What do all of you think of those on-line prescription med

[Mary Plummer]

sites for pets? I finally found the info I wanted at Merial...the makers of Tresaderm. But I also had to wade through a number of on-line pet med sellers, and I got pretty skeptical of this. Looking at the ingredients in Tresaderm (an antifungal, an antibiotic, and a steroid product), I don't think I'd ever want to use it without our vets taking a look at Mr. Blue and recommending it for him. I'd heard there were some court battles over these sites, but I don't know what the outcome was. I know our work email is now getting flooded with on-line human med sites. I certainly wouldn't want to take a lot of those drugs without my doctor's knowledge, and I guess I feel the same way about our pets. Am I too old-fashioned in this regard? The vet did tell me to keep the Tresaderm on hand to use when his ear itchies get bad again, and I will. But, as always, it's right to the vet with him if I'm uncertain about something.

[k9Karen]

I don't know about the vet-med sites, but the human ones are not in the U.S. - some are in Africa. I think if you give them a credit card number, you will regret it. I'm getting flooded at home with the same cr*p. I forward them all to my internet carrier. It's amazing what they catch as spam, but there is still too much getting through.

I do think that some of the vet meds should be available without an Rx. It would be great if I could buy heartworm preventive without a scrip from my vet. My vets are very reasonable in what they charge for HeartGuard though. Some people I know pay twice what I do. I think my vet group wants to make sure everyone uses it, so they don't mark it up very much.

[Marty]

Someone had mentioned a site in Australia that they were impressed with, and you could get heartworm meds without a prescription. I would think the danger would be in not having the dog tested for heartworm first...and that would be the reason for requiring an RX here. I went to some human sites, trying to find info on my meds for my back, and now am being bombarded with stuff that is not mentionable

[Traci]

JUST SAY NO!

Marty is correct, if you buy a product (such as heartguard) from an unlicensed dealer, your dog develops heartworm or the product fails, you have no legal recourse. Merial, and buying from your vet, of course, ensure that you have recourse. Merial WILL pay for diagnostics should the product fail, and WILL pay treatment costs upon failure of a med had your dog developed heartworm while using their product (assuming your vet tested first, and assuming the product was given by a licensed dealer, re: your vet or other licensed pharmacy with your vet's written Rx). Other manufacturers such as Fort Dodge, etc will do the same thing...again, providing the consumer has not gone out of bounds.

The above is only one valid reason amoung several that I don't recommend buying such products online. As you know, PetMeds is under alot of scrutiny (not to mention legal suits) for dispensing without written Rx from the original veterinarian, including valid vet-client-patient relationship. As for the others online, well, buyer beware.

Another important consideration, and I won't mention the retailer, but they would "fill" a "prescription" without ever contacting the client's vet to validate if the pet was healthy, or validating a necessary prescription. Then they would send the medication in an unmarked pill bottle, with one or more pills, nothing for the consumer to read, investigate, or any direction in which to give the med. Black market products are also used in such practices, which is illegal in this country for prescription drugs. While you may be thinking you are receiving prescription heartguard or frontline or advantage, etc, you could be recieving an adulterated, expired product, including (or not) directions given in metric which most owners don't understand, this can prove fatal if not given correctly according to age, weight, health, etc.

Lastly, by the time you add time, shipping etc to your online pharmacy order, you might as well have saved your money and time and went to your vet and asked if they would consider matching the price you wanted. Never hurts to ask. And of course, your dog's health and safety pronounced by your vet should always be priority.

Off my soapbox now

[Mary Plummer]

Thanks everyone! It seems my suspicions about this were right on! I know, and we've all "met" people on-line, who are convinced that they know better than their vets. For me, I've got experience with Mr. Blue's ear problems, but I don't have a broader context to put that in...other dogs, knowledge of all the problems that can affect his ears, etc. In yesterday's case, I really had no idea whether a new ear wash, oral antibiotics, or drops like we got would be recommended, nor did I have any idea which would be best for him. Traci, that's a great article and collection of links! I didn't know about the companies paying for testing and treatment of heartworm if the client gets it from their vet! I've never been tempted not to, simply because I like the yearly test they give him. I never want him getting heartworm again!! Marty, I bet you're getting flooded with offers for *beep* and Vicodan; these are the two that seem to be mentioned in all the spam emails I get.

PS: Forgot to mention that the Tresaderm drops really seem to be helping! The vet gave him some yesterday morning, and I gave him his second dose last night. His ear is less red now, and there's none of the "crud" that was in it yesterday morning.