6/12 Mandarin AMPS 280 / Walter AMPS 265 - Buying Insulin in Canada?

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Mandarin'sMom

Mandarin'sMom

Member Since 2014
Last condo

Another crazy week. I am getting ready to leave the house to teach my class and then we are leaving for the airport right from campus. We are going to be in Ottawa for a few days and then in Montreal. I'll be back home on Sunday.

After discussing some of the options with my vet, I decided that my little semi-social Mandarin will have to skip Insulin while I am gone. No one else is able to touch him and I think it would be more stressful for him to be in a cage for a week (and I am still not sure if my pet sitter would be able to handle him without getting bit). I am more concerned about him not eating and running high due to stress. Let's hope that he will do fine without his juice.

Walter is getting a reduced dose. I took him down from 1 U to 0.5 U, just to be on the safe side. But at least he is Mr. Social and will happily let my pet-sitter take care of him.

I know I should have thought of this earlier, but is it actually possible to buy Lantus pens in a Canadian pharmacy without a script?That way, I could safe on shipping and make sure that the Insulin stays nice and cold.
 
Mandarin'sMom said:
Last condo

Another crazy week. I am getting ready to leave the house to teach my class and then we are leaving for the airport right from campus. We are going to be in Ottawa for a few days and then in Montreal. I'll be back home on Sunday.

After discussing some of the options with my vet, I decided that my little semi-social Mandarin will have to skip Insulin while I am gone. No one else is able to touch him and I think it would be more stressful for him to be in a cage for a week (and I am still not sure if my pet sitter would be able to handle him without getting bit). I am more concerned about him not eating and running high due to stress. Let's hope that he will do fine without his juice.

Walter is getting a reduced dose. I took him down from 1 U to 0.5 U, just to be on the safe side. But at least he is Mr. Social and will happily let my pet-sitter take care of him.

I know I should have thought of this earlier, but is it actually possible to buy Lantus pens in a Canadian pharmacy without a script?That way, I could safe on shipping and make sure that the Insulin stays nice and cold.
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I can tell you that you can definitely do this in the province of Ontario where I live. I don't know about Quebec's rules. When you're in Ottawa (my town!) go to any pharmacy and you'll be able to buy a 5 pack of the pen cartridges for about $125 CAD. They sell both the pens and the cartridges here so no need to get the whole pens. I buy mine at a pharmacy chain called Shoppers Drug Mart but I'm guessing the price will be very similar at other pharmacies. Walmart or Costco might be cheaper but I have no clue about that.
 
It is true but thought you had to be a Canadian resident and not sure how Customs would handle that. When I ordered from Mark's you needed to send them a script.

Mandarin has done well in the past and good idea to reduce Walter with his recent tricks. Have a safe trip Christina and good luck with the insulin.
 
Doodles & Karen said:
It is true but thought you had to be a Canadian resident and not sure how Customs would handle that. When I ordered from Mark's you needed to send them a scrip.
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Good point. Don't know if this makes any difference but I've said up front that the insulin is for my cat when I purchase it because they usually ask if you want a receipt to claim it as a medical expense. Never had an issue.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
I can tell you that you can definitely do this in the province of Ontario where I live. I don't know about Quebec's rules. When you're in Ottawa (my town!) go to any pharmacy and you'll be able to buy a 5 pack of the pen cartridges for about $125 CAD. They sell both the pens and the cartridges here so no need to get the whole pens. I buy mine at a pharmacy chain called Shoppers Drug Mart but I'm guessing the price will be very similar at other pharmacies. Walmart or Costco might be cheaper but I have no clue about that.
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Awesome - thank you!!!

Doodles & Karen said:
It is true but thought you had to be a Canadian resident and not sure how Customs would handle that.
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Thankfully, one of my colleagues has dual citizenship (Canada and the US) even though she has lived in the US for several decades. So I guess she could purchase it for me.
 
Mandarin'sMom said:
Awesome - thank you!!!


Thankfully, one of my colleagues has dual citizenship (Canada and the US) even though she has lived in the US for several decades. So I guess she could purchase it for me.
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No harm trying that! Enjoy your time in Ottawa! It's hotter than Hades right now ... :smuggrin:
 
It sounds like a good idea to skip insulin for Mandarin. I hope you have a good trip and can purchase some insulin while you're there.
 
Last fall I traveled to Cornwall Ontario to have lunch with a friend and to buy insulin (Levemir). I bought the insulin without a prescription at the Shoppers' Drug Mart (a big chain throughout Canada). No problem. I paid cash (CAN$132 for a 5-pack of pens). I did not declare my purchase at the border on the return trip. I had the insulin in a small cooler, underneath some cans of soda.
As far as I know, you can buy insulin without a prescription everywhere in Canada (including Quebec) and you don't have to be a Canadian citizen. At Shoppers' Drug Mart they even signed me up for discount card for future purchases good everywhere in Canada. When I told the clerk that I was not a citizen, she said that didn't matter: she had just signed up a tourist from New Zealand.
If you look "normal", I don't think they will do a thorough "search" at the border.
 
Don't know about Quebec ( @Photorecon could help with that - save you carting it around for days), but in Ontario you don't need an Rx for cats. Only humans need an Rx. There shouldn't be a problem. If you are questioned, spout something diabetic cat information in their direction.

Thursday is Seniors Day at Shoppers Drug Mart. Twenty percent off with an optimum card. I don't know if Lantus is classed as merchandise or not. @Kris & Teasel would know.

And do stop at the Byward Market for beaver tails. So good, even Obama made an unscheduled stop to eat one.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Don't know about Quebec ( @Photorecon could help with that - save you carting it around for days), but in Ontario you don't need an Rx for cats. Only humans need an Rx. There shouldn't be a problem. If you are questioned, spout something diabetic cat information in their direction.

Thursday is Seniors Day at Shoppers Drug Mart. Twenty percent off with an optimum card. I don't know if Lantus is classed as merchandise or not. @Kris & Teasel would know.

And do stop at the Byward Market for beaver tails. So good, even Obama made an unscheduled stop to eat one.
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No, you can't get 20% off Lantus on Seniors' Day. It applies to test strips though. You can get points when you buy Lantus though.

Believe it or not, I've lived in Ottawa for 33 years and have yet to eat a beaver tail! :rolleyes: I also won't touch poutine - what a way to ruin good fries in my opinion. :eek:
 
Any chance of getting a letter from your vet saying what the Lantus is for? As others have said, it's easy to get the insulin if you say it's for your cat, I'm more worried about carrying "liquids" on the plane. When I travelled by air I had a small cooler and gel pack in with the insulin and declared it as medications to the customs/security. They didn't even search the cool pack. Course, I had Neko with me at the time. But I did read that having the note from the vet could help.

I don't know about Ontario pricing, but in BC, Shoppers Drug Mart is the high price option. My lowest price was Safeway which is now owned by Sobey's. The Shoppers card gives you a discount, but they usually are 10-15% higher than anyone else to start with. Costco and Real Canadian Superstore/Loblaws came in a close second for cheapest price.

Have fun on the trip!
 
I believe that the only reason Canadian citizens might want to present a prescription is for the Canadian (human) Health insurance. When I bought insulin in Cornwall they said there was no problem buying insulin without a prescription--you simply had to pay for it.
 
If you plan to have insulin send to the US it might be a problem to have it shipped from Canada.

See if https://www.diabetesexpress.ca/ works.

I have ordered from there with no problem. My Drug Store asked for script to open a file
under my cat's name. The reason was that if something happens and who knows need to access
my file they might have invalid medical information seeing insulin when someone is not diabetic.
.
 
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