Woman Shares A Life-Saving Tip Vet Techs Don’t Tell Pet Owners, Explains How To Save Money On Medication
Interview With Owner
Our pets are members of the family. And just like every other member of the family, we would do anything for them. But unfortunately, just like humans, when our pets become ill, they can quickly rack up exorbitant medical bills. From visits to the vet to the antibiotics they need to cure any infections, taking care of pets can cost a pretty penny. Thanks to one cat owner, however, many parents of fur babies have recently learned a great money-saving tip to help take care of their precious pets.
Two weeks ago, Legacy_d on TikTok shared a video detailing how she was able to save $90 on her cat’s medication after her veterinarian let her in on a little secret. Below, you’ll find her full explanation, that will hopefully save you big bucks the next time your pet is feeling under the weather, as well as an interview between Legacy and Bored Panda and some of the responses viewers have left on her video. Let us know in the comments if you have any other life-saving tips for how to keep your pets safe and healthy without breaking the bank, and then if you’re interested in another article featuring advice from vets, check out this story next!
After learning how to save big bucks on her cat’s medication, this pet owner shared advice online to help others do the same
Image credits: legacy_d
You can hear her full explanation right here
@legacy_d #vet #veterinarian #savetheanimals #advice #savemoney #savemoneyadvice #rescue #rescuedog #rescueanimals ♬ original sound – legacy
Bored Panda reached out to Legacy on TikTok, and she expressed her joy about this video being helpful for so many pet owners. “I am so unbelievably happy that my post reached so many people,” she shared. “I’ve read a lot of comments saying this info has saved their animals and released them from their stress of debt.”
“That was my only goal when posting this and it absolutely warms my heart knowing it’s helped,” Legacy told Bored Panda. “I would also like to add that the emotion behind my frustration is only geared towards vets who withhold this information and force technicians to gate keep. I appreciate every single person in the field whose heart is in it for the right reasons and truly cares about animals and their owners. It’s a job I could never do, and I applaud them for doing so.”
We all know medical treatment and prescriptions can be wildly expensive for humans, but animals are no exception. A routine veterinary checkup for your furry friend can cost between $50-$250, and most general veterinary care costs up to $500. Having pets can greatly benefit our lives, by bringing us joy and companionship, but unfortunately, we can’t all afford to house an animal and ensure that it stays happy and healthy.
On average, dog owners spend between $1,500-$2,000 on their fur babies during the first year of having them, from providing food to buying toys to paying for vaccinations and vet visits, so any unexpected costs can be extremely overwhelming. And as Legacy mentioned in her video, many pet owners simply cannot take the financial burden and are sometimes forced to rehome their animals to ensure they are properly provided for. One 2021 study of American pet owners found that nearly 28% of them experienced barriers when trying to get veterinary care, primarily due to financial reasons.
And while animals are intended to have at least one visit to the vet a year, for a checkup and to keep vaccinations up to date, sociologist Arnold Arluke, author of Underdogs: Pets, People and Poverty estimates that 66% of pets in low income households have never been to a vet. Just like we need our biannual dentist visits and our children need to see a pediatrician once a year, our pets need to have their health taken care of as well. And finances being the sole reason for loving owners to have to rehome their pets is just devastating. It should not cost an arm and a leg every time Oreo needs to take an antibiotic or has an injured paw.
Legacy’s video has resonated with many pet owners, and hopefully it will help you save some money as well. But if you’re concerned about how expensive medication and medical bills might be for your current or future pets, be sure to always do your research before paying $100 for amoxicillin or $300 for a vet checkup. It might also be wise to look into pet insurance, if you can afford the upfront costs, or seek assistance from vet charities such as the UK’s PDSA. Let us know in the comments below if you have any more helpful tips that might save another pet’s life (or their owner’s wallet), and then if you’re looking for even more advice for taking care of your beloved furry, scaly or feathery babies, you can find more advice from vets right here!
Fellow pet owners shared their appreciation for the video and added even more money-saving tips in the comments
Important detail: Amoxicillin is an antibiotic that's perscribed to both animals and people. The brand names are different but the effector substance is the same. However, just because that happens to be the case for this type of med, doesn't make it so for all meds. Please check with your vet first before you start buying medicine intended for humans for your pets. The effects can range from doing nothing to having very severe adverse effects (think of the chimp that chewed a lady's face off because he was given Xanax). Aside from that, glad OP could save money in this case :)
agree, you also will need to be careful about the dosage and might need to break the pill into several pieces, which doesn't necessarily work with all meds. But I've never had vets demand I buy medications directly from them, they offer, sure, but I always get a prescription that I can fill wherever I want. That might depend on the country.
