The prescription of animal medicines is governed by the Veterinary Medicines Regulations and these are interpreted by our governing body the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

The prescribing veterinary surgeon must have been given responsibilty for the animals health by their owner. This responsibility must be real and not nominal. The animals must have been seen either immediately before prescription or recently enough for the vet to have personal knowledge of the animals current health status to make a diagnosis & prescribe.

A veterinary surgeon cannot usually have an animal under their care if there has been no physical examination.

Some pets have chronic conditions for which they are on long term medication such as arthritis, heart problems etc. Presciption medicines are powerful drugs and can only be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon who has been given responsiblity for an animals welfare by an owner and where the veterinary surgeon has personal knowledge of the health status of that animal ie has been examined recently. 

If the vet has authorised that repeat courses of medications can be collected then there will be a note on your pets computer records to that effect and also when your pet should be brought in for a re examination.

Re examinations are necessary in pets with chronic conditions to check that the 1) current treatment and doseage is appropriate

2) the pets condition has not changed appreciably - deterioration may mean an adjustment of doseage or change of treatment - or follow up tests may be indicated

3) no side effects are present

4) potential new treatments may have become available

5) medication can only legally be prescribed to an animal under our care, which means it should have been seen relatively recently

Many of these pets are elderly and benefit from a review as their weight may have changed and new problems may have become apparant. Remember one year of a dog or cats life is roughly equivilent of 7 years of a human life!

Antibiotics and ear drops are unlikely to be available without a veterinary examination - antibiotics should only be used when indicated and some ear drops should not be used if the ear drum is damaged.

The interval for re-examination can vary depending on the pets problems and severity. 6 months is the maximum interval. Obviously if you think your pet's condition has deteriorated before a check up is due then please bring them in sooner. We are setting up a SMS reminder system to let you know when your pet is due a check up.

When ordering repeat medication please give us 48 hours notice - the request has to be authorised and checked by a veterinary surgeon, and sometimes for the less commonly used medication we have to make sure there is enough on the shelf to supply you! Our aim would be to get online prescription requests that are received by 2pm ready for the next day (excluding Sundays). Please leave up-to-date contact details in case we need to contact you about your pets prescription.