Ordering pet meds? Options

[Mahlon]

We've been fulltiming for 5 years, 4 with a dog and a cat, now with a dog only. The pup is 13 years old, needs a pain killer daily for a variety of ailments. She's been seeing a vet in our old hometown, and we have a written prescription for Deramaxx. While in Alaska this summer, we had to see another vet to get a refill, as a blood test was required. Now we're in California, and the vets here cannot "act as a pharmacy". Our vet in Minnesota is no help, doesn't want to help. It seems that we're always going to end up paying a $50-150 vet bill in addition to the $80 for the drugs every 120 days.

Do other fulltimers have a good solution to this problem?

-Mahlon
SKP 82757
FT in an Alfa SeeYa

[Barbaraok]

Fortunately our vet is very understanding and sends Kit's medication to our mail forwarding address. Time to get a new vet. You might want to check out Benfields (I think that is the name) vets which are associated with Pet Smart. We know several people who have had success using them as they travel.

Barb

[Cindy and Phil D...]

We used 1-800-Pet Meds for all of our dog's medications, even when we were at home. If you supply them with the name and phone number of your vet, they will call and get verification for the prescription. If the medication has been prescribed by your vet, they should OK it for you without a return visit.

Just a personal plug~Our dog was on an expensive pain medication for arthritis (about $1.00 a day). I had ordered a large amount just before we had to put her down. I notified 1-800-Pet Meds about returning the medication, only because we did not really want to throw it all away. I was willing to return the medication for someone else to use, free of charge.

Pet Meds notified us immediately that we could return the meds, supplied us with a return label that was free return shipping for us. They gave us credit for the whole amount, even though we had used some. THEN they we kind enough to send us a sympathy card for the loss of our pet. We do not plan on having another dog soon, but if we ever do, these kind people will get our business. Also, I think that shipping is usually free.

Good Luck!

[RV]

You didn't say where in California. If in southern Cal, and near the border you can go to the border Pharmacia and they will not require a prescription, they will write one for whatever you want. However, and this is weird, you can get stuff that is tightly controlled in the US and when you go back through the border just show the Mexican prescription for you and you are good to go. But if the meds are for a pet, do not say that, say it is for you. You can get just about anything you want at a pharmacia for you, but for some reason the pet meds are illegal to bring back. So if you are near the border, you'll get the same meds, most likely made in the same place, for a substantial discount over just the cost of the meds, and they write your prescription at the counter, all legal. We got all of our dog's meds when we were on the road in Mexico after we learned.

[LindaH]

Our 14 year-old dog has Valley Fever and takes Fluconozole for it. Like Barb's vet, our vet will mail us the prescription when we need refills. Of course, he's in Quartzsite, so is used to dealing with people on the move. Unfortunately, the mail order pet med places don't carry this specialized medication. I'm with Barb...it may be time to find another vet who will be willing to work with you as you travel around the country.

[Vern & Sue]

We used the Vet at Pet Smart and couldn't get a refill at another of their stores unless we took him in again, and he hates that. When we take him in the car stuff comes out both ends of him,YUCK!

He won't go back there again, we'll find a small clinic to take him to from now on.

Vern

[travelwithwhippe...]

I found out the hard way that 1-800-Ped Meds will only work if your vet will cooperate with them. If your vet is difficult like mine back in Indiana (sounds like they are), they will NOT give permission to get the meds on line. They claim it is for medical reasons, but I suspect they are upset that 1-800-pet meds is taking money out of their pocket.

Last year while traveling, we needed to board our dogs for a few days to visit friends in Naples, FL. The only place that would take them was associated with a vet clinic. They required an appointment with a one-year physical, since it had been I think it was 10 months since the last physical we had. So, we did that, thinking we would just have the physical out of the way a month or two early. Well, when we arrived back in Indiana, even with proof of the physical, the vet would not accept that and required ANOTHER physical to get their needed vaccines and pet med refills. Gr-r-r-r.

At least now Frontline drops are no longer prescription. While waiting for our turn at the vet, I heard them explaining to another dog's owner that they were switching all their clients to Advantix "for medical reasons." Of course, that med still required a prescription. We won't do that because one of our whippets has a bad reaction to Advantix, so we switched them back to Frontline a few years ago.

They even sell Frontline at Costco now. That won't help with your pain medicine. I'll be interested to learn if there is a solution to this problem.

[steve & sandy]

Our 14 year-old dog has Valley Fever and takes Fluconozole for it. Like Barb's vet, our vet will mail us the prescription when we need refills. Of course, he's in Quartzsite, so is used to dealing with people on the move. Unfortunately, the mail order pet med places don't carry this specialized medication. I'm with Barb...it may be time to find another vet who will be willing to work with you as you travel around the country.

Linda
What were the simptons your dog had when diagnosed with Valley Fever? I have a 13 yr old Papillon & she just isn't doing well. What did the Vet do to diagnose it?
She seems to have raspy breathing & isn't eating well. Has been to the vet was on Amoxicillin for 14 days has been hydrated 3 times last week. thinking it could be pancrititis(sp) Going to take her back in today I will ask her about Valley fever. She may not have thought about that since were in PNW.

