Where do you get the best deal on Frontline Plus?

[Adina P]

Where do you get the best deal, consistently, on Frontline Plus?  I've always gotten it via Dr. Foster's and Smith and need to stock up again but haven't really shopped around. 

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

I get mine at costco 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would be worried about counterfeit products if you are ordering it on-line. Supposedly Merial only sells to vets. Foster & Smith qualify because they have vets on staff, and I found their prices to be good. I haven't shopped around either because the price is not as important as being sure that the source is legitimate. There are a lot of copycat products out there. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Some info from the EPA: http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/factsheets/petproduct.htm

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I worry about that too.. and it is still going on.  Products like this are nothing to mess with. 

My vet actually gives me the best price and a good quality product.  I trust to purchase it there the most. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I buy it from my vet, too, ever since I got a bad batch of Heartgard from F & S. They always have buy three get one free deals, etc. 

There just isn't enough of a savings involved to take a chance with this stuff, IMO. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

There just isn't enough of a savings involved to take a chance with this stuff, IMO. AGREE!!

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

OMD i've never heard of this! 

[nate]

A lot of people bring up the the online "counterfeit" Fear Uncertainty & Doubt.

It's largely BS.

There are lots of reputable retailers that sell this online: Amazon , wag.com , 1800petmeds, etc.

Just like Human Meds there are counterfeiters , but there are far more reputable sellers.

The best price right now is Amazon.com , which has a 6pack for $65 if you buy direct from them ( + free super saver or prime shipping ).  They have some retailers in their marketplace that sell it for less - but they're not necessarily reputable sellers.  I trust Amazon and their supply chain, I don't trust the various Mom&Pop shops that list on them.

Merial sells HeartGard only to vets, but Frontline to anyone.  It's possible to get HeartGuard online -- but they only guarantee the products to work if they're direct from a licensed vet they sell through.  We spend the extra $20 a year to buy HeartGuard from the vet , because Merial covers HeartWorm treatment if the product fails.   We buy frontline from the cheapest sources (which are sometimes the vet )

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And that Amazon price on Frontline is $8 cheaper than Foster & Smith, assuming that the price you gave is for the 45-88 lb Frontline Plus- the price varies by size. If the $65 is for lower weight dogs, the savings is even less. That's about $1.33 less per dose. Not worth it to me. I don't think the EPA prints "BS" on their website, lol. 

[nate]

There are real counterfeiters, and their goods can appear in unscrupulous pet shops or "Cheap MEXICAN Viagra" equivalent sites for pet supplies.

The idea that "only the vet" has an untainted supply is the BS.  You're simply trusting the vet's supply chain versus others.   I trust that Amazon, Target, Walmart and other BigBox retailers are buying direct from the source and not through shady distributors - and that their supply chain is as safe as others.  At the same time, I don't trust the supply chain of mom&pop shops on Amazon or local petstores.   I also believe that not all vets might have a valid supply chain -- my vet receives hers direct from Merial, but she's told me that some other vets in the area buy through distributors to lower prices through quantity "if they even get the real stuff".  I've also had the supplychain argument used on me from trying to get a prescription to fill at Target ( $4 amoxycillan @ target vs $45 at the vet ).

Vets make a SUBSTANTIAL amount of money through their in-house pharmacies.  if vets had no financial incentive to convince people to buy from them, I would trust them more.  

That being said, when you're looking at WalMart Target or Amazon, Merial is on record selling Frontline direct to them and those companies almost always buy direct from the MFG.  There's no reason to think they're not "the real thing".  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I never said that the Frontline at Walmart or Target was not "the real thing". I was speaking about unknown on-line vendors.

It must be hard to have a vet you don't trust. I've been using the same veterinary practice for 34 years, and the same vet for at least 15 years. I don't accept everything he says blindly, I ask questions, and I know that his mark-up on many products is higher than it would be elsewhere. But I trust him to give me advice based on what he thinks is best for my dog, and not on what his profit might be. He has no problem phoning in a prescription to the local human pharmacy if I ask him to, and when I was buying Heartgard from Foster & Smith, he had no problem faxing an Rx to them either. Everyone who is in business has a financial incentive, that's why they are in business. They're working to earn a living, just like everyone else, and vets are entitled to make a profit just like anyone else.

[nate]

Our vet is always trying to upsell on another service or test.  It is annoying.  With several dogs, they make a fortune off us.

We continue to go there, because they're the highest rated , affiliated with a rescue group and shelter we support, have a good demeanor and don't require an office visit on certain things ( if we call up with worms , she'll let the Vet Techs dispense meds if we email a photo and she can identify it ) .  The other neighborhood vets charge 2-3x more , have a terrible demeanor, and don't upsell services -- instead they're notorious for blindsiding people saying "ok, we're going to do this now" or "you should really do this!" and then a $1k bill appears for a hotspot.  Our vet at least asks first, and the typical bill is in the $200-400 range.  So I'm thankful to our vet for certain things -- but they won't do a human-pharmacy prescription without a lot of fighting -- so saving on the Frontline helps us offset random costs.  

One of our dogs is a foster-failure. A group pulled him from a puppy mill that was shut-down at 7weeks.  he was severely malnourished - fit in our hand, had roundworms, giardia, kennel cough and god knows what else.  we really didn't have the time or energy to keep him -- but after $700 in medical bills + knowing we'd want another dog one day + our older doodle absolutely fell in love with him and stepped up as a "Father figure", we couldn't give him back. The bulk of his bills (2/3?) were from human-grade antibiotics that could have been filled for a fraction of their dispensary costs.  I believe that everyone is entitled to a profit , but we were approaching the price-gouging line.