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Chewy.com asks for your veterinarian's contact info and can get your prescription confirmed in about 1 day, you DO NOT need to mail it in.
Was going to say the same. We've same-day verified with Chewy several times.
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I left my last vet because I heard them give a list of medications that her pet "needed" and this old lady started to cry, it was so expensive. The vets should volunteer advice about where to get pet meds cheaper, facilitate it AND prioritize the list of meds from most important to least based on pets condition. For a cashed-strapped person in California, heartworm meds are not as much as a necessity compared to areas with lots of mosquitoes. Help your clients do right by their pets and not guilt them into bankrupting themselves or having to get rid of their pet!
Ah, my vet regularly sent rxs over to any pharmacy I requested This is not a secret and pharmacies openly advertise pet rxs.
There was a mix-up at my Walmart Pharm with my and my dog's meds. Now I'm really food aggressive and they are upset with my uncontrollable barking at the office. I shouldn't even mention the meeting where I humped a middle manager.
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I'm a Registered Veterinary Technician. Some pet medications can be ordered easily and quickly through a human pharmacy, but it depends on what it is and what the dosage is. Sometimes the medications can be special ordered through the pharmacy, or made-to-order by a compounding pharmacy, but this will take time (24 hours or more). Some medications you would buy from your vet are specifically made to be palatable (like a beef-flavoured oral liquid) and would taste awful (and therefore be difficult to administer) if they are compounded at a human pharmacy. Some vets will charge a prescription fee to write out or call in a prescription, and some don't. At the end of the day, your veterinary team just wants what is best for your pet, so make sure to ask them and your pharmacist questions and they will be happy to help (:
We've been really lucky with our dogs- none needed regular meds but they'd had the occasional infected a**l gland or what have you- the meds they've been given are usually chewable or powdered and in much much smaller doses than a human would need. Maybe if I was looking at a medication that needed to be taken regularly I'd feel a different way, but I was always happy to just get the meds from the vet. That way I knew it was exactly what should be taken.
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Come on, "vet techs and vets don't tell you blah because blah"...we have been using a vet inside a commercial pet store chain for the last two years now, and guess what? THEY told us where to get the meds cheaper. Not all pharmacies have always filled pet medications either.
Quite a few don't tell the general public. Either to keep it a secret or because they assume (or dont have the energy/free will bc of employment to spare to tell) the public knows.
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I recently learned this very same thing. I have a cat who's 20 years old and the medicine at the vet was just too expensive for us. I asked them if there was some way I could buy it from China or something and they said well actually just check with your local pharmacy and see if they carry it in liquid form and we'll send the prescription right over. They did and I've gotten it from bartell's ever since. They definitely know it's for my cat as when I pick it up I give my cat's name and her birthday and it has cat dosages written on it.
Vets prescribe Diphenhydramine for itching/allergy issues... That is the medical term for Benadryl. I worked as vet tech, the unethical owner of the business used to tell us only to use the medical term instead of letting our customers know they can use Benadryl. Needless to say, I no longer work there.
I brought my cat to a different vet because she was in pain and her usual vet was booked solid. Didn't even hear out what was wrong with her. Anyway, I bring her to this new vet and I was surprised when they mentioned I could pick up one of her medications at CVS. They gave me a GoodRX card and her meds were $7. I'm seriously wondering how much the same medication would've been at her old vet because, in my experience, they've never done that.
I don't know if anyone said this already, but some pet prescriptions qualify for GoodRx (www.goodrx.com) discounts, too.
I think you always get your animals medication in a pharmacy here (Sweden).
I see the vet people commenting, we don't keep the info secret, really? I have never heard of this and I'm almost 50.
Totally agree! I'm pushing 60, have been rescuing animals for over 40yrs, had some training from Vets and now specialize in training Service Dogs and Therapy Animals for people with disabilities... and I have NEVER heard this before either. I can guarantee that no pharmacy I've been to (quite a few) advertises this bc I'm a bibliophile who automatically reads everything in front of me and have never seen it.
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As somebody that does the ordering for an animal hospital, I also want to point out that we're not trying to "rip people off" with our prices. Our prices are based off of our cost, which is pretty much always significantly higher than places like Chewy or chain pharmacies which order in massive bulk & therefore get the medications much cheaper than we can. There are plenty of times that it would be cheaper for US to order it from Chewy than get it directly from the manufacturers. Speaking for my own clinic, we'll always give a written script, fax a local pharmacy or authorize through Chewy/other online pharmacies if that's what the client prefers, and we'll often suggest it if the medication is expensive through us.
