At St. Francis Animal Hospital, we see our role as an integral part in providing healthcare to your pet. The primary focus of our practice is centered on offering a professional level of high quality medical, surgical and dental care. In addition to these professional services, we do stock numerous forms of pharmaceuticals and products for your pets.

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We carry these items in our practice primarily for two reasons; (1) Many items are animal specific formulations or for animal only usage which aren’t carried locally by traditional brick and mortar pharmacies and (2) many come with manufacturer guarantees if purchased from a licensed veterinarian. St. Francis Animal Hospital takes measures to ensure the vaccines, medications and products we provide to our patients are properly handled and stored from initial manufacture until they reach our facility. The items we offer from our hospital supply are obtained either directly from their manufacturing source or via our relationships with selected major distributors which track these items to verify their integrity.

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We’re fully aware there are many internet sites and catalogue houses which sell pharmaceutical products directly to consumers. Contrary to advertising and marketing touting pet medications available at significantly reduced prices, we offer immediate delivery at a competitive cost.  When shipping and rebates are considered, we are often the same or even lower priced. Ask us about bulk purchasing of regularly used medications to see if they can be obtained for even better savings.

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It is our practice policy to provide written prescriptions to our clients at their request. We do not charge a fee for writing prescriptions for our patients. We do, however wish for your decision on where to have your pet’s prescription filled to be an informed one, and feel it is part of our responsibility as your pet’s doctor to advise you consider the following:

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1. We will provide a written prescription on request for certain medications, provided that we have recently examined your pet and the particular medication or product is appropriate. A valid doctor-patient relationship as defined by Georgia pharmacy law must be established and maintained prior to issue.  The written prescription will be provided directly to you. These prescriptions may be picked up from the clinic during business hours. We do require a 48 hr notice for written prescriptions

2. If you choose internet or catalogue sources, we advise you to copy your script and mail them the original. We recommend this process for the same reason we will only provide written prescriptions to you on our script pads and why we do not respond to fax requests or telephone calls from internet or catalogue companies – We require our physical prescription form to be used so it can be traced back and authenticated in the event medication error, failure or reaction occurs.

3. Please double check to ensure your prescription is sent, filled, labeled, shipped and used correctly. Carefully select your choice of pharmacy including thoroughly research for Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions.

4. Some guarantees made by manufacturers regarding their products are null and void (not honored) if their products are purchased through non-approved channels. This includes the guarantee reimbursement for heartworm / intestinal parasite claims if your pet contracts heartworms or specific parasites while on prevention. Vaccine guarantees are also not valid if purchased by a non-licensed veterinarian

5. Some internet based pharmacies and catalogue companies have been repeatedly reprimanded by the FDA and State Boards of Pharmacy for violating prescribing procedure. Several well known companies have been cited and fined repeatedly for the same violations in the same states or several states!

6. Pharmaceuticals manufactured and labeled for use in other countries (Australia, New Zealand) have been illegally diverted and sold through some internet sources and catalogues in the United States. In addition, counterfeit medications, preventatives and product have been produced and sold to unsuspecting consumers. The FDA-CVM has documented these problems with the use of some internet sources. www.fda.gov