Mail order pet meds
- Thread starter EricA
- Start date
We love PetMeds! I haven't had to order medication from them in quite a while, but when we did, Hawk's ThyroTabs were about $28 for 180 count (3 mo worth). The vet charged me $48 for 60 tabs (1 mo worth). So PetMeds was almost 5x cheaper.
We do order other stuff from them. Always pleasant when you call and they always send a large milk bone with our order.
We do order other stuff from them. Always pleasant when you call and they always send a large milk bone with our order.
Not sure how much I saved this time over buying locally. I suppose I need to check because these people will price match anyone (including Walmart prices).
I do know they saved me some money on the HeartGard by charging me for the big box instead of the two smaller boxes that they sent!
6 months worth of HeartGard for 2 Dobermans = a 12 count box. (the 'big' box)
A big box costs $122.49 (12 doses) where the smaller 6 count boxes cost $69.49 each. Because of the pharmacy rules and there being 2 different dogs getting 6 months worth each - They were required to send each dog their own 6 count box (even though the drugs were exactly the same thing in each). They were not allowed to just sent a single 12 count box and let me divvy it up between them because it was 2 separate prescriptions.
They sent the two smaller boxes but charged me like I had bought the single bigger box. (saving me $16.49)
Same thing with the thyroid meds in this case. Even though both girls are taking the same exact meds and same exact dosing of them the PetMeds people are required to send me 2 separate bottles instead of a single large bottle. 2 bottles of 180 each instead of a single bottle containing 360 because it is 2 separate prescriptions.
Really appreciate the way our current Vet handles this stuff as well.
Had absolutely ZERO issues with getting them to deal with the PetMeds people or getting her to approve a 12 month RX for each dog. The people at PetMeds only had to contact that Vet a single time to get the approval / RX's for everything and now all of that info is in their files. If I want to wait 6 months before refilling the rest of their RX or a week - It does not matter. They will not 'need' to contact the Vet again. Vet also had NO issues letting me buy their thyroid pills in the larger dose (and then splitting them to get the correct dose) either.
The girls require 0.4 mg twice each per day. A single 0.4 mg pill is 10 cents. 10 cents for a 0.4 mg pill x 2 dogs and twice per day would = 40 cents worth of those pills every day.
A single 0.8 mg pill is only 12 cents and contains (shocker alert!) two 0.4 mg doses when you split it down the middle!
So that is 2 of the 0.8 mg pills pills per day instead of 4 of the 0.4 mg pills for both girls. 24 cents per day instead of 40 cents per day!
This is not rocket science here and these pills are not hard to split evenly. They even have a line in the middle to help them split evenly. Nothing more than slight finger tip pressure is required!
May not sound like much but that is darn near $60.00 per year saved just by snapping pills in half.
Previous Vet had some sort of goofy policy about only approving 90 days worth of RXs at a time and really wanted their customers buying meds from THEM instead of online. (so they could charge more and make more money). When they tried to give me the BS story about how they would not deal with the PetMeds company because of what they called 'reports of counterfeit medications' (crap allegations they could not show me any evidence for BTW) - They got fired on the spot.
Had a good bit of fun letting them know exactly why they would never get another dollar from me in the future.
I do know they saved me some money on the HeartGard by charging me for the big box instead of the two smaller boxes that they sent!
6 months worth of HeartGard for 2 Dobermans = a 12 count box. (the 'big' box)
A big box costs $122.49 (12 doses) where the smaller 6 count boxes cost $69.49 each. Because of the pharmacy rules and there being 2 different dogs getting 6 months worth each - They were required to send each dog their own 6 count box (even though the drugs were exactly the same thing in each). They were not allowed to just sent a single 12 count box and let me divvy it up between them because it was 2 separate prescriptions.
They sent the two smaller boxes but charged me like I had bought the single bigger box.
(saving me $16.49)Same thing with the thyroid meds in this case. Even though both girls are taking the same exact meds and same exact dosing of them the PetMeds people are required to send me 2 separate bottles instead of a single large bottle. 2 bottles of 180 each instead of a single bottle containing 360 because it is 2 separate prescriptions.
Really appreciate the way our current Vet handles this stuff as well.
Had absolutely ZERO issues with getting them to deal with the PetMeds people or getting her to approve a 12 month RX for each dog. The people at PetMeds only had to contact that Vet a single time to get the approval / RX's for everything and now all of that info is in their files. If I want to wait 6 months before refilling the rest of their RX or a week - It does not matter. They will not 'need' to contact the Vet again.
