Prescription medication

Prescription medication  

As part of a recommended treatment plan for your pet, your vet may prescribe medication.

You can buy this medicine directly from the practice, or request a written prescription and buy it elsewhere.

When deciding where to buy your pet's prescription medication, consider the balance between convenience and cost. And do keep in mind that in an emergency, purchasing medication from a different source might not be practical.

Prescription fees  

Online retailers

If you choose to buy your pet’s medication online, always use a regulated, authorised retailer.

We recommend you purchase only from online retailers accredited by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate Accredited Internet Retailer Scheme. These will have met strict standards for storing, handling, and dispensing medicines safely.

Fairness and transparency

You can ask your practice to tell you the cost of any medication that may be prescribed or dispensed.

The price of medication dispensed by your practice should be clearly itemised on your bill.

If you do decide to buy your pet’s medication elsewhere, your vet must not charge you more for other goods or services than they would a client who buys medication from the practice.

Long-term medication

Where possible, your vet should let you know the frequency and cost of further examinations of pets that need long-term or ongoing medication.

Medication for parasites

To help reduce the environmental impact of antiparasitic medicines (such as flea, tick and worming treatments), and to help manage the risk of your pet devlopoing rsisitamt to the treatment, vets may need to physically examine your pet before prescribing. This helps ensure the most appropriate treatment is selected.

When making prescribing decisions, your vet will also take your pet’s lifestyle into account.

This can often be done as part of your pet’s annual vaccination appointment or a routine health check.

When a vet can prescribe unauthorised medicines

Vets are normally required to prescribe medicines that are authorised in the country where they are practising, for the species and condition they are treating, following the guidelines provided by the manufacturer.

If no suitable authorised medicine is available, and to avoid unacceptable animal suffering, veterinary medicines legislation allows vets to treat an animal with an unauthorised medicine under a risk-based system called the cascade.

Your vet should inform you if they plan to do this and explain any potential side-effects before obtaining your written consent.

If you own an exotic species, such as reptiles or amphibians, be aware that most medicines used are unlikely to be authorised for use in these species, so your vet should seek your consent from the outset.

Because of these rules, it is unlawful for vets to prescribe a human medicine, for example, paracetamol, if there is an authorised veterinary medicine that is more suitable for your pet.

In very limited emergency situations, a vet may advise you to give your animal a human medicine you already have at home, including specific instructions on dosage and how often it should be given. In these cases, it is very important that you follow your vet’s advice carefully.