Online Pet Meds: Good Choice or Bad Decision
A few days back I posted an article, Leashing In Those Huge Vet Bills, which had tips on ways to save money on the medical costs associated with keeping our pets healthy. While most of the comments were regarding the pros and cons of pet insurance, I received a comment on ordering pet medications online that I thought deserved a special posting. The following is the message I received:
Bad Dogster, Bad!
What am I talking about? The recent Blog entry about “Leashing In Vet Bills”, one suggestion was to go online to get medications. SHAME! I work for a vet (and a life long friend) and we are trying to combat this because those places (1-800-Pet-Meds especially) are DANGEROUS! They are unregulated and no one really checks to see if your pet needs to be on “that” medicine for long-term or short-term.
We are dealing with a case now that a vet, different from the one I work for, prescribed a medicine for 10 DAYS, the owner thought “well, since it’s helping Fluffy I’m going to get it thru one of the on-line places”, and didn’t inform us of this, she came to us with “Fluffy” several months later complaining that “Fluffy”was getting worse. “Fluffy” died! Why? It was because of the meds! They did more harm than good and NOBODY AT THE ON-LINE PLACE CHECKED TO SEE IF SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THEM!!!!!!
Now, not only are we dealing with “Fluffy’s” owner’s grief, but the anger at the companies that are not regulated. NEVER, NEVER tell anyone to get their meds from an on-line place, and yes, even the flea & tick products are not safe! Yes, they may say “NAME BRAND, WELL KNOWN”, but they are usually old, out of date (which is covered up), not inventoried by the vet system so they too are not regulated!
I feel everyone needs to know about this and they need to get their meds from their vet.
This certainly serves as a cautionary tale for those purchasing, or looking to purchase, meds online.
I came across what I believe to be a well balanced article on the online pet medication industry identifying the pros and cons of online ordering. I urge you to give it a read as it has some very good information. Here’s an interesting excerpt, and alluded to by the anonymous commenter:
Some online pet pharmacies are more reliable than others. Some may sell foreign or counterfeit products. Items like flea and heartworm preventatives seem to be more common targets for this problem. Luckily this isn’t too widespread anymore, but it does still happen. On more than one occasion we’ve had a client complain about a flea product that didn’t work, and when they show us the package, it was a counterfeit.
I do want to take this opportunity to say that when I post a story, it is to bring information to you. As with anything, it is still up to the reader to do their due diligence in making a decision about the information. This is especially true when the decision directly impacts the well-being of our beloved friends.
I am not for or against ordering pet medications online, but I am for making informed decisions.
Hi,
I have a vet who Rx’s a larger dog dosage of flea/tick medication and tells me how to break it up so that I can treat my 4 dogs and 1 cat using the single larger dosage. This has saved me a very large amount of $$$. I once tried 1-800-PETMEDS and ended up with foreign merchandise. A pet medication rep friend of mine scolded me and then told me of the risks taken when buying from anyone other than your veterinarian. I ALWAYS purchase my pet meds from my vet.
Jody G.
As a vet tech I could give my dogs their vaccinations (except rablies) however I still have it done at the vet clinic simply because you have no idea where the vaccinations have been stored up until you received it and once you give it who do you go back at if something happens such as a bad reaction? I feel(just my opinion) that if you can’t afford good medical care for your pet you probably shouldn’t have one.
There is nothing wrong with purchasing meds online as long as you know what to look for. I refuse to pay my vet $60 for a small bottle of metacam that my wolf is on because of hip dysplasia when I can buy a large 120ml bottle for the same price online. My boy has been on it for months and is doing fine.
I buy my own drugs online as well that are OTC.
Whovever stated that you can buy prescribed drugs online without the website notifying your vet is wrong. Each time I replace my dog’s metacam my vet is called for the refill.
I also use Entirely pets and haven’t had a problem yet.
I have five pets, 3 dogs and two cats. One of the dogs is 15 years-old, another is nine-years-old. I take them all to the most expensive vet in the area because the office treats them well and knows how to deal with animals.
However, as you may have noticed the people complaining about onsafe pet meds are people in vet offices.
The reputable online pet drug discounters, even 1800-pet-meds, require a prescription from your vet before filling ANY medications, even heartworm.
Between medical care, shots, checkups and heartworm/flea for five animals I am almost bankrupt. My vet’s office had started price-matching online companies, then complaining how the price-matching was killing them financially and then posted a sign that said online medications are not counterfeit.
While I would not purchase an actual drug online, I have never purchased a flea or heartworm medication that appeared to be counterfeit in any way.
My vet’s office charges $50 just for walking in the door. I never get charged less than $250 for any pet, for any service. I don’t get a multi-pet discount. I think that vets make enough money on pet services and shouldn’t be making a profit on common medications like flea/heartworm, joint medications, and vitamins. After all, vets make the money even on the heartworm testing which is done every year even if your pet has never missed a day of heartworm preventative in its entire life. So I feel that vet offices should provide these medications at cost with maybe a small fee tacked on, not almost double the online price.
Pat
Sorry, I meant to say that my vets office posted a sign saying that “online pet drug discounters ARE selling countfeit medications” Typing error.
Pat
We have been ordering our Golden’s Metacam from Allivet to save on the cost of the medication. I understand some on-line pet med companies are dangerous, are any reputable? I want to make certain that our dog is getting the best. If not, then I’d rather pay my vet for her meds and know it is the “real deal” and she is safe. Thanks.
I just came home from seeing a vet who strongly cautioned against using 1-800-Pet Meds for flea and tick products because she said the medicines may be counterfeit. I was skeptical since she had something to gain and I have been using them for years with no complaint. So I spent hours researching online for some proof of the allegation. Couldn’t find any facts to support it. I did find lots of posts from folks claiming not only do they sell counterfeit meds, they are also not licensed, not regulated, and regularly repackage expired meds, etc. The part about licensing and regulation is clearly untrue. Regarding counterfeiting and repackaging, I found no evidence, no law suit, no criminal investigation, not even a newspaper report. I think it’s all hearsay and innuendo promoted by veterinarians. No one loves their dogs more than I do and if there was a shred of proof, I would buy from the vet. But there just isn’t.