Buying K9 Advantix online

We buy our flea stuff online. HW, no. But Flea stuff, yes. Don't use that brand, but I imagine it's all  the same--in terms of buying online, I mean.

I like Drs. Foster and Smith or a couple of other places...google around, you can ALWAYS get it for substantially cheaper than the vet or petsmart by far. My vet actually suggested it. Again, not for the HW pills, but for the topical flea stuff, yes.

For anything that is a prescription medication, such as heartworm meds, a vet needs to provide said prescription.  Often what happens (or has at least in the past, it may have changed) is that 1-800petmeds or whatever gets an order from you.  They then call your vet to get the prescription ok'd.  The vet/office has to take the time to pull your file, make sure they have seen your pet recently (usually within the past 6months/year), ok the Rx, call petmeds back, etc.  For which they get paid nothing.  I understand people wanting to make their dollar go farther, and I suppose if it is a matter of 'we get heartworm meds this way or not at all'.  Many vet offices have started to charge for over the phone prescriptions because of this. 

Also, in terms of HW meds, my vet told me that if you order from petmeds or Dr Fosters or any of those and, god forbid, something were to happen (e.g. you got a bad batch and your pet got sick), you are sort of S.O.L. On the other hand, if you go through your vet, you are covered for if the company makes a bad batch (<--gross oversimplification)

I sort of operate on the "Ask my vet" policy. So, he advised me to buy certain things 3rd party--we get our lactated ringer solution and needles and tubing elsewhere, and our flea stuff. We get our HW and thyroid stuff through him.

On behalf of veterinarians everywhere, thank you!!  

Yes, we really can't compete with the online pharmacies at this point.  I don't blame clients for looking for the best deal on medications and I'm happy to prescribe them to an outside pharmacy.  We simply can't compete with those larger businesses as they have "bulk" purchasing ability.  It's difficult to explain that concept to clients.  Some see it as their vet "price gouging" rather than understanding that their vet's costs to purchase the medication are higher and therefore the vet must sell it for a higher price to avoid a loss.   We have changed our thinking in terms of the business plan and we don't really look at medications as anything that can contribute to business profit.  And yes, as difficult as it is to think about, veterinary clinics are businesses that must find a way to "float" themselves.

I hadn't planned on trying to get the heartworm meds elsewhere...the "needing a prescription" thing is inconvenient enough that I'm cool with buying those from the vet.

But the flea/tick protection is significantly cheaper.  I'm essentially getting 6 doses for the same price as getting 4 from the vet.  And when you are buying a year's worth of this stuff because you are deploying...every few dollars count.  Buying a year's worth of dog supplies at one time (for two dogs) is pretty painful...UGH.

Thanks for the lead on fosters/smith...they were even cheaper than Amazon...FYI for anyone else, the K9 Advantix is on an "anniversary sale" at that site...extra $10 off.  I got my bigger dog's size for just over $10/dose and my smaller dog's size for UNDER $10/dose...

I like fosters and smith's free shipping on flea/tick stuff...also, they almost ALWAYS have a 5-10% off coupon available (once you are a client, they mail you them...otherwise, reatilmenot or couponcabin typically has one).

Another good place is petsgohere.com (they can often be cheaper than Frs/Smth).

Caveat again: we use frontline plus, so I am not sure about Advantix.

Our vet will go a step further and will match 1-800-PET-MEDS if you ask for a script to an online pharmacy.

I'm a big fan of doing business locally so we take advantage of it.