This post is sponsored by Fetch My Meds and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network™. We are being compensated to create awareness about the Fetch My Meds pharmacy discount program for pets, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Fetch My Meds is not responsible for the content of this article.
Let’s talk pet medications. All of our dogs need them in one form or another, whether it’s just routine flea medication or heart worm prevention or something a little more serious. I don’t know about you, but I get a major case of sticker shock when it’s time to pay at the vet! I’m talking gasp for air and start mentally rearranging my entire budget shock. I have yet to manage to walk out of my vet’s office without paying over $200 for the visit, and a good chunk of that is pet medication. I really wish I knew about Fetch My Meds pet prescription discount card a long time ago. I could have saved a ton of money over the years!
How to Save on Pet Medications with Fetch My Meds
I have two dogs right now: Freya and Mocha. Freya (pictured above) is a Pharaoh Hound that was gifted to us after we lost Tasha and Maia last year to age (they were both almost 15). Sadly, we also lost our boy earlier this year, again to age-related illness. We adopted Mocha, a lab/greyhound/mystery mix, just two weeks ago because Freya desperately needed a doggy companion. Both dogs get flea medication and a heart worm preventative.
As I mentioned above, Fetch My Meds is a pet prescription discount card. In fact, it’s the FIRST pharmacy discount program created specifically for your pet meds. It’s free to enroll and helps you save up to 70% on everything from your dog’s routine meds to pain medications for dogs with arthritis and more. Here’s how it works:
1- Sign up for your card at Fetch My Meds.
The process is super simple. Just visit Fetch My Meds and fill in your name, address, email address and zip code. Then tell them about your pets. That’s it! You don’t even have to create a password (bonus for me because it’s one less complicated login that I have to remember). If you need to print out your card again after the initial signup, you can “Fetch My Card” with just your email address. Don’t worry, this is totally safe. Aside from your pet’s names, the card doesn’t have any other personal info on it.
Print out your card and keep it with you, or add it to your E-Wallet on your iPhone. I recommend doing this directly from your phone because then it just pops right into your E-Wallet. If you opt to do it online, they’ll send an email that you have to open from your phone.
2- Ask your vet for a written prescription
Most vets won’t give you a written script unless you ask, although there is currently legislation in Congress to change that. Unless or until that passes, you need to ask. You DO NOT have to buy your pet medications directly from your vet. Sure, it may be convenient to just grab them while you’re at the office, but you pay for that convenience. Sometimes steeply! I once paid $70 for a pill for Cooper, only to come home and find out that it cost my vet just around $7, which he openly admitted when I called back to ask if there was an error. He simply said “it costs money to keep the lights on.” Well, I’ve since found a much more reasonable vet! Still, even he isn’t always the cheapest when it comes to certain medications. I bought a popular flea treatment from him for one dog, then turned around and paid $10 less to buy it elsewhere for another. Not as drastic a markup as Cooper’s vet, but even a few dollars adds up over time.
You can also ask if there is a human drug that does the same thing. While not all pet and people drugs are created equal, there are actually quite a few that are. For example, my dog Maia had a seizure out of the blue one day. It happened one time and didn’t happen again until her very last day with us. She was treated with a very common human anti-anxiety medication and the vet sent extras home with us in case it recurred. That particular medication is actually pretty inexpensive at a human pharmacy.
3-Comparison shop and get the best price
With that written script, you have the option of getting the script filled at a local pharmacy that participates with Fetch My Meds. They work with most of the big pharmacies, like CVS, Rite-Aid, Walmart, Costco and Sam’s Club. Use the Pharmacy Locator to find one in your area. For certain medications, like flea meds and heart worm preventative, you can go directly through Fetch My Med’s partner, Pet360. If you do go through Pet360, they may even be able to handle getting a copy of the script for you from your vet. It depends on whether or not your vet opts to particoapte with them. If he doesn’t, then you can still send in the written copy.
Before you head out to the closest pharmacy all willy-nilly, though, take a minute to use the drug pricing tool to make sure you’re getting the best price possible. Seriously, it literally takes just a minute. Start typing in the name of the medication and select from the dropdown menu. Click and check! It will bring up the prices for Pet360 (if they sell it) and/or your local pharmacies. If you do opt to order from Pet360, you can rest assured that you’re getting the best possible product from a Vet-VIPPS certified pharmacy.
Ready to start saving on your dog’s medications? Visit Fetch My Meds to sign up for your free prescription discount card. Follow Fetch My Meds on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with news.
What pet medications are you looking forward to saving money on with Fetch My Meds? Share below!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Fetch My Meds. The opinions and text are all mine.
