An Animal Hospital Serving Maryland

Pet Meds are regulated by the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), a watchdog agency with the Food and Drug Administration. CVM regulates the manufacture and distribution of animal drugs, while individual state pharmacy boards are tasked with the regulation and the dispensing of prescription veterinary products.

That's all well and good however, the scope of responsibility is so great when it comes to petmeds, that if they are able to monitor even a small fraction of the "drugs" circulating that would be saying a lot. Now, the word drugs was placed in parentheses because of the recent surge of fake pet medications (as well as human meds), that this country has experienced in the past decade. Compressed talcum powder may "look" like a drug, but is most certainly not a drug.

"Cheap pet meds-no prescription required" may appeal to some pet owners surfing the Web (and who can blame them?), but FDA experts say it can be risky to buy drugs online from sites that tout this message and others like it.

The FDA has found companies that sell unapproved pet meds and counterfeit pet products, make fraudulent claims, dispense prescription pet medications without prescription, and sell expired pet medicine online.

Pet owners who purchase drugs from these companies may think they are saving money, but in reality, they may be short-changing their pet's health and putting its life at risk.

"Some of the Internet sites that sell pet drugs represent legitimate, reputable pet pharmacies", says Martine Hartogensis, D.V.M., deputy director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance in FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). "but others are fronts for unscrupulous businesses operating against the law"

1 800 Pet Meds, its reputation is unquestionable

As previously mentioned, today's pet owners use a resource the fill pet medication prescriptions that was not available just a decade ago, the internet. There are countless online petmed pharmacies and dispensaries to choose from. Caution is paramount here. There are several well known sites that we could feature, we chose 1800PetMeds.

As an online pet pharmacy, they get no complaints from us. They carry all the major brand name pet medications sold at your veterinarian's office. As a licensed pharmacy, they only dispense U.S. FDA/ EPA approved medications. They also honor and claim to exceed all of the manufacturers' guarantees.

According to their website, their pet meds are made with the healthiest, most natural ingredients which are independently tested by third parties to verify the label claims. Their pharmacy is Vet-VIPPS accredited by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (the same association that accredits Walgreens.com, and CVS.com).

A final note. Tips For Buying Pet Drugs Online

Only order medications from a Web site that belongs to a Vet-VIPPS accredited pharmacy. Vet-VIPPS, the Veterinary-Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites, is a voluntary accreditation program of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). Look for the Vet-VIPPS seal displayed on a pharmacy's Web site.

Large chain stores like Banfield Pet Hospital, will display this seal prominently on their website as well as at their bricks and mortar facilities.

To become accredited, these pharmacies must comply with NABP's strict criteria, including federal and state licensing and inspection requirements, protecting patient confidentiality, quality assurance, and validity of prescription orders.

You may also order from an outsourced prescription management service that your veterinarian uses. These state-licensed Internet pharmacy services work directly with the veterinarian and are one of the best sources for all of your pet meds requirements.