buying Gastrogard from an online pharmacy In Canada ?

[Fharoah]

I normally buy mess from my vet. Gastrogard has been costing me $481 for seven tubes including tax and I can’t really afford that price. I emailed the clinic could I possibly get a prescription. Much to surprise she gave me a prescription for 30 tubes. At that time the price at the vet clinic for went down to $415 for 7 tubes which is better. Looking around pet drug mart in sells Gastrogard for $255 plus tax for 7 tubes. This would be much more affordable for me. Can I trust buying Gastrogard this way? I found another equine pharmacy that works out to $50 a tube plus tax. My horse does very well on 1/4 tube daily for prevention.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[Simkie]

Can you not get ulcergard otc up there? It’s about 30/tube here, no script needed.

[Fharoah]

No You can only get Gastrogard by prescription here. I tried buying it on amazon but customs caught it and it took three months before it was rejected and sent back to the seller it was a nightmare.

[mvp]

I believe HorsePreRace will ship their version of Omeprazole to you. And it’s cheap. But I’m not sure it has any buffering agent in it, as perhaps Gastrogard does?

Here’s their shipping info page: https://horseprerace.com/shipping

[Sueby]

@Fharoah

I normally buy mess from my vet. Gastrogard has been costing me $481 for seven tubes including tax and I can’t really afford that price. I emailed the clinic could I possibly get a prescription. Much to surprise she gave me a prescription for 30 tubes. At that time the price at the vet clinic for went down to $415 for 7 tubes which is better. Looking around pet drug mart in sells Gastrogard for $255 plus tax for 7 tubes. This would be much more affordable for me. Can I trust buying Gastrogard this way? I found another equine pharmacy that works out to $50 a tube plus tax. My horse does very well on 1/4 tube daily for prevention.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Your vet needs to be able to prescribe in the State that it’s dispensed from. Do you know anyone going to the States that can pick some up for you? That’s what most people do around here.

[eclipse]

Are you close enough to a border town to just drive across and buy it? I get mine delivered to a box in Montana, pick it up and drive back. Customs have never rejected it, I simply pay any duty if required (generally only if I’m not out of the country for enough hours to cover the allowable $ amount allowed)!

I order (Ulcerguard) from Entirely Pets and it works out to way less than getting it in Canada (as per my vets recommendation plus no prescription needed).

[Fharoah]

@eclipse

Are you close enough to a border town to just drive across and buy it? I get mine delivered to a box in Montana, pick it up and drive back. Customs have never rejected it, I simply pay any duty if required (generally only if I’m not out of the country for enough hours to cover the allowable $ amount allowed)!

I order (Ulcerguard) from Entirely Pets and it works out to way less than getting it in Canada (as per my vets recommendation plus no prescription needed).

I ordered it from equity pets. The first two shipments arrived no problem. The 3 time I ordered it went through customs it took three months gulf island trucking and ex a letter saying I was not able to import prescription drugs. Since then they no longer sell ulcergard on Amazon.ca. I managed to order some on amazon.com. I was hesitant to order a bunch in case they were more likely to reject it I ordered a six pack worked out to 360 Canadian plus duty. I would like to order 28 pack again but seems risky considering my last. Experience with customs rejecting my purchase plus I may be blacklisted.

[ljadwin]

I’ve had success ordering expensive US meds from canada pharmacy dot com. You can check to see if they have it; your vet can fax the script to them. It is legal to buy prescription drugs from Canada (my vet checked to make sure.) The albuterol was about the same price as US but the other inhalant was 1/4 the price and has saved us much money. Give them a try.

[Thoro]

Can you order from a vet pharmacy in the US? Not sure how customs work, but Rood and Riddle always has the cheapest prices here ($29 a tube for gastrogard, $5 rebate per tube = $24 each!)

[Simkie]

I’ve read here of Canadians that have good luck with compounded (in Canada) omeprazole. Have you tried that route?

