Buying prescription meds online

[Pippin's person]

I got a prescription for Comfortis from my vet, who doesn't carry the product but thought it would be good for us. I've not bought prescription meds online before. Any recommendations or advice about online pet med companies? Right now, 1800petmeds and Drs. Foster and Smith are the main contenders as far as I can see.

 

On another note, what are y'all doing to control fleas this year? We've never had them before but have them now (with cats and dogs in the house). We've been using FL Plus which I just alternated with Advantage II. We are adding Comfortis to the mix (while continuing the topicals--vet says this is not too toxic. I'm trusting she's correct). Also treating the house (but only minimally chemically) and manually removing fleas we find on the animals with a flea comb. Not practical to treat outside--will have to wait on a freeze to take care of that (though our animals don't spend much time lying around outside).

 

I know it's going to take time and perserverance to take care of the fleas, but I'm still curious to hear what folks find effective (esp. In a house with multiple indoor animals)

[Olivia]

I order Carlie's proin through KV vet supply. They are super nice and easy to deal with and the price was cheaper than I had found anywhere else. My vet just called the script in and I called them about 30 minutes later to fill it. The box arrived 4 days later.

[terrecar]

I like KV as well. 1800PetMeds will pester you with 'specials' if you give them an email address. That tends to annoy me to the point of writing them off.

[Maralynn]

I've used both Drs Foster and Smith and Valley Vet supply when ordering HW meds and had great results with both. Simple, great service and very competitive prices. If your vet will fax in prescriptions it would be pretty quick, too. I have to mail in prescriptions and still have the meds in just over a week.

 

1800 pet meds is almost the same price as my vet with several things so I don't think I'd ever use them. If I'm going to pay that much I'd just pay it to my vet instead.

 

With fleas like that, I'd use a bug bombs in the house right after I treated all the dogs. Or at least get a carpet/furniture spray and spray things down really well. I'd also wash all of the pet bedding at the same time.

 

I haven't had a big issue with fleas here this year. I'm actually just using Adams spray on the dogs every couple of weeks. I've used topicals in the past (usually Bio-spot) but this year I just decided to try a spray since several of the topicals seem to really irritate the dogs. So far so good.

[juliepoudrier]

KV Vet or Valley Vet. I know a lot of people who use Foster and Smith. I would just check several and see who has the best price.

 

J.

[PSmitty]

I use Vet Depot to buy methimazole for two of my cats, and insulin syringes for my third. (I know, how lucky can one cat owner BE??) It is way less expensive than my vet, I just order online and they contact the vet for the 'script and I have them in a couple of days, max. Once, the order got lost, Post Office "confirmed" it had been delivered, but unless someone stole it off my front porch, it was delivered somewhere else and never returned. Vet Depot sent out a replacement right away, at no charge. Excellent customer service.

 

And, oddly enough, we have not had a flea problem this summer. I used Advantage every couple of months as needed, and even split the vials between them.

[bcnewe2]

Not a fan of Comfortis. We had horrible fleas down in AR. Frontline didn't work and I used one other topical that didn't work so then tried the comfortis. Mick and Jazz through up. Dew was fine and that is when all our seizure issues with Raven started. Although I think it was a combo of all the above that started it for her I scared me off Comfortis. Mick and Jazz vomited quick enough that I knew it was from the pill.

 

Now I'm finding that frontline isn't working here in MO so I switched to Advantage II and it seems to be doing the trick. I split the lg dose with 2 dogs.

I hate putting anything on any of them!

[Liz P]

Comfortis often makes them puke the first time. After that most are fine.

 

How old was Raven when she had her first seizure?

 

FYI, the active ingredient in Comfortis is used as a pesticide on organic food for humans.

[Sue R]

I have bought prescriptions online for items (like Comfortis) that were not available at the time from my regular vets. Since my vets' prices are reasonably close to the online prices (I find those vary all over the place, and some online "special sale" prices have even been very significantly higher than my vet's prices), I chose to buy what I can from my vets - who, after all, is there for me when I need his/her services.

 

I've used Drs Foster & Smith, KV Vet, Jeffers, and 1-800-Petmeds all very successfully for prescriptions and/or other supplies. When I do buy online, I chose the supplier from these by price as the service seems pretty comparable.

 

I have been particularly pleased with the customer service from Drs Foster & Smith (who also have supplied the Bluegrass with a nice $25 gift certificate the last two years for our use as a prize) - when I bought Dasuquin with MSM from them for Celt, and it caused loose stools, they took it back and gave me a full refund on the open container along with the unopened container. I couldn't complain about that quick service.

 

PS - When we first used Advantage, some years ago during a particularly nasty flea infestation, it was like a miracle. I only use flea preventative when needed, and we have rarely needed it - until recent years, now that we have neighbors with five (I think) dogs. When they moved in and we had fleas for only the second time ever, Frontline (and then Frontline Plus) worked like a charm - for a couple of summers. I switched back to Advantage, which worked for one summer season.

 

With Celt being allergic and scratching like crazy (he's our flea magnet), and me not being able to find either Advantage or Frontline having any effect on the fleas, I took our Lisa's advice and tried Comfortis. It worked like a charm. None of my dogs has ever chucked it back up (I always give with a meal) and it does the job.

 

I use Revolution on the cat (and used to use it on the house rabbits when we had them as it is both effective and safe for rabbits).

 

Fortunately, except for those summer months when we find signs or (or suspect fleas) and for our trips to NC or other points where we think the dogs might pick up fleas, we seem to not have a problem with them, so we don't have to treat year-round.

[TrulyReady]

I have heard may stories about Comfortis making dogs sick etc. I personally find it to be a godsend. Last year we had a huge flea problem after letting my mom dogsit one of our dogs, who kindly brought back fleas to the house. All the topicals did little to no good, and I finally decided to try Comfortis, I have never had a problem since. I did give the dogs a flea bath the same day as there first dose (Made me feel better knowing most of the adult dead fleas were down the drain instead of on my furniture) I don't give it monthly probably closer to every 3 months and we have never seen a flea since! I made sure I give the pill with a full stomach as directed and have never had and of my three dogs vommit them back up. As to where to order them I would just shop around and find the best deal at the time your ordering, alot of sites have flea med sales at different times.

[Pippin's person]

Thanks for the good suggestions.

[Gloria Atwater]

I've used Drs Foster and Smith and been quite happy with their service. I haven't tried the other online pharmaceutical companies.

 

~ Gloria