Vet charges more than double for medicine!?

[Alice10101]

Waffles had an ear infection a few weeks back & we got some medicine for him from the vets.
Just checked online and found exactly the same thing for less than half the price!   
Now I have no problem dishing out for medicine for my little pup! But was a bit miffed to see I could have bought a bottle of Epi otic for £8.32 from Vetuk and paid £20 for it at the vets! I also paid £15 for some ear drops which at quick glance online I could have got for half the price as well. 
(I was also a bit surprised that she didn't tell us what she was prescribing and how much it cost)
Is this normal?!

[Ruby Tuesday]

Are they 'prescription only' medicines? If they are, you still need a prescription before you can buy them online and your vet would charge for it. So I guess you can't really win

[MaggieR]

It is normal unfortunately.... most of the meds Maggie has been on and off through her life have been between 1/3 and 1/2 cheaper online.  You need to be careful where you get them, and as Ruby Tuesday says if they are presecription you will still need to pay for a script from your vets, but depending how much you are saving it can still make a significant difference.  e.g the vet was charging me £60+ for some meds for her liver that I could get for about £35 onine...the prescription was £6.... and bearing in mind that was per month it would've been a massive saving. 
Always worth talking to your vet tho - you might find they are willing to match the online price - sometimes depends on how often it would be needed, the amount they need to buy in etc...

[Bibby]

Strangely I have found the opposite to be the case with a few bits I have purchased recently - the vet has been less than half what I would have paid on line - however their consultation fee is higher than any other vet in the area, but it still works out cheaper to pay this and buy the medicines from them.

[Robbie34]

Epi Otic is a non prescription item so much cheaper on line.  The ear drops will have POM on them if they are prescription only.

[elaine.e]

William needs Optimmune eye ointment every day as he has Dry Eye (a lifetime condition). The vet charges almost £50 for a tube that lasts 6 weeks but I can get it for £23.60 online so the vet charges me £12 for a repeat prescription that lasts 6 months and I can then buy up to 6 tubes online, saving me around £150 .

If you buy online do some research beforehand, such as checking the company is UK based and looking at online reviews. There is at least 1 online company that is distinctly dodgy, with orders often being shipped direct to the customer from other countries or not shipped at all, and doubts by reviewers that some of the meds they've purchased are genuine.

[dizzytrish]

My vet actually tells me that I can get stuff online cheaper than through them.
it does depend on what I need, and the timing, IE weekends etc, as to whether I pay the vet or order later, sometimes you cant wait for the post to arrive.
as for prescriptions,. mine will offer one for free
and the consultation fee is cheaper, now if only I can get them onto Raw food thinking

[ollie nathan's mum]

Did the charge include consultation?

Elaine you can get Optiiune online for £3 .50 ( from a UK site)

[elaine.e]

Did the charge include consultation?

Elaine you can get Optiiune online for £3 .50 ( from a UK site)

William has a 6 monthly check up (Schirmer Tear Test and a thorough eye examination and check of his cataracts) with a very small consultation fee of about £15 as it's seen as a follow up, and I get the repeat prescription then.

Not meaning to doubt you ollie nathan's mum, but are you sure about the £3.50? It sounds way to good to be true! Can you name the site or post the link please

[piph]

When our GR Cassie had to be put on Keppra for her epilepsy, the vet suggested that she give me a private prescription for me to buy it at the local pharmacy (it's a human drug).  It cost £106 for a months' worth from there and would have cost well over £200 for the same amount from the vets (luckily we were claiming it back from Petplan - but it meant that our upper limit of cover took that much longer to reach)  I can't remember how much the vet charged for the prescription, but I know it was only a few quid.  We checked the internet prices and they were much higher than the local pharmacy - almost as much as the vet would have charged.  So it's always worth checking if you can buy whatever you need from the chemist.

[JaspersMum]

When our GR Cassie had to be put on Keppra for her epilepsy, the vet suggested that she give me a private prescription for me to buy it at the local pharmacy (it's a human drug).  It cost £106 for a months' worth from there and would have cost well over £200 for the same amount from the vets (luckily we were claiming it back from Petplan - but it meant that our upper limit of cover took that much longer to reach)  I can't remember how much the vet charged for the prescription, but I know it was only a few quid.  We checked the internet prices and they were much higher than the local pharmacy - almost as much as the vet would have charged.  So it's always worth checking if you can buy whatever you need from the chemist.

Can you still claim on the insurance if its coming from chemists rather than vets? 

[jennyspin]

When our darling jessica was on atopica the vet charged 85 pounds for a weeks supply, hyperdrug were 32 pound. When i tackled the main partner at the vets he said we had to pay for all of the receptionists! I would urge anyone on long term meds from their vet to check online. Hyperdrug recommend that a vet does a pres for a few weeks/months supply so the savings r worth it

[Alice10101]

Thanks for so many replies
I didn't even know about needing a prescription to purchase elsewhere but will definitely do that if I'll need more expensive medicine for him another time
Thanks for helping! 

[piph]

When our GR Cassie had to be put on Keppra for her epilepsy, the vet suggested that she give me a private prescription for me to buy it at the local pharmacy (it's a human drug).  It cost £106 for a months' worth from there and would have cost well over £200 for the same amount from the vets (luckily we were claiming it back from Petplan - but it meant that our upper limit of cover took that much longer to reach)  I can't remember how much the vet charged for the prescription, but I know it was only a few quid.  We checked the internet prices and they were much higher than the local pharmacy - almost as much as the vet would have charged.  So it's always worth checking if you can buy whatever you need from the chemist.

Can you still claim on the insurance if its coming from chemists rather than vets? 

Yes, we spoke to Petplan to check before we did it, they wouldn't allow us to claim direct without going through the vet though- they said that all we needed to do was to take the receipt to the vet's and claim through them in the same way as you would normally - we were getting Epilease and Epiphen from the vet anyway, so we just claimed for them all at the same time.  Petplan couldn't really not pay out, as it was actually cheaper for them than if we had been getting it at the vet.