As a vet tech, I (and our doctors) always let my clients know this "secret" because it's definitely cheaper this way. I have no control of the prices at my clinic so I always give them this option. But, there are some medications that will not be available, like certain injectables. Also, a lot of these pharmacies also carry flea & heartworm prevention as well. Always ask your vet first :)
Amoxicillin is penicillin.... For those around you that are severely allergic to it like me (I got an anafalactic shock and almost died of the paramedics didn't get there on time), please were gloves and a facemask while administrating, there is always residue when you break a tablet and you don't want to accidentally get another shock, if the first didn't kill you, there next will come quicker and harder and might get you killed.
Yes. Amoxicillin is the synethic penicillin. And 99.99% people are allergic to both. Infact if you have either allergy avoid all medication in that family. Most end in cillian and it's sister drug class cephalosporin like cephalexin. My fiancee allergic to penicillin, amoxicillin and other antibiotics so I'm usually just like doc give him a z-pack.
Load More Replies... That's not a thing in Canada. All prescriptions go through pharmacies; not vets or doctors. Unless it's a trial dose which is free.
I don;t know if anyone said this already, but some pet prescriptions qualify for GoodRx (www.goodrx.com) discounts, too.
When my dog got Blasto, ( which is almost always fatal), the drug was sooo expensive here, even for humans, my Vet ordered it from Canada for me, and until that came in, he sent the script to Kroger's for me. I love my Vet and he would do anything for my dogs. Most Vet's do want to help, and my daughter is a vet tech, and she would do anything to help with your animal
Amoxicillin one of the cheapest antibiotics on the market should cost about a penny a pill. Vets get paid by pharma just like doctors do.
According to our vet the medication purchased from a vet clinic and the medication purchased from a pharmacy are of different qualities as well! There are much stricter rules when producing human grade meds! You should switch vets!!! Ours would never mark up medication so much! Thanks for the tip
We have a diabetic dog and every couple of months she needs to do a "curve". The usual choices are for you to check their blood every 2 hours or drop them off at the vet for the entire day( which costs hundreds). The third, and IMO best choice is to get a Libre 2 at Walgreens. . Cost @$40 for sensor & $65 for reader with inhouse free RX program. The sensor is good for 14 days and the reader is reusable. This option is great because you can see what's happening , talk to Vet, make adjustments based on 24 hour curves and see the results immediately. Also as mentioned previously Walmart for $25 insulin vs over $100 anywhere else.
It all depends on the vet. When my veterinarian had a private practice he not only was willing to give me a written prescription, fax the prescription or okay telephoned prescriptions from companies like Chewy or Heartland. When he sold his practice to VCA, Veterinary Centers of America that all stopped. They have no interest in helping you or your furry family members, they’re greedy money grubbing monsters. They refuse to okay call in prescriptions or fax them, they want you to buy the rx there or if it’s not in stock thru their online pharmacy. I’ve received written prescriptions but only for a month at a time, they want it to be as difficult as possible so you give up and buy from them. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! It’s becoming as impossible to find a private practice vet as it is a doctor. Wise up America the so called free market system is a scam.
The VCA here is horrible- I can't understand why my mother keeps saying we should switch to them when her sisters dog had serious complications from a surgery performed there and they refused to honor what they'd done and resolve it for the poor dog. She keeps saying "I don't know why you don't go to them" and I know if I say, "because it's not the people you think it is, they haven't been run by those folks in a decade" she'll be offended.
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This article was very informative, I definitely learned something. I would like to add to this, a lot of meds can be purchased from farming supply stores. Farms that have animals, horses, chickens, any farm animal, you can purchase without a prescription. Even the Rabies vaccine. Only negative about that is you don't get the Rabies tag that your pets have to wear out in public. I have indoor kitties, they don't go outside so I don't need the tag, I give it to them just to make sure they are covered if something happens and they do get out. They are protected. Also, some of the other immunizations you can get from farmers supplier's, BUT, for example, worming medicine, since its coming from farmers supplier's, the doses are for large animals. So you will definitely need to know how much meds to your pets size and weight. It takes some research and math, and you have to feel comfortable doing it yourself. I know the first time I did it. I checked, double checked, triple checked.
