Other articles with keyword "DOGGIEPING" since 12/29/04
I know of an individual who ordered from an online Canadian pharmacy. The heartworm med was cheaper and no prescription was required.
My thoughts are that your local vet would like to have that $11.00 from you, and they'll make up all sorts of BS to get it. ;)
Consumer Affairs.com lists a number of complaints, including one that echos your vet's warning:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/petmeds.html
Maybe its just me, but I'd rather spend the extra $11.00 when it comes to my pet's health.
Also here:
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2005/07/09/features/lifestyles/aec35d8d4c9473de862570380043448a.txt
snip:
Dr. Jim Taylor, of Taylor Veterinary Hospital in Cedar Falls, says it isn't about making money. The difference in price of the medications he sells from that of PetMeds usually amounts to a few dollars, he says. In fact, sometimes Taylor's prices are lower than PetMeds', he says.
Taylor says his job is to advocate for the safety of the pet. Every aspect of PetMeds' practice --- from how they obtain medication to what actually is in the box --- raises his suspicions.
"First off, any veterinary product sold to Osco or Walgreens, I would write a prescription for it, because when I call up, I can ask the pharmacist where they get their medications, how they are transported, how they are stored, and he will tell me," said Taylor. "I ask (PetMeds) where they get their medications and they say 'That's not required by law and we don't have to tell you,' and they hang up on me. It's a thing called trust."
There are a handful of veterinarians in the Cedar Valley who will work with PetMeds. Dr. Chuck Klima, of Klima Small Animal Clinic, says he receives less than a dozen PetMeds requests a year. Klima will approve PetMeds prescriptions, but only after explaining to clients his reservations with online pharmacies.
There are some medications, though, that Klima will not approve through online pharmacies, such as heart and thyroid medications. Also, he will not approve heart worm preventives if a dog has not had an annual heart worm check.
Doing so could be disastrous, says Dr. Brad Kneeland, of Pawsitive Pet Care. If a dog is prescribed a heart worm preventive --- the No.1-selling prescription drug through PetMeds --- and is already infected with heart worms it can result in irreversible cardiac disease or death.
Like Taylor, Kneeland is uncomfortable with PetMeds' practices and won't prescribe heart worm or any other kind of medication through the company. The delivery channel for PetMeds is murky, he says. Kneeland buys medications for his practice directly from drug companies like Novartis.
"... Drug (company) executives sell through vets, to vets --- period. If you ask them, do you give drugs to PetMeds, they'll answer emphatically, 'No,'" he said. "My drugs are coming from drug reps. If (PetMeds) is not getting them through the makers, then where are they getting them?"
Koesten of PetMeds declined to be specific about where the company's drugs come from.
****
Sounds suspicious to me.
Ping
I'm interested in this discussion too, I buy a monthly prescription for my horse from my vet, and I've wondered about the cost/service from PetMed.
I've ordered from them; and yes, they have a low price guarantee, but you have to go to the trouble to research lower prices EVERY TIME you order from them. I finally got tired of having to do so much work each time I needed something, so I just found a place with consistently low prices (and really fast service). Check out petshed.com (they're in Australia).
We've been buying our flea and tick and heartworm medicine from Petmeds for a couple of years now. It comes with expiration dates. The vet just marks it up. One of the workers in our vet's office was the one who told us about Petmeds in the first place.
When my Beloved Rottweiler was still alive, I ordered ALL of her flea and heart worm meds online.
They were fine - the vet is just trying to protect his med racket.
I buy Revolution from PedShed.com out of Australia.
It's much less expensive and no Rx is required, and there's only about a one-week turnaround period.
ve
My Vet wouldn't give me a prescription so I could use PetMeds but being that he's the best Vet I know I continue to use him.
Our vet will honor the same price quoted by Pet Med as long as I bring him a copy of the stated price from Pet Med's web site.
Therefore, that tells me there is little or no difference
between US and Canadian pet medications.
KJ
Vets are getting TICKed off because they are not able to charge the high prices that they were when the monthly flea/tick products came out. I don't think there has been a single incident of counterfit flea drops. The vets just made it up to scare people.
I asked my vet to write the prescription for heartworm meds that Foster & Smith required before selling it to me. The vet sold me the medicine at the mail order price.
I can't answer your question as to the quality of the mail order stuff, though.
I started ordering from VetCentric. But my vet calls or writes the rx. I don't know if that is required for stuff like heartworm. My vet is at a large clinic which charges a lot and is a pain to deal with. The meds are mailed to me. The service was great and the stuff is pharmaceutical.
Their # is 866-571-6790.