Repeat Prescriptions

Sometimes, it may be necessary for your pet to have long-term medication.

Should you require a repeat prescription, please give the surgery at least 48 hours’ notice so we can consult the veterinary surgeon.

All animals on such treatment need to be checked regularly and you will be informed when you call if a check-up is due. Written prescriptions can also be obtained upon request if you prefer to purchase your medication elsewhere. Please note that there is a charge made for a written prescription. Prescriptions may be ordered via by phone or by calling into any of our three surgeries.

A range of specialist prescription diets are kept at the surgery for your pet’s needs. However, it is always best to phone ahead and check that we have the correct food available as some diets need to be ordered in advance. If they have a condition which requires one of our prescription diets, it is recommended that your pet be examined at least once a year.

If you choose to buy your medicines online, please ensure that you use an accredited online pharmacy. They should always ask for a prescription for prescription-only medicines, and carry the VMD logo to show that they comply with the correct regulations. Unregulated online pharmacies may not supply you with the correct medication for your pet.

From 1 April 2021 in an effort to be more environmentally friendly we will be reducing the number of deliveries we have each week. This means for some non routine medications and food orders we are asking clients to allow 7 working days when requesting them to collection. Food orders can be ordered direct via our website and delivered directly to your door. Please check with the surgery when ordering your repeat prescriptions to see if your request may be affected by this. Thank you.

Prescription FAQ's

Your pet’s medication and its administration is controlled by legal requirements, this means any request has to be checked by a veterinary surgeon, approved and then dispensed. The medication is checked again before being given to you, your pet’s clinical records also have to be written and maintained. To be done efficiently and correctly, we must allow enough time for the vet to read the notes and review the treatment before re-prescribing the medication and recording it on your records.
Even if a client does not purchase their medication directly from the practice, our veterinary surgeons are still required to produce a legal document under all the same guidelines. This involves the same process of time spent reading and checking your pet’s records, as detailed above. Most vets base prices on the amount of time taken to do the task in hand. A consultation is priced on the time taken to listen, examine, decide and record the findings. If tests such as skin scrapes are done, the fee is determined by the time taken to do the task, as well as equipment costs. The same process determines all other fees, including written and repeat prescriptions.
Certain medications, including many flea and worm treatments, are regulated and by law, the veterinary surgeon is required to have your pet 'under their care'. This means your pet needs to be seen every 3 to 6 months (yearly for legally regulated flea and worm treatments) to ensure that any and all prescribed medication is correct. This is a legal requirement: when prescribing any medicines, the veterinary surgeon is taking responsibility for that treatment. A regular check-up ensures that your pet receives the best and correct treatments.
A dispensing fee used to be built in to all medications to cover the costs of checking records, issuing, recording and labelling and, where appropriate, packaging medications. To make it more transparent, the cost of the medication is now shown, plus a fee for this separately to allow clients to see how the final total is reached. For the majority of medications this has actually reduced their costs. You can minimise the cost of the dispensing fee by requesting up to two months’ medicines at a time, we also offer a discounted payment which covers all dispensing fees for a six-month period.