But the pharmaceutical companies charge different prices. The average tells a person nothing. Who buys at the low end and who at the high end? I realize they (stores) add money to it which is understandable...they are in the business to make a profit.
I seriously doubt a vet jacks a price up 6 or 8 dollars more per pill than what they pay. If I thought that, I would switch vets. A vet is not in the business to sell drugs...they have them as a convenience. Their larger profit is from their professional expertise...and sure they need to make a profit on everything; but it sounds outlandish to say they charge that much more/pill. I don't believe that at all. People are free to buy elsewhere.

When I was UT, I think I paid around $25 for 25ml of Lactulose for Ginger... I now go to Rite Aid and get 236ml (8oz) for $4!

i know; that won't be fair.
i believe that's what the OP posted at first; the vet was charging $12 something for 2 pills.
the ER hospital charged me $35 for 10 pills of reglan which is 3.5 per pill. and last time i got it from the pharmacy i got 30 pills for $10 which is 0.33 cents per pill. that's 10 times more; go figure. and that was the ER hospital :)

Hospitals are notorious. Of course their overhead is also quite ridiculous.

I just do not believe most vets do that. Could be wrong, but who knows?

I know I have the utmost respect for my vet and she is not cheap. I pay and am happy to do so. I never feel ripped off when I go there. She is a professional and I could not have done without her expertise many times.

Prince's vet does that as well...I don't even want them to cut the pills...just put the whole pill in the container!:thumbdown


I understand!!!!!!!!!!

Whenever I see these threads with people constantly complaining about their vets and what they charge, I cannot help but wonder why. I totally do not understand.
I don't know where any of you think you would be without your vets...seriously.
Have any of you stopped to think about how much their educations cost? How much
time they spent getting their degree? Do you not think that their expertise is worth
paying for? Do you feel the same way about all professionals? Or is it just vets? . and
why? I mean we think our pets are like children, so why are we not willing to pay for
the best that they can have? Why do people always feel so taken advantage of by
vets? Have you all discussed this with your vets? If I thought my vet was ripping me
off I would surely question the charges rather than complain on the internet where
it will get me nowhere.
It really confuses me.
Maybe it is me. I just don't know; but I have never felt that my doctors or my vets
were ripping me off. But then, I worked in the medical field, so maybe it is simply
that I understand...or who knows...maybe I am the one out of touch with reality.
Maybe they are supposed to just give us everything? *confused, just totally confused*
I guess you all could just rely on the good ole internet to diagnose and treat your
pets....I am sure you could find a way to get your prescriptions without paying
a vet.

I'm on my 4th general vet in 10 years....I wish I could have dropped them over something as silly as the charges but unfortunately I had to drop them for more serious things like misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, poor customer service, and incompetent front desk staff. I'd love to argue about a
bill.

Yes, you're right...Ellie May did make several good points. Like you, I would never leave a vet nor accused him/her of taking advantage without solid proof. That's why I posted the thread...to get the "other" side. Unfortunately, my vet has never offered me nor told me about ways to purchase Prince's med cheaper...thank goodness for yt. I have asked them, and the rates that I was told were still more than 3x that of Rite Aid.
Again, I don't mind paying any amount to take care of Prince, I do understand now about vets not buying in bulk, so the prices would tend to be higher, but $6.25 per pill versus $.28 per pill is hard to digest, for the exact same pill.
I plan to stay with our vet, but I always keep my eyes and ears open for options.

My vet called that a stocking fee?!? They charge you to cut the pills and put them in the container. I always tell them to NOT cut the pills for Prince, so all they have to do is to count them and put them in the container, and stick on the charge.

Wow, I think you missed my point!!

I certainly do not want something for nothing, and never implied that!!!!!
wow......:confused:

So if you were to get like 3 Cerenia pills or something, they would charge you $8 more???:confused: Not sure why they don't just mark up the meds accordingly. What about like a tube of Frontline? They walk over to the cabinet, grab one, go click click click in the computer and hand it to you. Or if he is there for an exam already?

Very interesting...thank you.

Yes, they would.
The price on the heartworm preventative meds is hand-written on the box, so you just pay what they wrote.

I would not pay that either. There again, it was good that you asked for an explanation.

Not quite as interesting as you might first think. It is the A(average) cost...does NOT tell you what your vet paid for the meds!

