Vet mafia?

[Thumperina]

I have a bad feeling. Medications in vet's office are sold up to 5 times more expensive that we could get them elsewhere.
Just because my pets don't get sick often, I am not familiar with the situation about common medications, and when they get sick, I just buy what vet mafia sells me.

For instance, we go to Walmart and get triple antibiotic cream for $2 to keep in the house just in case.....Is there a possibility to get common rabbit meds thi way - over the counter? How all the online pet drug stores work? do you order there?

 

[Thumperina]

I apologize for saying this kind of aggressive, I am just upset over a particular situation with my sick bunny.
I should ask it differently:
- do you have an emergency kit for your bunny? what is included?
- do you use online drug sores to get prescription meds and how do they work?

 

[Aki]

I can only speak for my country but it's probably the same in the USA. There are online stores where you can buy medication like "medicanimal" but there are some stuffs that you can't get without a prescription (in that case, you need a prescription from the vet and you have to scan it for the online store to order the medication).

It is true that most things are more expensive at the vets (the dry food or hay for example are a real rip off). The worst in France is vaccination - in some countries you can buy your own vaccines and it's like 2 or 3$ but in France the vet lobby forbids people outside from vets to buy it (even breeders can't) and thus you will pay around 45$ for it even though vaccinating a rabbit is easy as pie and that anyone could do it. It is easy to understand too : vets make a very small profit margin with operations, the most of their income comes from vaccines which are quick and necessitate no special expensive machines. Also vaccines labs have partnerships with clinics and vet schools... As a result, there is a real problem with over-vaccination. For example, many studies proved that the vaccines for dogs hold for at least 7 years (or only a few months, which make them ineffective). In many countries a lot of vaccines are done only every 3 years or so. In France it's every year for everything and we have an increase of cancers which some professionnals believe to linked to too much vaccines. The thing is that vets have studied vaccines on the pamphlets made by pharmaceutical laboratories and most of them never did a single research on their own, so they really believe that vaccines must be done every year. Others only look at the profit they make from it. And almost all of them will tell all of their clients they will kill their dogs if they don't do the whole vaccination set every year. The first vet I saw with Jeeves (my dog) wanted to do the rabies too, even though there hasn't been a case of rabies in France for almost 10 years and that the vaccine is known to have lots of possible side-effects.
So, now, I do the vaccines once every 3 years (and no rabies ever) to be sure and say to the vet that I know what I'm doing...

I have an emergency kit which mostly contains things for GI stasis as it's a common condition that can be treated if you do it early. It contains 2 or 3 small syringes (without needle), Metacam for pain, Emeprid for gut mobility and Fibreplex which is a supplement of probiotics and fibers. I also keep a small jar of baby food for force feeding (most people have Critical Care). I was REALLY happy to have all of this when Aki had GI stasis one month ago (she had that on a Sunday, of course ^^'). It's not used in France but I see mentions of Simethicone for gas very often on rabbit forums too. For sores or very small wounds I have pure organic aloe vera as it really can't hurt and it's good to prevent infection and help to mend the skin (it also reduces itches) and it's safe to swallow.

 

[RavenousDragon]

If you are ordering online, please be sure it's from a reputable source- some places will sell expired meds or those which have been stored improperly to lower the prices (NOT all, just some).

Aki is correct in that veterinarians make the most of off things like vaccinations and, actually, dentals is the biggest one (and yet still people won't brush their animals' teeth ). The link to vaccinations and cancer has technically only been supported in cats, but for many illnesses, the risk of cancer is definitely worth it- especially since as technology improves, the risks go down. Also- if you live in the US, please get rabies vaccinations. It's everywhere here and it is 100% fatal.

For an emergency kit- I have food and hay (and cat food) in my car for quick emergency get-aways (I've never had to actually use it, but you never know). I also have a thermometer, critical care, bandage materials, Critical Care, and a towel in a little kit in my cabinet. I use it for both my rabbits and my cat.

 

[Aki]

About vaccination, of course if you live in a country where rabies is still a thing, vaccinate (I would do it if I travelled with my dog outside of France). But the harmful side-effects of vaccination on dogs is something that often comes up in veterinary studies and they are very real (how likely does it seem to you that over vaccination causes cancer for cats and not dogs?).
I see very often articles or books which say something like this (and I recently listened to a vet congress in the biggest vet school in France which said about the same thing, but I think it will still take many years before it brings anything concrete, and I really believe a lot of "old school" vets sincerely have no idea) :
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/lifelong-immunity-vets/

Nevertheless, just to be clear, I don't advocate not vaccinating. I just think that in France, we do it too often (I do it every year for my rabbits as those are "dead" vaccines which don't give any long term immunity) and that the ratio of risks and benefits isn't that good with an annual vaccination. Neighbouring countries which use the same vaccines do most of them every 3 years and it seems reasonable to me, so I adopted the same schedule. Of course, it is only my choice based on what I've read. Moreover my dog is not in contact with any other dog, he is kept on a leash outside of the garden and never has been (and never will be) kept in kennels during my business trips so he really has a very low-risk life ^^.

 

[missyscove]

In the United States your veterinarian must provide a written prescription for you for any drug they prescribe if you request it. That said, many human pharmacies do not carry veterinary medications so that written prescription can be essentially useless if you need a medication right then. Pharmacy products have been a big money maker for veterinarians for years and with the advent of more human pharmacies carrying some veterinary products, flea and tick products being sold over the counter and online pharmacies that can deliver products quickly, this income source is disappearing for many veterinarians and your veterinarian is having to raise prices elsewhere in order to keep the lights on and the employees paid. There are many medications that you as a pet owner can get at a large pharmacy for cheaper than your veterinarian can buy them from their distributor, yet your veterinarian likely still carries them for the convenience and the ability to have them on hand for immediate use.
Additionally, for the smallest of patients medications must often be compounded in order to achieve a reasonable dose. This too can be expensive.

In my opinion, every rabbit owner should have a bag of critical care on hand to offer in cases of GI stasis. You might consider asking your veterinarian about a bottle of meloxicam and/or subcutaneous fluids to have on hand as well, but only if you're familiar with the appropriate doses and how to administer them.