Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
In a town the size of mine, there are quite a few vets versus the population size, & an even bigger disparity when you factor in the low-income families who just do
not take their pets to the vet at all, or very rarely. I totally "get" that the vets are trying hard to stay in business, & some mark-up is to be expected of course...but
when they had the nerve to tell me they didn't even have a prescription pad & could NOT write a prescription for my pet so I could fill it elsewhere with better prices,
& that they could only sell me the heartworm prevention medicine she needed, that's where I call "foul".

Not only did I find another vet after that, but I found one who told me about a very inexpensive OTC prevention medication for canine heartworms that I've used with
100% success for both my dogs ever since, at a tiny fraction of the cost of the various name brand products being sold. I use Ivermectin, as sold for cattle dosing in
local feedstores. The brand Ivomec has now given way to Noromectin, but it's identical, & available online from Jeffers at Jefferspet.com. A 50 ml. bottle will hold you
for several years, easily to expiration date & you'll have a lot left over, for a cost of roughly $30. (I donate 2/3 of my bottle to the local Humane Society shelter.) You'll
need an insulin syringe to dose* it very carefully though, I can't emphasize that enough, & they don't recommend using it for collies** & certain breeds** such as Italian
greyhounds+. This is given orally, monthly: I drip the dose onto a small bite of bread & dab a little peanut butter or something on top...my dogs love it, to say the least.
You would NOT want to add it to a bowl of food, in case they didn't finish it for some reason, or in case another pet gets into that bowl. Sorry, this may be a little off-
topic, but for anyone it helps, you're welcome. (*The exact dosage is 0.034 cc per 10 pounds of body weight, or approximately 0.1 cc per 30
pounds of body weight-) <This was taken from google search, there are various sources you can also verify showing similar info.

**CAUTION:​ using Ivermectin, please read: https://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvet...ermectin-29671

As I said, this may be a little off-topic, but my point is that some vets are there to help, more than for their own profits, but they're just harder to find it seems.

Thanks for sharing. I think this practice is unethical and possibly illegal, so I am looking for ways to punish this place so it will give up this practice in the future. Let me know if you can think of something other than reporting to amva.org.