Don’t skimp on pet medicines

I’m sure you’ve all heard or seen a commercial from the website 1800petmeds, but there are actually a lot of pet pharmacies on the internet ready and willing to send you medicines for you beloved pets. I actually have three dogs and only buy my pet medications (this includes flea and tick treatments as well as heart worm prevention) from the vet.

The reason is because, even though places like 1800petmeds and other online pet pharmacies say that their medicines are 100% authentic and are the exact same as the medicines that you would buy from the vet, sometimes they aren’t. I have been told stories of pet owners who have purchased their dogs’ medicines from online pet pharmacies and ended up with the wrong prescription or medicines that were open, expired, or simply not genuine medicines.

Sure, I would buy pet supplies from these places, but never their medicines. The vets know that a lot of people are buying from these online pharmacies and are now matching prices with them to make sure that pet owners are getting genuine medicines for the same prices that they would be getting them for online. All you have to do is ask your vet if he or she will match the prices. My vet actually told us upfront that she would match the prices and we pay exactly what the online pharmacies are charging, except we pay sales tax.

I know that some vets won’t do this and they still enjoy charging outrageous prices for medicines that could easily be found cheaper elsewhere, but sometimes it’s better to call around and get the best price from local vets. I think the best way to measure how much a vet will charge for medications for your pet is to ask about heartworm prevention. You can see the cost at 1800petmeds and compare.

I don’t think medicines for animals or humans is something that people should skimp on. If you want to save money, try to cut it anywhere else first. I just don’t think most people would consider buying their child antibiotics from an online pharmacy, so why would you get your best friend’s medicines from somewhere similar?

And that is an actual picture of my dog when he was a puppy.