Repeat Prescriptions

Both for the welfare of your pet and for legal reasons, ensuring we comply with the RCVS guidelines, all animals on long term/ongoing medication will need to have their treatment reviewed on a regular basis by their veterinarian.

This is to evaluate whether:

• The medication is giving the desired results
• The condition being treated has altered or deteriorated
• Your animal has altered in weight, changing the dosage required
• Any undesirable side effects are occurring
• Alternative treatment options have become available or are more suitable

The time between reviews depends on the animal, the condition being treated and the medications being used. The frequency will be at the vet’s discretion but will be a minimum of every 6 months, as advised by our legal defence insurers.

This may seem very frequent but remember our pets have shorter lifespans and age more quickly, so 6 months for your:

• CAT is the equivalent to a human having a check-up every two years.
• DOG is the equivalent to a human having a check-up every three years.

Failure of a veterinarian to check any animal on long term medication could lead to the veterinary surgeon losing their license to practice veterinary medicine.

There is a standard charge for a re-examination, details of which are available on request.

If your pet is receiving regular injectable medication administered at the practice e.g. cartrophen injections for arthritis, immunotherapy or cytopoint injections for skin allergies or zycortal for hypoadrenocorticism (Addisons disease) these are given by a nurse as standard to decrease costs for you. However, for the above reasons they will still require a prescription check with a vet at least every 6 months.

Flea and worm treatments in a healthy animal require annual checks which can usually be included in their annual health check with their yearly vaccination.

We also provide free examinations for healthy animals to allow us to weigh your pet and dispense flea and worming treatments.

We are happy to provide written prescriptions for products.

We require 48 hours notice to produce these along with the same information as if we were supplying the products.

Charges apply for written prescriptions.

Unfortunately we are unable to credit/refund you for unused medication e.g. with prescription changes or the death of your pet.

We cannot guarantee the correct storage of medications outside the practice, meaning we cannot use or resell them.

We are happy to safely dispose of your pets’ unused medication on your behalf.