Buying Caninsulin on the Internet (UK)

[OlliesMum]

I have just been looking at how much the vets charged us for the insulin and the syringes and I feel slightly robbed compared to prices I can see on bestpet.co.uk or medicanimal.com (anyone used them?).

The syringes are £8.80 for 30 - compared to £39.20 vets have charged, and the Caninsulin - 40 i.u. per ml - 10ml £13.49 compared to £48.73 that we have been charged, plus free delivery.

My question is does anyone buy off the internet rather than go through their vet, as per month that is going to save quite a bit of money each month (who doesn't need to do that?!) Also, if you do purchase via the internet, do you have any UK based recommended sites?

Many thanks

Paula & Ollie x

 

[Diana&Tom]

Hi Paula - yes, been down this road! Vet prices for supplies are usually sky high so it makes sense to shop around on the net, the savings can be enormous as you have found. I think though that you'd need a prescription for some things and insulin in particular - not too sure about this as I don't have my diabetic cat any more :cry: :cry: :cry: - so it will be interesting to see what others say. If you do need a prescription, the vet might not be too happy about it but they are - or were, again, not certain - legally obliged to do it, so persevere with them.

I think all the animal medicine websites are similar and reliable; others might have particular recommendations but there aren't many of us in the UK so you may have to keep looking and try out the ones you've already found. There was a list of UK sites at one time but I'm not sure where to find it any more - it's somewhere on this site but I can't remember where, sorry!

There are some things you can buy on ebay. If you start home testing you will need a test kit and ongoing supplies of strips and lancets, which are sold on ebay by human diabetics (don't think they're supposed to but they do!)

Good luck
Diana

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hi Paula, I buy syringes online here: http://www.vetuk.co.uk/veterinary-supplies-insulin-syringes-c-141_154 and it saves me a lot of money. I also buy test strips from Ebay because they are half the cost of buying them at a pharmacy. But I prefer to buy insulin from my vet - even at £80 a vial ( :shock: ) - because I can order one day and it arrives the next, and the vet keeps it in his fridge until I can collect it. I have a concern that if I order insulin online then it may warm up in transit and spark out before I can finish the vial. However, others do buy insulin online and presumably don't have problems otherwise they wouldn't continue to do it....?

If you are hometesting then you'll know if your insulin is OK. Are you hometesting yet...?