We started our cat and dogs on Bravecto last year. When we called about getting more, the vet office said they require an annual physical to continue prescribing it.
Does your vet do this?
Here in California, yes. Vet must see the pet at least once a year in order to prescribe medication. From the regulatory board- “one-year time limitation for refilling a prescription from the date the veterinarian last examined the animal patient and prescribed the drug.”
They’ve since amended it to 18 or 24 months because of Covid but not sure how long the extensions will last.
Yes, pretty much all vets do this. There are rules about having a current relationship with a pet to prescribe medications and most vets meet that by having that yearly appointment for a check-up.
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I guess it’s required for animals and people. I have a very mild heart condition and I take a small dose of a beta blocker every day. My cardiologist told me he doesn’t need to see me every year, but he has to so he can keep prescribing the beta blocker.
I guess since it’s administered orally it’s considered a medication as opposed to a flea treatment like Frontline you can buy at Petco.
It has been a game changer for us because nothing else kept the fleas off our long-haired cat.
Revolution is a topical like Frontline but is prescription only so you still need the vet visit whether the prescribed medication is oral or not. I get why it’s required to see a vet but it sure makes it expensive. It’s $65 here just for a general wellness exam.
A valid client/patient relationship is required for any prescription medication, for people or animals. That requires seeing the patient at least once a year.
A vet that doesn’t do that is risking losing their license so I doubt you’ll find many willing to skip it.
What! You need a script for Bravecto? We buy it online from pet supply stockists, at the feed shop, or at the local pet store. No questions asked - Bravecto, Nextra, Simparico - spot-on, collars, tablets…
Are you in the US? It is prescription only. (Screenshot from PetCo)
They should not be able to just hand it to you without a script. I’ve never tried…
To the OP - there are many OTC flea/tick remedies. If you don’t want to need a prescription you can choose a spot treatment or collar. Personally I would rather not give an oral pesticide, although obviously they have been tested for safety.
No, Australia. It isn’t a prescription item here. My stockfeed place sells it over the counter!
OTOH, we can’t buy omeprazole or sucralfrate online here, that one is prescription only.
In the US it’s prescribed only. My vet won’t prescribe anything without a yearly exam. Probably for liability reasons. They want to make sure the animal is healthy otherwise.
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I’m in Canada and I switched from Bravecto to the topical treatment “Advantix”, which is now available in pet stores. There is a very high tick population where I live and because the tick needs to bite the dog for Bravecto to kill it, we were finding that our dogs were bringing live ticks into the house and then the ticks were jumping onto the walls, etc. It was super gross! And it doesn’t seem to happen with Advantix.
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It’s a good idea to have a yearly visit anyway. Where I live, if you aren’t a regular client, they aren’t taking new patients and won’t see your emergency either. You have to go to the emergency vet in order to be seen.
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Nope, not this year.
My Po gets 2 doses/ year so the timing works out, his first dose for this year came less than a year after his last dose.
That said, he does go in every year for his boosters but Covid happened