Traveling with pets isn't always easy. This dog has seen vets in Missippi, Benson,Az. Yuma. & 3 in Wash. she seems to stress when were on the road.
I keep both my Paps on Sentinel for heart worm protection year round & buy it a year supply @ a time. The last supply came from a different vet. Guess I was lucky as they didn't do the blood work again to refill it. I did buy it from the vet & they gave me a $25 rebate cupon.

[mrfrank]

I found out the hard way that 1-800-Ped Meds will only work if your vet will cooperate with them. If your vet is difficult like mine back in Indiana (sounds like they are), they will NOT give permission to get the meds on line. They claim it is for medical reasons, but I suspect they are upset that 1-800-pet meds is taking money out of their pocket.

As a point of interest, my brother-in-law is a vet. He and several other vets in the Birmingham Alabama area had to take 1-800-Petmeds to court several years ago because they, Petmeds, were selling prescription meds to people in other states and using him as the prescribing vet! He had never heard of the people who were getting the meds. It may be that the vet in Indiana had a similar experience. My Brother-in-law had no problem with sending a prescription to another on-line pet pharmacy.

I would not do business with a company that did things like that, because I would be concerned that the prescriptions would be filled with inferior or counterfit products, etc.

[Barbaraok]

The only reason our vet fills Kit's prescription 3 months at a time, and not a year's worth, is because she is a geriatric cat (19 1/2 years old) and while he was willing to give us a year's worth of medication at a time, we have always wondered each year if she would be with us that long. After 3 1/2 years, she's still with us, but at this age, we don't know how much longer. This is one of those balancing acts. Of course when she was diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid at 14, we didn't think she would still be around when we went full time.


But for younger pets, you may be able to get a full year's worth of medication at a time if it is in pill form.

Barb

[travelwithwhippe...]

mrfrank, thanks for your input. I would definitely avoid 1-800-pet-meds if they pulled something like that, and I wouldn't blame a vet for not wanting to get involved with them!

[LindaH]

...today I will ask her about Valley fever. She may not have thought about that since were in PNW.

If your dog has been in the Southwest recently (California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas), it's possible that she has contracted Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis)...she should at least be tested for it (blood drawn and a VF, or Cocci, titer test done).

Unfortunately, vets in other parts of the country either don't know anything about VF, or they don't think about testing animals for it (cats can get it, too, although it's not as common). This can be a big problem for Snowbirds who spend their winters in the Southwest, but whose pets don't display any symptoms until after returning home. We were volunteering at the Malheur NWR south of Burns, OR when the first symptoms appeared...that was in the latter part of June 2006, but was not diagnosed with VF until the end of September when the vet in Sutherlin, OR sent a tissue sample off to the Colorado Veterinary Diagnostic Labs when they did surgery to drain some abscesses on his body.

Here's an article on Valley Fever in Dogs. It has a map that shows the area where VF is prevalent and lists symptoms. Maxx skipped over the Primary Pulmonary VF symptoms and went straight to some of the disseminated symptoms.

Fortunately, Maxx is doing quite well considering he's 14 years old and has had VF for over 3 years now.

This post has been edited by LindaH: Nov 5 2009, 09:40 AM

[steve & sandy]

Thank you Linda
I did google Valley Fever in Dogs yesterday & printed the 9 page article. Took it to the vet with me. She said I remember they covered valley fever in Vet school but she has never had seen it. She was glad I braught the info in & we will probably test for it. It's an $80 test. Yesterday we only drew a needle Aspirate of a very swallen gland by her left ear. It's the size of a large olive, small fig. on a 6lb. dog It's being tested for fungis bacteria. I might call & take her back today or tomorrow I go ahead & test for the Valley fever.
We have been in the AZ Yuma, Tucson, Phoenix, Quartzsite, area the last 3 winters.

Has Maxx been on the med for the 3 yrs?

Again Thank You. Sorry To Hi-Jack the origional ? of Pet meds.

Sandy & Papillon Rhythm

[LindaH]

Has Maxx been on the med for the 3 yrs?

Yes, he has.

Some animals respond very well to a regiment of VF pills and are able to finally stop taking the medication. Maxx's cocci levels haven't really decreased, though...although they also haven't increased. Maybe it's because of his advanced age, I don't know. But, as I said, despite all this, he's doing really well, all things considered.

This post has been edited by LindaH: Nov 5 2009, 02:11 PM

[marnindale]

Our cat, 16 years old, has a hyperactive thyroid problem. Our vet in NY, and our daughter's vet in Maryland, both of whom treated her, advised that she must be examined every year if they are to keep prescribing medication. We are now working with our daughter's vet who will keep prescribing meds so long as we take her in for bloodwork according to her schedule and we can update her with vet info and test results. Both vets had advised that there were laws involved which would not permit them to write prescriptions unless the animal has been examined within the last 12 months. The medication our cat requires is compounded for transdermal use (ears) and cannot be obtained through any regular internet sites (like 1-800-pet-meds).