 36 doses = 6 free. That's half a year for one dog! The free stuff is her bonus for having her do the annual blood tests. Add to *that* she will waive one year's test of the dogs are on the med year-round and it is actually cheaper to buy from her than online!

The Rimadyl also has the need for a yearly blood test, but she offers no discount on the pills, so it is a pure matter of cost. Whichever is cheaper is where we go. And we'll probably use the generic stuff.

[union_maid]

16. We buy colchicine from Canada online

We need colchicine for one of our shar pei, as a maintenance drug, and changes in its status here made it go from easy to afford to unaffordable in one easy step. Now we get it from an online pharmacy in Canada now for less than what we were paying here before the change. It's been fine. We have to make sure we order well ahead, but I don't think that applies nearly as much if you're ordering from an online site here in the US.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Who is the Canadian pharmacy you're using?

[union_maid]

18. PharmacyRXworld.com, so far

The site we've been using is http://www.pharmacyrxworld.com/ but we were going to try another one next time. A woman at work switched and liked it better and found the prices better. She has to get something very expensive for a Great Dane with, I think, Cushings. I don't have the name or URL right now. I won't be able to get in touch with her until Friday, at least. I'll post as soon as I can find out. There are quite a few of them.

[douglas9]

19. Diamondback Drugs

Prescriptions and compounding.

Best Prices and fast.

http://www.diamondbackdrugs.com/