"Even the Rabies vaccine."?!? We've been going to Granges and worming/ vaccinating/ vetting our pets & livestock ourselves for decades but have never seen Rabies shots offered. From what I understand, you HAVE to be a Vet to acquire & administer it. I'm wondering where you are bc if you're close enough, I'm coming there for them. The local Vet's offices sold out (to VCA?) and aren't trustworthy anymore. Plus it's more for the Vet fees than the shots, which are all we need. (If in USA, which state? We have family in a few, can use as an excuse to visit😺)
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I just want to put this out there depending on the vet if they say they can't send it to a regular pharmacy it doesn't necessarily mean they are being greedy. Many medications we use for pets are human meds like amoxicillin but not all. A pet specific medicine, particularly newer ones may not be available in human pharmacies. They're getting better on branching out but it's going to take time. Also don't listen to Chewy's comment. They are awful to deal with on prescriptions unless it's food or flea/tick or heartworm prevention. I work for a nationwide chain of clinics. Even after talking DIRECTLY with their pharmacist and pharmacy team my clients are getting medication prescriptions denied. It's a nightmare getting meds from them.
Most of the meds for pets are just children's medicine in small doses. That's why my cats got bubble gum flavored amoxicillin for years. Some of the non-human meds aren't available at Walmart, etc. Chewy does have prescriptions. You register your pet, order the med or rx food, and they contact the vet for confirmation. Usually ships the next day.
!!! IMPORTANT !!! This goes for HUMANS, too. I have a high health insurance deductible. The XRay my doctor ordered was going to be $300 at my local hospital. I went to a local "imaging center" and got the same XRay for $35. They also do sonograms, CAT scans, etc. Check around. Don't assume.
I love dogs but all I read in this was “like like like like like like”. You couldn’t pay me to watch the video of this person speaking about any topic. Oh - and pet insurance has been in existence for decades.
This only works on medication that can be prescribed to people and animals, sadly. It's a damn shame.
Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club and Publix (if you are in the US) either carry or can overnight a lot of pet medication. I work at a vet and call in animal specific drugs to them all the time.
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We also use Chewy as mentioned, but they will directly contact your Vet without having anything written down. It's a wonderful service!
You can also mail order vaccines, including rabies, for your animals and give them yourself. $10 VS $100.
The internet is your friend here. Check all medicine costs--for humans as well as pets--online and at several pharmacies. You're likely to save plenty. If you've got 4 scrips you may have to order from 4 pharms to save the most. It's a little work but it can mean huge savings.
Any vet worth his or her salt will provide options. All my vets send over any prescription over to my compounding pharmacy. And if my compounding pharmacy tells me I can get it cheaper elsewhere they let me know too. Pet medication is big business. Luckily in my area the vendors want to keep your business so they bend over backwards to help people out when treatment for the animals become burdensome. And as previously mentioned, make sure it is the correct drug and dosage. If your vet tells you it's his way or the highway, take the highway and get a better vet.
also understand that you can NOT fill it in your ownname to submit to insurance. This is fraud. The prescriptions must be filled under the pets name. This comes from a former pharmacist. Sumitting a fraudulent insurance claim will get you, the vet, and the pharmacy in major trouble if it is uncovered.
I used be a registered pharm tech. I actually surprised people pick up the meds at the vets. Like we usually get alot dog and cat medication. Amoxicillin out of pocket is usually 10 bucks anyways. It's one the cheapest drugs. I would liget see people pick up brand name Omeprazole they're doctors ordered. And I was like wtf . Go pick up from the shelf it 4 bucks for generic don't pay $75 for this s**t. Or tell go to Kroger if you dont have prescription insurance. Generic and name brand is the exact same drug in the USA. The reason medication is so expensive. Is drug patents don't allow competition and generic for living saving medication like insulin. Which diabetic supplies cost 4-15k a month. If you don't have insurance go to Kroger they have special deal with goodrx.if your pets seizure medication is through the roof and no generic. Some auto/ house insurance bundle offer pet rx insurance. And if you shop at CVS please for love God check the small right bottom corner for insurance
Our system randomly deletes peoples insurance information.and if it's not some insane amount we don't always catch it.it the way the shotty system was built. Were you filling 1400 prescriptions a day. But when you go to refill a prescription you click through see they have insurance send it to the next triage that doesn't show insurance . Fill it. Customer walks up . Still nothing that shows insurance info was deleted. Look at the price when you ring them and be like hold on a sec. Why is that $500. But not every tech is nice enough to check every prescription to make sure the system didn't delete ( ( and didn't reject it either). Because often times they could look normal prices because a. Customer is "in the hole". Or b has s****y insurance that only paid $2 out 500. And then we refill. Cvs has s****y cpu. That's why takes forever. Even when my boss that types like 1,000 words a minute only 15s to count 750 gabapentin capsules. And stays on the line for 6 hrs to argue with insurance to
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Fun fact, fish antibiotics work on people just the same. There's a lot of b******t out there that government, doctors, vets, the like will put you through for a buck. It's disgusting. Cooperate bootlickers are disgusting. Cooperations are disgusting. But big pharma, nobody's really surprised there. Not new news.. Off topic, anyone count how many times she said "like"? It was distracting.. Anyway, do your research. No I don't mean teb minutes in Google and suddenly you're an expert, no I mean do actual research. Not all meds for humans work for animals, and vice versa. Just the same, you'll find things that are and it'll help you greatly.