[freshman]

Keep in mind that Ulcergard® is the exactly the same product/formulation as Gastrogard® but is available without a prescription. Merial makes both of them. The only difference is the label, since Ulcergard® is marketed at ulcer prevention, rather than treatment, and instructions on the label are different. You can buy Ulcergard® without a prescription and just administer it per the usual Gastrogrard® gastic ulcer treatment protocol. If this helps circumvent the prescription drug importation to Cananda rules…

[Fharoah]

Thank you you all for your replies!

@freshman

Keep in mind that Ulcergard® is the exactly the same product/formulation as Gastrogard® but is available without a prescription. Merial makes both of them. The only difference is the label, since Ulcergard® is marketed at ulcer prevention, rather than treatment, and instructions on the label are different. You can buy Ulcergard® without a prescription and just administer it per the usual Gastrogrard® gastic ulcer treatment protocol. If this helps circumvent the prescription drug importation to Cananda rules…

I too got away with bringing ulcer guard over the border in the past. However last time I got a long letter in the mail from health Canada explaining why it had been rejected. You are not actually allowed to bring these drugs across the border I too got away with bringing ulcer guard over the border unless your a I licensed pharmacy.

I ended up ordering gastrogard from pet drug mart in Ontario as my vet gave me a script. The pharmacy does requires your vet to fax or email in the script directly. It was $266 Canadian for 7 tubes of gastrogard. I ordered 21 tubes for $798 before tax and shipping. There are a allot postove feedback from this discount pharmacy from both Google and Facebook so I am hopeful. My ordered is in transit and I should have it Monday.

[IPEsq]

I order most of my Rx drugs online. Many of the pharmacies with online business are much, much, cheaper than my vets. Especially when some of them also have coupons on top of it. Yes, they have to verify your prescription. So, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a legal online supplier. Does Merial offer the rebate in Canada? For the US, it’s $5 back per tube.

[IPEsq]

oh and @Fharoah I’m sorry to hear your horse is STILL on Gastrogard!

[CHT]

@Simkie

I’ve read here of Canadians that have good luck with compounded (in Canada) omeprazole. Have you tried that route?

A client recently tried the compounded version on her horse. Made him feel better, but as soon as she stopped the treatment his behaviour returned. She did the treatment with Gastroguard and the symptoms completely resolved. Because of this, I only trust the compound to test to see if ulcers might be the issue, but not to actually resolve them. (Client is a vet tech, so was able to buy at cost. Still pricey though) One option is to try to buy the “almost expired” Gastroguard from vet clinics. They should sell as a steep discount.

[Simkie]

@CHT

A client recently tried the compounded version on her horse. Made him feel better, but as soon as she stopped the treatment his behaviour returned. She did the treatment with Gastroguard and the symptoms completely resolved. Because of this, I only trust the compound to test to see if ulcers might be the issue, but not to actually resolve them. (Client is a vet tech, so was able to buy at cost. Still pricey though) One option is to try to buy the “almost expired” Gastroguard from vet clinics. They should sell as a steep discount.

Presumably there is more than one compounding pharmacy in Canada? Shame to paint every omeprazole product from every pharmacy with the same very broad brush.

I had a vet in Colorado do her own (unpublished) scoping studies with a compounded omeprazole product and found it equivalent to gastrogard. That doesn’t mean that every compounded product from every other pharmacy is effective, though.

[Fharoah]

@IPEsq

I order most of my Rx drugs online. Many of the pharmacies with online business are much, much, cheaper than my vets. Especially when some of them also have coupons on top of it. Yes, they have to verify your prescription. So, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a legal online supplier. Does Merial offer the rebate in Canada? For the US, it’s $5 back per tube.

No rebates in Canada. Fharoah looks great it’s just that in the past when I’ve taken him off gastrogard the ulcers have come back. Not risking recurrence again.

[fanfayre]

Have you thought about trying Nexium then? I think we can get it off the shelf, or OTC at least. Have you read the Nexium thread? A cheaper alternative to Gastroguard/Ulcerguard and with fewer hassles, IF you can buy it at your local drugstore or Walmart next time you go into the ‘big city’ (I know you don’t have Walmart on your island).
My vet actually told me some very interesting facts at a recent digestion seminar she was at, but far too complicated to post here.