Buying Meds

jen46

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Due to an extended illness of my own, I truly need to find a less expensive route to buying meds for my beloved 18 year-old Siamese. She takes methimazole and cyproheptadine. My vet charges $30 to write a script to get the meds somewhere else and charges a $15 dispensing fee to buy them directly from her.

I can buy methimazole at alldaychemist.com for a fraction of the cost, but I am afraid to trust the med although I have taken other meds from there myself. Has anyone else ordered methimazole from alldaychemist? I can order cyproheptadine. from Canada without a prescription. Can anyone recommend a reputable pharmacy?  Can I assume cyproheptadine from Canada will be safe for cats?
 

piano cat

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You can't make assumptions about safety without checking the source you buy from.  If you find a place selling a product that normally requires a Rx without asking you for one then that's a caution flag.  If you buy from an online source some products, even if they are bonafide, may not offer you the same guarantees of efficacy and safety that you would get if you bought from a Vet, or in Ontario, Canada, where I am, I can get the same guarantees if I buy from a licensed Pharmacist.  Some med manufactures have places on their websites where they explain and show you what a counterfeit of their product might look like, check this out.

My Vet did not charge the Rx fee if the pet was in for an exam the day she wrote the Rx.  If I had one in and got a Rx for, say, flea meds, I only paid the fee for the other critters who were not with me that day.  It was still cheaper to buy online, or, the place I found was a real bricks and mortar drugstore in Toronto and I went there in person a few times.

Another note about safety.  When checking this out myself some years ago I did find an online site purporting to have an address in Winnipeg, Manitoba and a Vet on site, which is a requirement to dispense meds.  They must have either a licensed Vet or licensed Pharmacist on site, here.  I could not find a record of the Vet ever being licensed through Vet schools I tried but of course I could not try them all.  I reported the site to Animal Health and Welfare in Manitoba, they said the address was an empty warehouse and shortly after the website disappeared from the internet.  This was a site that "said" it was in Canada.  BE careful.  Good luck.
 
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jen46

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Would you please share the name of the pharmacy you use in Canada?  Cypropheptadine does not require a prescription, so I want to order that but want to make sure the source is safe.  Thank you!
 

piano cat

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Would you please share the name of the pharmacy you use in Canada?  Cypropheptadine does not require a prescription, so I want to order that but want to make sure the source is safe.  Thank you!
It was Broadview Pharmacy and it ran PetPharm.org but I can no longer find a website for the pet meds part of their business.  Darn.  I have not used them for about 9 years, ever since changing Vets to one who charged more reasonable prices.  They don't have their own website for Broadview Pharmacy either but I did find this:

http://www.torontocentralhealthline.ca/displayservice.aspx?id=150729

Another site that gives their hours says they are closed right now.  I will try to phone them tomorrow.  
 
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jen46

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Thank you both so much!
 

piano cat

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I just phoned Broadview Pharmacy and the man said they are not running PetPharm.org any more.  Too bad.  Really liked the idea it was a real drug store for people too.
 

rickr

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Gosh. I've never heard of a vet charging to write a script.  Mine doesn't.  Perhaps I've just been lucky. I've used 1800petmeds with good success.  They are usually, though not always, cheaper than buying from my vet.  However, they do require a prescription.  If you provide them your vets name and phone number, they just call to obtain approval.  I hope you find an affordable solution.
 

piano cat

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Gosh. I've never heard of a vet charging to write a script.  Mine doesn't.  Perhaps I've just been lucky. I've used 1800petmeds with good success.  They are usually, though not always, cheaper than buying from my vet.  However, they do require a prescription.  If you provide them your vets name and phone number, they just call to obtain approval.  I hope you find an affordable solution.
Heck, my mother's human Doctor charged to write Rx.  Or Mum could buy a "package" by paying the Doctor a fee that would be good for so many renewals.  My own human Doctor has charged me a nominal fee to write one for me if I need one outside of appt. time but never for renewals.  When a Doctor or a Vet writes a Rx outside an office visit they do still have to open up the client's file, check what they are on, make sure it's right etc.  There is work involved for them, I can see a small charge.
 

rickr

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Heck, my mother's human Doctor charged to write Rx.  Or Mum could buy a "package" by paying the Doctor a fee that would be good for so many renewals.  My own human Doctor has charged me a nominal fee to write one for me if I need one outside of appt. time but never for renewals.  When a Doctor or a Vet writes a Rx outside an office visit they do still have to open up the client's file, check what they are on, make sure it's right etc.  There is work involved for them, I can see a small charge.
That makes sense.  I didn't consider the additional effort involved.  I guess I've just been fortunate that none of my vets have charged me.
 
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