Many of us have used human or pet online pharmacies. They are not all created equal. They aren’t great for getting antibiotics for a sinus infection, acute anti-nausea medicine, or pain medicines that we need right now, but they serve a big niche for chronic medications for all of us. Plus they offer convenience, and often are cheaper than I can even offer them.
How can you tell a good online pharmacy from a shady one? https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-find-an-online-pharmacy-you-can-trust-1123983 is a good resource for human pharmacies, but the principals are the same for vet pharmacies. We especially look for the VIPPS certificate. I also look for reviews among my peers, and past legal problems. Pet Med Express has had numerous legal violations and less than average customer service so I am not a fan of their business practices.
Here at Garden Ridge Animal Hospital we have linked to online pharmacies for over 10 years. They are great at offering pet parents choices on brands and prices on products like heartworm and flea preventions, arthritis medicines, and even prescription diets (like Hills , Purina, and Royal Canin). Currently, we are using Vet Source, and the link is on our website, gardenridgevet.com. You can look at all their products before having to create an account. For instance, your dog is a picky treat taker but has always like Heartgard. This is no problem because Vet Source always has Heartgard, in every size, even though I don’t carry that particular heartworm prevention.
The other niche that online pharmacies fill is getting automatic refills on medicines. The Vet Source ”autoship” monthly heartworm prevention dose (shipped free) is very popular in a household with multiple dogs or busy lives where we forget to give the medicine monthly. When it arrives once a month, it’s a built in reminder to give it on time. Plus the cost of those twelve doses of prevention is split into 12 payments on your credit card instead of one big hit. That is better for some families’ budgets.
Prescription foods are another popular item to “autoship”. You set up the interval for the next shipment, so you never run out on a late Friday afternoon. Vet Source carries Hill’s Prescription diets, Purinas, and Royal Canin, and they are shipped conveniently to your door, so you won’t have to carry heavy dog food from your car.
As always, any prescription item will have to be approved by me, or my staff. We make sure you are getting the correct product, in the correct dosage. Most clients receive their order in 3-5 days. They are working on 2 day turn around, but we aren’t there yet.
Vet Source won’t price match Pet Med Express, but they are always “comparable”. These large pharmacies get big discounts from the manufacturers that I can’t begin to compete with. Vet Source often has weekly discount codes on selected items to rack up the savings. I wouldn’t be surprised to see selected heartworm and flea preventions on sale in the next month or two. I will try to put alerts up on my website or the Facebook page when we see a good one.
If you haven’t used Vet Source before, check it out. You might save some time and money while offered excellent vet approved products to your four legged children.
http://gardenridgeanimalhospital.vetsourceweb.com/site/view/HomeDelivery.pml
