vets prescriptions

[slinkycat]

Hi, my parents' elderly border collie suffers from arthritis, which is greatly alleviated by tablets from the vets. She will probably need to be on them for the rest of her life, and as they are quite expensive and my mum and dad are pensioners I had a look on the internet and found the tablets for half the price.
They explained this to the vet, and that they would need him to write a prescription to send to the on-line suppliers. He was very understanding, agreed to write the prescription, then charged them �7.50 for it!
Is this normal? I realise the vet is probably losing some profit by not supplying the tablets, but it seems a bit excessive.

[reefgal]

hi slinkycat try this link
http://www.petdispensary.co.uk/prescription-gu ide-605-0.html

[wildwood]

You can't really expect him to do it for free, can you?
Many charge more. Few charge less.

[carmalee]

yes it is normal but why don't you ask him for a repeat prescription for say three doses then it only a couple of pounds a time. I know all about it as I also have a very old B.Collie (18, blind, selectively deaf and with arthritis) -she is on lots of medication but I'm lucky to have an agreement with my vet over the costs. She has a remarkable quality of life all things considered but then she has me as a personal slave to cater for her every need!

[Clanad]

One of our ancient dogs died a few years ago and suffered from hip dysplasia as well as other arthritic disabilities. After consulting with our vet here in the U.S. , we elected to try a simple 80 grain baby aspirin daily. We used a coated variety and she was on it for about two years until she died of natural causes... age 15. It was obvious she obtained a great deal of relief form the regimen.

Only a suggestion, since mentioning its use often causes lots of red-faced hand waving by those opposed...

[slinkycat]

Thanks all for your replies, no wildwood I didn't expect it for free, its just that the amount seemed excessive for what is basically a couple of minutes to print out the prescription, however looking at reefgals link it seems that some vets charge twice as much!
carmalee I was going to suggest a repeat prescription, the one they have is only for one box, nice little earner for the vet if they keep getting new ones printed out!
Finally, I'll mention the aspirin to my parents clanad, as Penny has the arthritis in her hips/ rear legs, slinky x