Buying pet medicine in the UK - Customs Issue?

AnthonyB

Hi all.

My dog had a stroke recently, and has been put on stroke suppressant medicine (that's effectively what it is) called Vivitonin, to minimise the effect of future strokes. It's €90 per month, which is a huge amount...I've seen online I can get it for around €50 per month in the UK. A friend of mine is going to the UK next week, and he could possibly get some for me (I don't think I need a prescription) but I'm afraid he might get stopped at customs. Anyone got any experience of this?

Thank you,

Anthony.

toadfly

I used to get arthritis meds for my old dog Cody online much cheaper than here from petmeds.co.uk and never had a customs issue. I did need a prescription which my vet gave no problem and emailed it to them.

AnthonyB

TillyGirl wrote: »

I used to get arthritis meds for my old dog Cody online much cheaper than here from petmeds.co.uk and never had a customs issue. I did need a prescription which my vet gave no problem and emailed it to them.

Wow...super. Was that long ago? Did you get much at a time?

tk123

Looks like it's prescription only - http://www.vetuk.co.uk/pet-meds-prescription-only-vivitonin-c-21_782/vivitonin-50mg-tablet-p-730

Some of the websites in the UK will accept an irish prescription - you could order online and get it sent to where your friend is staying or order online and have it sent to parcel motel. Having it posted is technically illegal but it's ok to bring it back with you....which imo is a stupid rule!

AnthonyB

tk123 wrote: »

Looks like it's prescription only - http://www.vetuk.co.uk/pet-meds-prescription-only-vivitonin-c-21_782/vivitonin-50mg-tablet-p-730

Some of the websites in the UK will accept an irish prescription - you could order online and get it sent to where your friend is staying or order online and have it sent to parcel motel. Having it posted is technically illegal but it's ok to bring it back with you....which imo is a stupid rule!

Thanks....yeah, I looked at petmeds.co.uk and they do need a prescription, but that's still fine. I guess I should have presumed as much given it's so expensive. We've only had one box and the vet gave it to us directly, so we didn't need the prescription for that.

They do seem to ship to Ireland (thanks Tillygirl!!) though they sell the tablets per tablet rather than per box, which seems odd, and is probably more expensive as a result.

I'll look for a few other UK online places. Maybe my friend - if I give him the prescription - could pick up a few boxes in a pharmacy.

AnthonyB

These guys seem to be the cheapest... 38p per tablet versus 48p and 50p on two other sites (100mg tablets). Big difference!

http://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/p-3103-vivitonin-tablets-100mg.aspx

toadfly

AnthonyB wrote: »

Wow...super. Was that long ago? Did you get much at a time?

He died three years ago. I think the max we could get on each prescription was 6 months but you don't need to pay for all together just ask for two months supply at a time.

AnthonyB

TillyGirl wrote: »

He died three years ago. I think the max we could get on each prescription was 6 months but you don't need to pay for all together just ask for two months supply at a time.

Sorry to hear he passed. But thanks for the info...our guy is old but seems to have dodged a bullet - hopefully he has a bit more time left!

Thx.

Pumpkinseeds

Viovet uk ship prescription meds to Ireland as well, obviously you'd need the prescription though.

AnthonyB

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Viovet uk ship prescription meds to Ireland as well, obviously you'd need the prescription though.

Thanks. I have been doing some investigating, and the VMD have a list of accredited online pet meds suppliers. Pet Drugs Online seems to be the cheapest, but they're not accredited, which seems odd.

Viovet isn't accredited either...the big ones don't seem to be accredited. Not sure what's going on. I tweeted PedDrugsOnline to see why.

http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/InternetRetailers/accredited-retailers.aspx

Shint0

My dog was put on Vivitonin just today as she is showing signs of dementia. She is on 50mg per day and the cost for a month's supply from the vet is €18. Perhaps your dog is on a higher dose but it mght be a useful guide in working out whether you are being overcharged or maybe that is the typical price depending on dosage.

AnthonyB

Shint0 wrote: »

My dog was put on Vivitonin just today as she is showing signs of dementia. She is on 50mg per day and the cost for a month's supply from the vet is €18. Perhaps your dog is on a higher dose but it mght be a useful guide in working out whether you are being overcharged or maybe that is the typical price depending on dosage.

Our guy is on 300mg per day and the cost is about €90 per month - so by mg it works out cheaper for our guy...we have a big dog, he's oldish, and has had a stroke, so the dosage is pretty high

TooMuchAtOnce

This seems genuine and cheap.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vivitonin-60-X-100mg-tablets-/181178642406?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Washing_Machines_Dryers_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item2a2f16afe6

AnthonyB

TooMuchAtOnce wrote: »

This seems genuine and cheap.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vivitonin-60-X-100mg-tablets-/181178642406?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Washing_Machines_Dryers_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item2a2f16afe6

Great spot, many thanks.

AnthonyB

TooMuchAtOnce wrote: »

This seems genuine and cheap.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vivitonin-60-X-100mg-tablets-/181178642406?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Washing_Machines_Dryers_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item2a2f16afe6

Got those - all legit. Nice tip, thanks.