It's always been super cheap at my vets...I'd question ANY vet that wanted $100. And of course, you can simply ask for the script to go elsewhere. They may charge a small fee for the script, as unfortunately it's becoming a petty common practice. They want you to buy thru their pharmacy, where the vet likely has a monetary stake in the business. Walmart, or Petmeds.com is easy and efficient in a day or two.
My dogs are very large so anything that can be coverted to a human prescription I get at Costco Pharmacy for much less.
I think the vet wasn't gatekeepers chewey the vet just didn't know for sure idk why she would gatekeep chewed and then suggest 10 dollar Walmart meds
Amoxicillin is sold over the counter in Morocco, where my husband is from. It’s crazy we need a prescription here.
Actually, it's absotively bats hit crazy that they sell it OTC when (from what I've read/seen in the news) the entire world is in a global crisis because antibiotic overuse has created superbugs that are now resistant and basically untreatable!!!
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I just gotta say, she's really fkn hot though! Without the make up, holy moly! Sassy gurl! ..and yea, be careful , read Susie's comment..
Important detail: Amoxicillin is an antibiotic that's perscribed to both animals and people. The brand names are different but the effector substance is the same. However, just because that happens to be the case for this type of med, doesn't make it so for all meds. Please check with your vet first before you start buying medicine intended for humans for your pets. The effects can range from doing nothing to having very severe adverse effects (think of the chimp that chewed a lady's face off because he was given Xanax). Aside from that, glad OP could save money in this case :)
agree, you also will need to be careful about the dosage and might need to break the pill into several pieces, which doesn't necessarily work with all meds. But I've never had vets demand I buy medications directly from them, they offer, sure, but I always get a prescription that I can fill wherever I want. That might depend on the country.
Load More Replies... Chewy.com asks for your veterinarian's contact info and can get your prescription confirmed in about 1 day, you DO NOT need to mail it in.
Was going to say the same. We've same-day verified with Chewy several times.
Load More Replies... I left my last vet because I heard them give a list of medications that her pet "needed" and this old lady started to cry, it was so expensive. The vets should volunteer advice about where to get pet meds cheaper, facilitate it AND prioritize the list of meds from most important to least based on pets condition. For a cashed-strapped person in California, heartworm meds are not as much as a necessity compared to areas with lots of mosquitoes. Help your clients do right by their pets and not guilt them into bankrupting themselves or having to get rid of their pet!
Ah, my vet regularly sent rxs over to any pharmacy I requested This is not a secret and pharmacies openly advertise pet rxs.
There was a mix-up at my Walmart Pharm with my and my dog's meds. Now I'm really food aggressive and they are upset with my uncontrollable barking at the office. I shouldn't even mention the meeting where I humped a middle manager.
Load More Replies... I'm a Registered Veterinary Technician. Some pet medications can be ordered easily and quickly through a human pharmacy, but it depends on what it is and what the dosage is. Sometimes the medications can be special ordered through the pharmacy, or made-to-order by a compounding pharmacy, but this will take time (24 hours or more). Some medications you would buy from your vet are specifically made to be palatable (like a beef-flavoured oral liquid) and would taste awful (and therefore be difficult to administer) if they are compounded at a human pharmacy. Some vets will charge a prescription fee to write out or call in a prescription, and some don't. At the end of the day, your veterinary team just wants what is best for your pet, so make sure to ask them and your pharmacist questions and they will be happy to help (:
We've been really lucky with our dogs- none needed regular meds but they'd had the occasional infected a**l gland or what have you- the meds they've been given are usually chewable or powdered and in much much smaller doses than a human would need. Maybe if I was looking at a medication that needed to be taken regularly I'd feel a different way, but I was always happy to just get the meds from the vet. That way I knew it was exactly what should be taken.
