Vets do not recommend buying cheap pet meds on sites like Ebay, Craigslist, etc..

In classes, we have been discussing the trend of buying your pets meds cheaper online.  It seems like a good deal, after all no one wants to pay outrageous vet office prices.  But is it worth it in the long run?  If it's the same thing, what harm does it do?  Well, several factors to consider.... 1: They may be out of date.  2:  Often they are not what they are marketed as.  Such as, you may be looking for Frontline Plus for cats and they are offering 2 years worth as DOG topicals.  This is not safe.  They are not made for cats.  3:  Just be aware of "Buyer Beware" if it is not a legitimate pharmacy such as 1-800-Pet-Meds. 

My vet said that he never recommends buying from sites that are not legitimate pharmacy sites.  You just never know what you're really getting.  He has seen many cats (& dogs) come in with serious illnesses because their people bought meds from EBay or Craigslist or the many yard sale pages on Facebook.  Some even die.  He understands the desire and need to save money and the desire to still be good parents to their furkids at the same time.  But, if it is that big of a deal, most of the time you can talk to your vet and they will work something out with you.  Or you can got to legit sites such as 1-800-Pet-Meds and they will help you and you can rest assured it is the actual product you want and it's safe.  You may not save as much as you would on the other sites, but when you can be assured your pets life will not be at risk, I think it is worth the extra costs.

www.drsfostersmith.com is another certified pet pharmacy and I find their prices to be pretty good.

P3 and The King said:

In classes, we have been discussing the trend of buying your pets meds cheaper online.  It seems like a good deal, after all no one wants to pay outrageous vet office prices.  But is it worth it in the long run?  If it's the same thing, what harm does it do?  Well, several factors to consider.... 1: They may be out of date.  2:  Often they are not what they are marketed as.  Such as, you may be looking for Frontline Plus for cats and they are offering 2 years worth as DOG topicals.  This is not safe.  They are not made for cats.  3:  Just be aware of "Buyer Beware" if it is not a legitimate pharmacy such as 1-800-Pet-Meds. 

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There's no way of knowing whether it actually is the same thing. There have been reports of counterfeit products being sold, reminiscent of all the fake Viagra being offered online. This is from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's site:

Purchasing Pet Drugs Online: Buyer Beware

Some of the Internet sites that sell pet drugs represent legitimate, reputable pharmacies, says Martine Hartogensis, D.V.M., deputy director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance in FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). But others are fronts for unscrupulous businesses operating against the law.

FDA has found companies that sell unapproved pet drugs and counterfeit pet products, make fraudulent claims, dispense prescription drugs without requiring a prescription, and sell expired drugs.

Pet owners who purchase drugs from these companies may think they are saving money, says Hartogensis, but in reality, they may be short-changing their pet's health and putting its life at risk.

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This is from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
Counterfeit Pesticide Products for Dogs and Cats

EPA is aware of counterfeit pet pesticides designed to look like legitimately registered pesticide products. The information on this page is intended to help consumers avoid unregistered pet products. ...
EPA is continuing to pursue this issue. Unfortunately, it is likely that counterfeit and other illegal products may still be available. You should be careful when purchasing products such as these to look for the indicators described above. In addition to the counterfeited products described above, other illegal versions of these products may be available, including the following:

foreign labeled product with stickers containing some U.S. information
foreign-labeled products.
These illegal products pose potential risks related to units of measure that are unfamiliar to U.S. consumers, lack of child-resistant packaging, lack of precautionary statements, and the potential for the pesticide itself to be other than what is indicated on the carton.

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I can't ever imagine doing that for those reasons. I'm glad you posted that!

This doesn't mention pet medications, but is nevertheless pertinent:
FDA cracks down on websites selling bad drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has cracked down on thousands of online pharmacies for selling potentially unsafe, unapproved or fake medicines, including the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and antiviral Tamiflu.

The FDA, working with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies from about 100 countries, said on Thursday that it took action against more than 4,100 Internet pharmacies, bringing civil and criminal charges, removing offending websites and seizing drugs worldwide.

The move was part of the fifth annual International Internet Week of Action, a global effort to fight the online sale and distribution of potentially counterfeit and illegal medicine.

Action taken between September 25 and October 2 resulted in the shutdown of more than 18,000 illegal pharmacy websites and the seizure of 3.7 million doses of counterfeit medicines worth an estimated $10.5 million, the agency said.

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Yea there are some scary website/ sellers out there. For my pet medication needs, I use either Dr.s Foster and Smith or 1800petmeds. They are legitimate pet pharmacies and the meds are good. I get my dogs injectable adequan there. I can get 2 vials which after the loading dose, will last awhile, for 100 dollars. I asked the receptionist at my vet how much their adequan is and she said it was 186 dollars per injection!  I don't think that is entirely correct, and I think it is more like 186 for the 2 vial pack, but still much more expensive. The previcox that he needs is 50 dollars online and 70 at my vet. The only thing that my vet is cheaper on is the tramadol which they sell for 20 dollars but online for the same amount is 27 dollars. Go figure! Anyways, there are alot of legit websites, but then again there are also alot of shady sites. I stick to the well known ones with good customer service. I hardly ever buy anything from ebay, and have never bought off craigslist, and couldn't imagine buying my pets' medications there.
 

Do Not buy on Ebay. VetPetWorld is a SCAM! They send phoney tracking numbers and never send the product

Well, I buy some flea topicals online off getlostfleas.com. Its the exact same flea topical just that its sold in bulk and its packaged in kg packaging vs lb packaging. Its the exact same thing though and it works fine. I used to buy directly off amazon but their prices went up.

SteveW said:

Do Not buy on Ebay. VetPetWorld is a SCAM! They send phoney tracking numbers and never send the product

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Make sure to report it to ebay. They will take action so file a complaint. They will investigate and possible shut them down. But they need people to tell them what is going on.

I would certainly only buy from a legitimate online pharmacy. I have also heard of people saving money buying medicine that is the same as human medicine from a brick and mortar human pharmacy rather than from the vet. A vet's prescription is accepted at a regular pharmacy as well.