One of the unfortunate realities of owning a senior dog or cat is that it comes with more visits to the vet (33% of Australian owners of older pets reported taking their pet to the vet in the last 3 months*) and often with expensive drug bills. There is no PBS or other government subsidies for pet medicines and so the cost of expensive life saving pet medicines falls fully on the pet owner. Pet insurance for older dogs and cats can help but more than 73% of Australian pet owners report that they don’t have any of their pets insured* and while most insurance companies will continue to insure a pet as he or she gets older, generally its not possible to take out new insurance for pets over 8 or 9 years old.
Much to the relief of many senior pet owners in Australia, it’s possible to order most life saving pet medicines online from specialist pet pharmacies like PetScripts.com.au giving considerable cost savings.
For example Caninsulin 10ml (dog insulin) costs just $51.70 and new skin drug Apoquel starts from just $243. Heart medicine Vetmedin, which helps many older pets with heart disease live longer happier lives, might cost up to $210 at your vet, but Vetmedin at PetScripts starts from just $73.10.
That’s not to say that services like PetScripts.com.au will replace your visits to the vet. To order from an online Pet Pharmacy in Australia, you must have a valid prescription from an Australian veterinarian. However, even with the script fee that many vets charge, generally pet owners will save on prescription animal medicines by ordering online, particularly when taking in to account that often your script will contain repeats, meaning you won’t have to return to your vet every time you need more medicine for your older pet.
Many pet owners feel nervous the first time they ask their vet for a prescription, but there is no need to be. Many thousands of Australian pet owners get scripts for their older dog or cat. PetScripts even gives some simple tips on how to ask your vet for a script. Click hear to read all the tips.
* Older Pet Survey 2020