Load More Replies... Come on, "vet techs and vets don't tell you blah because blah"...we have been using a vet inside a commercial pet store chain for the last two years now, and guess what? THEY told us where to get the meds cheaper. Not all pharmacies have always filled pet medications either.
Quite a few don't tell the general public. Either to keep it a secret or because they assume (or dont have the energy/free will bc of employment to spare to tell) the public knows.
Load More Replies... I recently learned this very same thing. I have a cat who's 20 years old and the medicine at the vet was just too expensive for us. I asked them if there was some way I could buy it from China or something and they said well actually just check with your local pharmacy and see if they carry it in liquid form and we'll send the prescription right over. They did and I've gotten it from bartell's ever since. They definitely know it's for my cat as when I pick it up I give my cat's name and her birthday and it has cat dosages written on it.
Vets prescribe Diphenhydramine for itching/allergy issues... That is the medical term for Benadryl. I worked as vet tech, the unethical owner of the business used to tell us only to use the medical term instead of letting our customers know they can use Benadryl. Needless to say, I no longer work there.
I brought my cat to a different vet because she was in pain and her usual vet was booked solid. Didn't even hear out what was wrong with her. Anyway, I bring her to this new vet and I was surprised when they mentioned I could pick up one of her medications at CVS. They gave me a GoodRX card and her meds were $7. I'm seriously wondering how much the same medication would've been at her old vet because, in my experience, they've never done that.
I don't know if anyone said this already, but some pet prescriptions qualify for GoodRx (www.goodrx.com) discounts, too.
I think you always get your animals medication in a pharmacy here (Sweden).
I see the vet people commenting, we don't keep the info secret, really? I have never heard of this and I'm almost 50.
Totally agree! I'm pushing 60, have been rescuing animals for over 40yrs, had some training from Vets and now specialize in training Service Dogs and Therapy Animals for people with disabilities... and I have NEVER heard this before either. I can guarantee that no pharmacy I've been to (quite a few) advertises this bc I'm a bibliophile who automatically reads everything in front of me and have never seen it.
Load More Replies... As somebody that does the ordering for an animal hospital, I also want to point out that we're not trying to "rip people off" with our prices. Our prices are based off of our cost, which is pretty much always significantly higher than places like Chewy or chain pharmacies which order in massive bulk & therefore get the medications much cheaper than we can. There are plenty of times that it would be cheaper for US to order it from Chewy than get it directly from the manufacturers. Speaking for my own clinic, we'll always give a written script, fax a local pharmacy or authorize through Chewy/other online pharmacies if that's what the client prefers, and we'll often suggest it if the medication is expensive through us.
As a vet tech, I (and our doctors) always let my clients know this "secret" because it's definitely cheaper this way. I have no control of the prices at my clinic so I always give them this option. But, there are some medications that will not be available, like certain injectables. Also, a lot of these pharmacies also carry flea & heartworm prevention as well. Always ask your vet first :)
Amoxicillin is penicillin.... For those around you that are severely allergic to it like me (I got an anafalactic shock and almost died of the paramedics didn't get there on time), please were gloves and a facemask while administrating, there is always residue when you break a tablet and you don't want to accidentally get another shock, if the first didn't kill you, there next will come quicker and harder and might get you killed.
Yes. Amoxicillin is the synethic penicillin. And 99.99% people are allergic to both. Infact if you have either allergy avoid all medication in that family. Most end in cillian and it's sister drug class cephalosporin like cephalexin. My fiancee allergic to penicillin, amoxicillin and other antibiotics so I'm usually just like doc give him a z-pack.
Load More Replies... That's not a thing in Canada. All prescriptions go through pharmacies; not vets or doctors. Unless it's a trial dose which is free.
I don;t know if anyone said this already, but some pet prescriptions qualify for GoodRx (www.goodrx.com) discounts, too.
When my dog got Blasto, ( which is almost always fatal), the drug was sooo expensive here, even for humans, my Vet ordered it from Canada for me, and until that came in, he sent the script to Kroger's for me. I love my Vet and he would do anything for my dogs. Most Vet's do want to help, and my daughter is a vet tech, and she would do anything to help with your animal
Amoxicillin one of the cheapest antibiotics on the market should cost about a penny a pill. Vets get paid by pharma just like doctors do.
