Costs of prescription medicines

Hi all,
Our little 7 month old shih tzu (Teddy) has been diagnosed with Helicobacter, I have just been to our vets clinic to collect his medication:
60 x 250mg Noroclav tablets plus 60 x Stomorgyl tablets have come to £166. I have to go back on Monday to collect 60 x Losec tablets at £144.
We are shocked at the prices of this medication simply because this is a first for us and because of our NHS we are somewhat protected from the harsh realities of health costs. My question is 'has anyone out there had to buy these tablets for their pets and if so, were the costs similar? - Also, are they reliably available elsewhere at less cost, for the real thing. Any advice gratefully received. Thanks. Jim.

I haven't had to buy these meds so am not sure if they are fairly priced but there are legitimate online pharmacies that can fulfil the script for you so you can check with them and if cheaper ask the vet for the prescription and get the online pharmacy to do it.

Your vet won't be happy about it though so if you explain it's just too costly and you can get it much cheaper elsewhere, no offence intended he should be ok and who knows may offer you a better price but that bit is not my experience!

Is Teddy insured? It's just that you will have undoubtably gone passed the excess and be able to claim it back- in which case it's best if it's all at the vets!

Hope he's better soon, a sick dog is not fun, hope that helps.

We got the long-term pain medication for my previous dog at less than half the price the vet charges (including the cost of the prescription) online.

Well worth shopping around

Hi Jim,

Just been on Bestpet Pharmacy for you and they do the Noroclav tablets at 56p each, so your 60 equates to £30 ish

They also do the Stomorgyl,but they are priced differently for each type here:

http://www.bestpetpharmacy.co.uk/search_results.asp

Try looking at Hyperdrug too, they do most prescription medications for dogs, and they do a print out prescription for your vet to sign. They're never too happy about doing this of course, if they're making a big profit on selling them to you direct, but by law they have to sign the prescription, especially as they have prescribed all these tablets for Teddy.

You need insurance, and if you haven't got it already, then it's too late now to claim for this condition, but get yourself some insurance, so that you can claim for anything else in the future. You have to disclose this current condition of course when completing the application.

I never walk out of my vets after taking my old boy in with a bill less than £150 either!!!

Noroclav and Stomorgyl tablets are for dogs and I am sure that one of the online vet pharmacies will have them for far less if your vet gives you a prescription.

Losec are prescribed for humans [I take 20mg BID ie 60 tablets each month] and I cannot see that 60 Losec tablets should cost any where near £144. Losec is omeprazole and generic omeprazole is available under various brand names by generic drug manufacturers which are far cheaper than the brand "Losec".

It is also available OTC without a prescription in many countries but I do not know if it is in the UK and a regular pharmacy should accept a vet's prescription for it.

I hope your pup recovers quickly.

Hi Jim,
Poor Teddy, but at least you have a proper diagnosis and hopefully the COSTLY meds will eradicate this nasty bacteria. I asked my vet for a prescription for some meds I could get a lot cheaper on the web, but the charge from the vets was £15 for the prescription ...... what a racket. The cost would have wiped out any saving over the web. The advise you've been given looks really helpful and I have nothing more to suggest other than if you can actually take a printed prescription in, surely a vet's signature can't be as expensive as the vet's printing off a prescription!
All animal meds are exorbitant, even more so than human meds!!

Just done this for fudge, Metacam from Vets £52, metacam from amimed £16.99 + £12 for the prescription so more or less 1/2 price

My vet charged £5 for every month's worth of medication (£15 for a three month prescription) so be aware that most vets will charge you for the prescription, but the meds still work out one heck of a lot cheaper.

You also need to get the prescription in advance of needing the meds as it takes two or three days for them to get to you. You also need a fax or a scanner to be able to send the signed prescription back to the chemists. You can post, but of course that adds to the delay

some vets will match the online price of meds if dogs is on them longterm. FWIW my vet charges £7 for a prescription.

Thank you all so much for your invaluable information, we have to collect the Losec from the vet on Monday so I will ask the receptionist exactly how much a prescription will cost as the medications are far cheaper over the internet. On the subect of insurance I think that we missed the boat there as Teds period of no cover started 14/12/2011 and we took him to the vet on the 12/12/2011 - s**'s law !! ( we are with Animal Friends )
Thanks all, Jim.