I did not miss your point. You posted on the internet about your vet and you say now you did it to get to the bottom of his charges. The best way to do that is to ask the vet...not a bunch of people on YT. I can see discussing it, but there are many people on the internet with total disregard for vets and what they do. I always post in these threads to try to help people understand both sides of the equation.
I did NOT say that YOU are expecting something for nothing. That was a general statement. This is not the first thread where everyone has jumped on the bandwagon to trash their vets' fees.

A stocking fee is just that- you are paying for someone's time and expertise to A) get the right med and right dose B) dispense the correct amount and C) prep it in any way that is necessary.

It's awesome that your vet took off the fee for you when you said you would cut them yourself, but he's eating the cost of the other things.

The average retail price of a drug has nothing to do with what the vet/pharmacy pays for it. Each place has specific contracts set by the drug companies. A higher volume order pays less than a smaller one per pill. The vets aren't trying to make a killing off of prescribing meds, but they are passing on the costs that THEY get charged.

If you can find a vet that will write you scripts and a pharmacy that will fill them, then more power to you. But don't expect a vet to be able to cut you the same deal because they paid more for it than that. They aren't getting rich off of scripts and they are taking a beating from the pharmaceutical companies so that Wal Mart can get a lower price for their customers.

I've never paid a stocking fee or a fee to cut my pills.

the other day, I paid $69 for two 10-day does of Clavamox for Daisy....not only did they charge me that much, I had to reconstitute the stupid thing myself. I'd have gladly paid the stocking fee to have them make a mess instead of me. I had to stop and read how to do it and all that. PAIN.

Well if they are charging you anyway why not have them cut them too? Or is that extra?

:yeahthat:

If this is directed at me, no, the vet still charged me the same as if I had them cut. I did not request for them to not be cut to save money. I like to cut them myself so them don't get as crumbly.

:)I like to cut them myself. Sometimes I found that the 1/4 weren't exactly even, and some pills crumble. Just my personal choice.:)

Hi guy's I have a question. When you get a prescription for something other than flea med or heartworm med for your pets can you go to a regular pharmacy (humans)?
I do get my heartworm online but I want to know in case I ever need meds for my dogs. Sorry if this seems like a dumb question to some :rolleyes: but I have to mail my prescription in because my vet won't fax because they don't affiliate themselves with them:confused::(.

Some vets will not participate with certain online pharmacies...some won't participate with any.

BUT....you can get a prescription for any medication from your vet and take it to a pharmacy. :)

Thank you, wish they did.

I suppose I am fortunate. My vet does not charge that much for Heargard and Advantage, so that is where I buy it. I have not found an online pharmacy that is cheaper...except for out of the country in places I am just not comfortable with. It just is not that much money that I feel I need to save anything.

As for other meds, my vet does not carry the ones that they have to charge a lot for...they simply advise me that it is cheaper to get it at a pharmacy and they call it in or write a prescription for it.

My vet doesn't give out prescriptions--they have to be bought at the vet clinic. She says the vet owner of the clinic doesn't like to give out his ID # and Arkansas doesn't require them to have to write a prescription on your request. I would like to work to get this changed but don't know where to start. Any suggestions?:aimeeyork

This is kind of an old thread, so I don't think it'll get much more attention, but I used to work as a vet tech so I can answer your question:) - Your vet is not required to write out a script for you, especially if it's for something they keep in stock. He's partialy right for wanting to protect his ID # -filling scripts through a vet vs. a human doctor at a pharmacy is different, the pharmacies have information already in their system as far as hospitals and clinics and the doctors that work there, they don't have this info and access with vets, so he'd have to either call in his ID# or write it on the script, alot of vets aren't comfortable doing this, and for good reason. There's nothing you can do to change his right to refuse that, sorry.

Interesting.

In Michigan, veterinarians are required by law to write prescriptions as long as there is a vet/client/patient relationship and the drug is thought to be necesseary by the vet and the tests needed to dispense the drug (i.e. heartworm meds) have been done. They may charge a fee for this service.

As much as I believe people should get drugs from their vet whenever possible (or exam and procedure fees will go up), I think it's kinda ridiculous to refuse writing an rx. I mean, humans get the choice of what pharmacy they want to go to...

Ellie's vet's first concern when it comes to something like this (besides making sure it's not a counterfeit, obviously) is that her patients are getting the drugs that they need. I don't think she loses sleep over who has her ID.

That said, the law is probably different in your state, so I guess you would go to hte legislature there and try to get the law changed if it is very important to you.