According to our vet the medication purchased from a vet clinic and the medication purchased from a pharmacy are of different qualities as well! There are much stricter rules when producing human grade meds! You should switch vets!!! Ours would never mark up medication so much! Thanks for the tip
We have a diabetic dog and every couple of months she needs to do a "curve". The usual choices are for you to check their blood every 2 hours or drop them off at the vet for the entire day( which costs hundreds). The third, and IMO best choice is to get a Libre 2 at Walgreens. . Cost @$40 for sensor & $65 for reader with inhouse free RX program. The sensor is good for 14 days and the reader is reusable. This option is great because you can see what's happening , talk to Vet, make adjustments based on 24 hour curves and see the results immediately. Also as mentioned previously Walmart for $25 insulin vs over $100 anywhere else.
It all depends on the vet. When my veterinarian had a private practice he not only was willing to give me a written prescription, fax the prescription or okay telephoned prescriptions from companies like Chewy or Heartland. When he sold his practice to VCA, Veterinary Centers of America that all stopped. They have no interest in helping you or your furry family members, they’re greedy money grubbing monsters. They refuse to okay call in prescriptions or fax them, they want you to buy the rx there or if it’s not in stock thru their online pharmacy. I’ve received written prescriptions but only for a month at a time, they want it to be as difficult as possible so you give up and buy from them. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! It’s becoming as impossible to find a private practice vet as it is a doctor. Wise up America the so called free market system is a scam.
The VCA here is horrible- I can't understand why my mother keeps saying we should switch to them when her sisters dog had serious complications from a surgery performed there and they refused to honor what they'd done and resolve it for the poor dog. She keeps saying "I don't know why you don't go to them" and I know if I say, "because it's not the people you think it is, they haven't been run by those folks in a decade" she'll be offended.
Load More Replies... This article was very informative, I definitely learned something. I would like to add to this, a lot of meds can be purchased from farming supply stores. Farms that have animals, horses, chickens, any farm animal, you can purchase without a prescription. Even the Rabies vaccine. Only negative about that is you don't get the Rabies tag that your pets have to wear out in public. I have indoor kitties, they don't go outside so I don't need the tag, I give it to them just to make sure they are covered if something happens and they do get out. They are protected. Also, some of the other immunizations you can get from farmers supplier's, BUT, for example, worming medicine, since its coming from farmers supplier's, the doses are for large animals. So you will definitely need to know how much meds to your pets size and weight. It takes some research and math, and you have to feel comfortable doing it yourself. I know the first time I did it. I checked, double checked, triple checked.
"Even the Rabies vaccine."?!? We've been going to Granges and worming/ vaccinating/ vetting our pets & livestock ourselves for decades but have never seen Rabies shots offered. From what I understand, you HAVE to be a Vet to acquire & administer it. I'm wondering where you are bc if you're close enough, I'm coming there for them. The local Vet's offices sold out (to VCA?) and aren't trustworthy anymore. Plus it's more for the Vet fees than the shots, which are all we need. (If in USA, which state? We have family in a few, can use as an excuse to visit😺)
Load More Replies... I just want to put this out there depending on the vet if they say they can't send it to a regular pharmacy it doesn't necessarily mean they are being greedy. Many medications we use for pets are human meds like amoxicillin but not all. A pet specific medicine, particularly newer ones may not be available in human pharmacies. They're getting better on branching out but it's going to take time. Also don't listen to Chewy's comment. They are awful to deal with on prescriptions unless it's food or flea/tick or heartworm prevention. I work for a nationwide chain of clinics. Even after talking DIRECTLY with their pharmacist and pharmacy team my clients are getting medication prescriptions denied. It's a nightmare getting meds from them.
Most of the meds for pets are just children's medicine in small doses. That's why my cats got bubble gum flavored amoxicillin for years. Some of the non-human meds aren't available at Walmart, etc. Chewy does have prescriptions. You register your pet, order the med or rx food, and they contact the vet for confirmation. Usually ships the next day.
!!! IMPORTANT !!! This goes for HUMANS, too. I have a high health insurance deductible. The XRay my doctor ordered was going to be $300 at my local hospital. I went to a local "imaging center" and got the same XRay for $35. They also do sonograms, CAT scans, etc. Check around. Don't assume.
I love dogs but all I read in this was “like like like like like like”. You couldn’t pay me to watch the video of this person speaking about any topic. Oh - and pet insurance has been in existence for decades.
This only works on medication that can be prescribed to people and animals, sadly. It's a damn shame.
Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club and Publix (if you are in the US) either carry or can overnight a lot of pet medication. I work at a vet and call in animal specific drugs to them all the time.
