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Save on pet drugs
Vets typically mark up the price of pet medications so much that you can often save money if you buy them elsewhere. For one-time prescriptions, you may decide that the convenience of getting both the exam and drugs at your vet is worth the extra price. But especially for medications you'll be buying for the long haul--from flea applications to epilepsy drugs--try comparison shopping.
We compared the prices of 17 commonly prescribed pet pharmaceuticals, 5 prescription antiparasitics, and 7 flea and tick preventives at a host of retailers. Our findings are as follows:
Pharmaceuticals. KV Vet Supply, Eckerd.com, and Costco generally had the best prices for pet drugs. The last two may surprise you, but more than 600 drugs used to treat pets are human drugs, so you can buy them at regular drugstores, locally or online.
For example, a vet might buy 100 5-mg tablets of Tapazole, a drug developed for humans to treat hyperthyroidism, for $57 wholesale and sell them to you for $114, plus a $6.60 "prescription fee." But you can buy the same drug, dosage, and amount online for $52 at Drugstore.com, a 57 percent saving. Big retailers buying in bulk can get a better wholesale price than individual vets.
Our survey also shows that you should ask your vet to prescribe a generic drug when available. Methimazole, the generic equivalent of Tapazole, is $33 for 100 5-mg tablets at Eckerd.com. That's $19 cheaper than the best price we found for Tapazole.
Flea, tick, and heartworm medicines. For medications approved only for pets, such as some flea and tick oils, we usually found lower prices at KV Vet Supply, www.kvvet.com, a Nebraska-based pet, horse, and livestock supply catalog (see chart below). Regular pharmacies don't tend to carry these items. (When comparing prices, remember to include shipping costs.)
Flea and tick preventives generally have been sold exclusively through veterinarians, even though they require no prescription. Restricted distribution gives these insecticides the cachet of a prescription drug, which can prop up the price.
GET A WRITTEN PRESCRIPTION
Ask your vet for a written prescription. Most states don't mandate a written script, but the American Veterinary Medical Association advises vets to put it in writing, if asked. About 15 percent of vets charge a $5 to $10 fee, according to a recent survey. Amy McKay, of Columbus, Miss., says her vet refused outright. "He said curtly, ‘Why would I possibly want to do that when you're already buying from me?'" says McKay. Mississippi doesn't mandate a written script. So she paid $360 to her vet for 48 monthly doses of Heartgard Plus Brown for her four dogs--$144 more than she'd pay at KV Vet Supply.
Paying customers shouldn't put up with such pettiness. Instead, switch vets and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, at www.bbb.org.
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