Vet also had NO issues letting me buy their thyroid pills in the larger dose (and then splitting them to get the correct dose) either. The girls require 0.4 mg twice each per day. A single 0.4 mg pill is 10 cents. 10 cents for a 0.4 mg pill x 2 dogs and twice per day would = 40 cents worth of those pills every day.
A single 0.8 mg pill is only 12 cents and contains (shocker alert!) two 0.4 mg doses when you split it down the middle!
So that is 2 of the 0.8 mg pills pills per day instead of 4 of the 0.4 mg pills for both girls. 24 cents per day instead of 40 cents per day!
This is not rocket science here and these pills are not hard to split evenly. They even have a line in the middle to help them split evenly. Nothing more than slight finger tip pressure is required!
May not sound like much but that is darn near $60.00 per year saved just by snapping pills in half.
Previous Vet had some sort of goofy policy about only approving 90 days worth of RXs at a time and really wanted their customers buying meds from THEM instead of online. (so they could charge more and make more money). When they tried to give me the BS story about how they would not deal with the PetMeds company because of what they called 'reports of counterfeit medications' (crap allegations they could not show me any evidence for BTW) - They got fired on the spot.
Had a good bit of fun letting them know exactly why they would never get another dollar from me in the future.
Yep! Same experience here!
They are always friendly and ask how the individual dogs are doing!
Was a few orders back when talking to one of their reps that I mentioned buying their Apoquel locally from Walmart because it was cheaper than their (the PetMeds people) listed online price. That nice lady had NO issues explaining their 'price matching' policy to me! If they can confirm the price anywhere else as being lower - They WILL gladly match it!
Glad we no longer require those particular pills but when we did they were freaking expensive even at the Walmart price. Same exact pills were a good 40 to 50% higher at the Vet.
Today is the ultimate example......
Diva has been holding onto weight regardless of what food or diet we try & she's extremely active. I took her to have her T4 checked (I know, should do T4, T3, FreeT4) today. Results were shockingly low.... so she was started on Thyro-tabs (Soloxine/Levothyrosine). I asked for a weeks worth of pills (14 tablets) to hold us over until I can get script mailed (because the vet won't talk to them) and them to fill it.
$13.78 for 14 - .6mg tablets! They would have cost $1.68 through PetMeds. That's .98 a pill compared to .12 a pill. Even with $4.99 Priority shipping, it still cheaper!
Diva has been holding onto weight regardless of what food or diet we try & she's extremely active. I took her to have her T4 checked (I know, should do T4, T3, FreeT4) today. Results were shockingly low.... so she was started on Thyro-tabs (Soloxine/Levothyrosine). I asked for a weeks worth of pills (14 tablets) to hold us over until I can get script mailed (because the vet won't talk to them) and them to fill it.
$13.78 for 14 - .6mg tablets! They would have cost $1.68 through PetMeds. That's .98 a pill compared to .12 a pill. Even with $4.99 Priority shipping, it still cheaper!Today is the ultimate example......
Diva has been holding onto weight regardless of what food or diet we try & she's extremely active. I took her to have her T4 checked (I know, should do T4, T3, FreeT4) today. Results were shockingly low.... so she was started on Thyro-tabs (Soloxine/Levothyrosine). I asked for a weeks worth of pills (14 tablets) to hold us over until I can get script mailed (because the vet won't talk to them) and them to fill it.
No shipping charge if it is over $50.00 I think? (or if they have to split an order up for whatever reason)
I would have not paid the Vet that. Would just got the written RX and went to Walmart for the weeks worth of pills.
Before you fire that Vet (they need to be canned if they are not willing to work with the PetMeds people) get the printed lab results with all of your dogs info clearly listed on there AND a printed invoice of the office visit and what was done for your records. If they are not willing to receive / send faxes from the Petmeds people they might also be slow to to the same with your next Vet. If you have all the documentation in a file already that garbage does not matter.
This last Vet that I took the girls to (new Vet for us and first visit for thyroid stuff with her) - I took the last 3 years of tests results for both girls with me in a nicely organized file where she could real easily look down and see everything she needed without having to call or fax anyone. Made it stupid easy for her to do her job.
They do take wonderful care of my dogs and actually the only one within reasonable driving distance that I trust. My dogs are comfortable with him. In an emergency, they will take an animal immediately, not just put them in a cage until they get done with appointments (like others around here do). Yeah, he's a schmuck for not working with me on verifying the script with PetMeds. I knew if Diva needed to be put on meds for what we tested, the initial script would be costly (which is why I only asked for 1 wk).
Just sharing the info about the savings with PetMeds.
Just sharing the info about the savings with PetMeds.
Completely understand your reasons for staying with him. Trust is definitely important - Also matters what choices are available near you.
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