After paying large amounts of money to see a vet am I within my rights to ask for a copy of the prescription they have issued, after all I have paid for it !

I ask because vets can charge what they want for tablets etc, with a prescription you could save a fortune by shopping around.

Things aren't the same with animal health as they are with human. Vets can charge what they want for medication, but since they don't (and won't) share notes with another vet then you can't take your animal to another vets without going through all of the consultations and tests again (with more expense).

So once you've been through all of that you could then find that the new vet charged even more than the first one. Better you find someone whose skills you trust and dig as deep in your pockets as you can.

It is required by legislation that vets display price lists of the 10 most frequently issued medicines prominantly within the surgery. A good vets should be able to issue you with documentation of any drugs prescribed and also inform you of the price before issuing the drugs.

Just copied this from an online pet medication site in the uk -

From the 31.10.2005 veterinary surgeons must offer free prescriptions. When a veterinary surgeon decides that your pet requires a particular medicine he is now required by law to provide you with a free prescription for this when you request one.

Just copied this from an online pet medication site in the uk -

From the 31.10.2005 veterinary surgeons must offer free prescriptions. When a veterinary surgeon decides that your pet requires a particular medicine he is now required by law to provide you with a free prescription for this when you request one.

You have visited the same site as me, its ok knowing your rights bit how do you enforce them?

My vet wants to charge me £17 for a prescription for Rimadyl tablets; they charge me £24 for 30 tablets when I know with a prescription I could get them for £16.

Its extortion, do I continue to pay through the nose or have the hassle of changing vets with no guarantee that they wouldn’t pull the same trick?

you could pay a consultation fee, then your £16 sourcing your own medication, and I bet you come out paying more ;)

Springfield don't charge unless treatment is actually required, so I think we're currently getting great value for money, as Brude's back problem has been in and out just to be checked far more times than I care to count :(

Our vet even put the Rimadyl on repeat, to save faffing when it was required :)

Yes there is a massive saving when you buy online, i got loads of frontline nearly half price of what i pay the vet, i didn't know they had to give free prescriptions now thats very handy.

Our vet even put the Rimadyl on repeat, to save faffing when it was required :)

This is crux of the argument, I have paid for treatment over a period of time, the result is an open prescription for Rimadyl for me to use as necessary for the next six months.

The problem is they have the prescriptions and want to charge me £17 for a copy; this is illegal under current legislation. If I don’t want to pay there prices I have got to get max registered at another vet and go through the whole consultation and diagnosis procedure all over again.

If I stay with my current vet and kick up a fuss they would properly just remove max from their practice, although I have told them what I think about the whole affair, it stings.

If my GP gave me a prescription and I found out I could buy the treatment cheaper over the counter I be free to do so, but while my vet holds the prescription I have to pay there prices and lump it.

By the way my vets name sounds like Books, I don’t think that’s liable is it?

Yes there is a massive saving when you buy online, i got loads of frontline nearly half price of what i pay the vet, i didn't know they had to give free prescriptions now thats very handy.

You can’t just walk into the vets and get a free prescription; the point is once you have paid for a treatment you shouldn’t then be charged extra for a copy of the prescription.

If it was a prescription for a one off dose of tablets it wouldn’t be worth arguing about, but when you have a prescription for six months its got to be worth comparing prices.

If Merlin wasn't insured (and therefore only actually costing me a couple of pounds a month in treatment) I would be thinking the same as you Malky. As it is she's on £45 of heart drugs a month, and seeing a cardiologist every 3 months, with extra cost for cardiac testing and blood tests.

It's a significant cost, and if there's a way that you can reduce the cost but still maintain the good treatment that your pet receives then it's really hard to stomach when someone stands in the way of doing it.

Max is insured and I know I can claim my costs back but it is frustrating when you know somebody is pulling a fast one over you.

In the long run vets get richer by charging over the odds while insurance premiums go up to pay their costs.