Follow these tips to save on your pet’s medications.

Prescription (and sometimes non-prescription) medications are a necessary part of taking care of a dog or cat. All pets need certain medications to maintain their health and well-being, such as heartworm prevention and flea and tick control. In addition, if your pet gets sick, chances are good that your veterinarian will prescribe some type of medication for you to give your pet at home. While almost all pet owners want to do the best for their pets, the costs of these medications can sometimes become prohibitive. Fortunately, there are some tips that pet owners can take advantage of to help them cut costs on both prescription and non-prescription pet medications.

Generic Prescription Drugs Versus Brand Names

Generic replacements are not available for all pet medications, but when they are available, the cost is likely to be much lower than for brand name products. Ask your veterinarian if there is a generic equivalent of the medication required by your pet.

In most cases, generic drugs will be just as effective as brand name products. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule and your veterinarian will be able to advise you whether replacing a brand name drug with a generic will supply the same results. For instance, if your pet is taking Atopica®, the brand name is generally more biologically available to your pet than the generic and your veterinarian may recommend not using the generic in this case, or may offer to allow you to try the generic with the assumption that if the generic is ineffective, you may need to switch to the Atopica® brand.

Filling Pet Prescriptions at the Local Pharmacy

Many (but not all) of the prescription medications used in veterinary medicine to treat dogs and cats are also used in human medicine to treat people. As a result, these medications may be available through your local pharmacy at a lower cost. Pharmacies can often offer lower prices because they purchase bulk medications in larger quantities than your veterinarian can stock and are able to pass the resulting savings to their customers. Ask your veterinarian if the medication is available at your local pharmacy (i.e. Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid, CVS, etc.). In most cases, your veterinarian will happy to provide you with a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy if the drug is available there.

Pharmacies also often carry generic brands of commonly used medications which may offer additional price savings. Ask the pharmacist and/or the veterinarian if a generic can be substituted.

Shop around. Call different pharmacies in the area to compare pricing information.

Some pharmacies offer discount plans or savings cards which can be used to save money on the cost of prescription medications also. There is a Community Discount Drug Card which is available online. The card is free and offers discounts on pet medications also. (Please note I have no personal experience with this discount card but offer it as a potential resource for pet owners based on recommendations from other pet owners I’ve spoken to. I advise you to perform your due diligence research before applying for and using this card.)

Online Pet Pharmacies

Online pet pharmacies often offer substantial savings to pet owners on both prescription and non-prescription medications. These pet pharmacies may be the only option (other than your veterinarian’s office) for those medications which are not available in human pharmacies. These would include heartworm preventive medications (such as Heartgard Plus®, Interceptor®, and Revolution®), flea and tick control medications (such as Advantage®, Frontline Plus® and Promeris®), some antibiotics (such as Baytril®), some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (such as Rimadyl® and Previcox®), and others.

As with brick-and-mortar pharmacies, it pays to shop around and compare prices at different online pharmacies before purchasing your pet’s medications.

A word of advice is in order here though. While these online pet pharmacies can offer significant savings on the cost of pet medications, there is some concern about the sourcing of some of these products and there are documented cases of counterfeit medications being dispensed even from the larger, well-known online pet pharmacies, including counterfeited Frontline® and Advantage® products. Use discretion when purchasing from these sources and know how to identify counterfeit products if you do elect to purchase from them. Before purchasing, it may be worthwhile to consult with your veterinarian’s office to compare prices and ask if they are able to meet the online pharmacy price if there is a difference.

Financial Aid for Low-Income Pet Owners

If your pet is in need of medications that you cannot afford, there may be financial aid organizations in your community who are able to help. Contact your local SPCA, shelter or veterinary medical association for advice. These resources are primarily reserved for pets with life-threatening or painful conditions. Routine medications such as heartworm prevention and flea and tick control would likely not qualify.

Cutting Costs on Pet Medications

Though pet medications (both prescription and non-prescription) can be expensive, by comparing prices, substituting generic medications where possible and making use of local pharmacies and/or online pharmacies as well as your veterinarian’s hospital, it is possible to reduce the expense of many of your pet’s medications.

Photo Credit: klynslis/Flickr.com

• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later
• Bookmark in Browser

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 8:58 pm and is filed under Cats, Dogs, Features, Pet Products/Medications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.