Load More Replies... We also use Chewy as mentioned, but they will directly contact your Vet without having anything written down. It's a wonderful service!
You can also mail order vaccines, including rabies, for your animals and give them yourself. $10 VS $100.
The internet is your friend here. Check all medicine costs--for humans as well as pets--online and at several pharmacies. You're likely to save plenty. If you've got 4 scrips you may have to order from 4 pharms to save the most. It's a little work but it can mean huge savings.
Any vet worth his or her salt will provide options. All my vets send over any prescription over to my compounding pharmacy. And if my compounding pharmacy tells me I can get it cheaper elsewhere they let me know too. Pet medication is big business. Luckily in my area the vendors want to keep your business so they bend over backwards to help people out when treatment for the animals become burdensome. And as previously mentioned, make sure it is the correct drug and dosage. If your vet tells you it's his way or the highway, take the highway and get a better vet.
also understand that you can NOT fill it in your ownname to submit to insurance. This is fraud. The prescriptions must be filled under the pets name. This comes from a former pharmacist. Sumitting a fraudulent insurance claim will get you, the vet, and the pharmacy in major trouble if it is uncovered.
I used be a registered pharm tech. I actually surprised people pick up the meds at the vets. Like we usually get alot dog and cat medication. Amoxicillin out of pocket is usually 10 bucks anyways. It's one the cheapest drugs. I would liget see people pick up brand name Omeprazole they're doctors ordered. And I was like wtf . Go pick up from the shelf it 4 bucks for generic don't pay $75 for this s**t. Or tell go to Kroger if you dont have prescription insurance. Generic and name brand is the exact same drug in the USA. The reason medication is so expensive. Is drug patents don't allow competition and generic for living saving medication like insulin. Which diabetic supplies cost 4-15k a month. If you don't have insurance go to Kroger they have special deal with goodrx.if your pets seizure medication is through the roof and no generic. Some auto/ house insurance bundle offer pet rx insurance. And if you shop at CVS please for love God check the small right bottom corner for insurance
Our system randomly deletes peoples insurance information.and if it's not some insane amount we don't always catch it.it the way the shotty system was built. Were you filling 1400 prescriptions a day. But when you go to refill a prescription you click through see they have insurance send it to the next triage that doesn't show insurance . Fill it. Customer walks up . Still nothing that shows insurance info was deleted. Look at the price when you ring them and be like hold on a sec. Why is that $500. But not every tech is nice enough to check every prescription to make sure the system didn't delete ( ( and didn't reject it either). Because often times they could look normal prices because a. Customer is "in the hole". Or b has s****y insurance that only paid $2 out 500. And then we refill. Cvs has s****y cpu. That's why takes forever. Even when my boss that types like 1,000 words a minute only 15s to count 750 gabapentin capsules. And stays on the line for 6 hrs to argue with insurance to
Load More Replies... Fun fact, fish antibiotics work on people just the same. There's a lot of b******t out there that government, doctors, vets, the like will put you through for a buck. It's disgusting. Cooperate bootlickers are disgusting. Cooperations are disgusting. But big pharma, nobody's really surprised there. Not new news.. Off topic, anyone count how many times she said "like"? It was distracting.. Anyway, do your research. No I don't mean teb minutes in Google and suddenly you're an expert, no I mean do actual research. Not all meds for humans work for animals, and vice versa. Just the same, you'll find things that are and it'll help you greatly.
It's always been super cheap at my vets...I'd question ANY vet that wanted $100. And of course, you can simply ask for the script to go elsewhere. They may charge a small fee for the script, as unfortunately it's becoming a petty common practice. They want you to buy thru their pharmacy, where the vet likely has a monetary stake in the business. Walmart, or Petmeds.com is easy and efficient in a day or two.
My dogs are very large so anything that can be coverted to a human prescription I get at Costco Pharmacy for much less.
I think the vet wasn't gatekeepers chewey the vet just didn't know for sure idk why she would gatekeep chewed and then suggest 10 dollar Walmart meds
Amoxicillin is sold over the counter in Morocco, where my husband is from. It’s crazy we need a prescription here.
Actually, it's absotively bats hit crazy that they sell it OTC when (from what I've read/seen in the news) the entire world is in a global crisis because antibiotic overuse has created superbugs that are now resistant and basically untreatable!!!
Load More Replies... I just gotta say, she's really fkn hot though! Without the make up, holy moly! Sassy gurl! ..and yea, be careful , read Susie's comment..
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