Can I Buy Heartworm Medicine Without a Prescription?

Clare |

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Heartworm medicine for dogs has become a normal treatment given to the majority of animals. It is most often used for at least the summer months when mosquitoes are most prevalent, but many pet owners follow the advice of the American Heartworm Society, and use these medications year round. If you're using a product that often, the chances are you'd like to save a little money on your purchases. But can you make these purchases more simple and buy heartworm medicine without a prescription?

This is a gray area if ever there was one. In the United States the law requires that any heartworm medications sold, must be done so with a prescription. This means that even if you want to make some savings and buy from a large online pets medicines outlet, you still have to speak to your vet. The issue of forwarding prescriptions from your vet to the online pharmacy puts a lot of people choosing to buy heartworm medicine anywhere other than their own veterinarians office.

By buying from their vet they are narrowing down the variety of medications they could choose from. Most vets do not stock generic heartworm medicines, so you automatically lose that chance to save up to 50% on your pet's treatment.

But if you live in other parts of the world you can buy heartworm medicine without a prescription. Canada is one such country. Not all heartworm medications are prescription free there, but most are. So Canadians can buy and sell a huge range of heartworm medicines without the need for a prescription. Canadian pet pharmacies also sell much more cheaply than their American versions so offer discount heartworm medicine. Although many pet owners do buy from Canadian online pet medication outlets to enjoy cheaper prices and prescription free products they are technically breaking the law.

The FDA have decreed that virtually all shipments of prescription drugs imported by a US consumer from a Canadian pharmacy will be violating the law. By purchasing from a Canadian store that is exactly what you are doing. Because many pet owners believe the chance of their six month supply of heartworm medication coming to the attention of the authorities is pretty low, they use online pet med stores overseas to buy heartworm medicine without a prescription.

So although it is physically possible to buy heartworm medicine without a prescription the FDA say to do so is breaking the law, so of course however tempting it is, really you shouldn't do so.