Today we are going to take a look at the option of buying Canadian Heartworm Medicine on the Dog Blog. A lot of Dog owners take the decision to give a monthly heartworm pill to ensure that adult heartworms never develop, and it can be a rather costly business for some owners. There are lots of options for preventing heartworms from growing, and if you know where to look you can buy them for a very affordable price. Generics are becoming a lot more popular as they can be purchased for such a low price, although for whatever reasons (probably Brand trust), names like Heartgard and Revolution are still the best sellers.
Before we get to the issue of Canadian Meds and the pros and cons of buying from Canada here are some links where you can make the purchases and also read some interesting information on the whole issue of whether or not to use a heartworm med at all, and a good read about prescription meds from Canada for people:
Buy Canadian Heartworm Medicine
Prescription free Canadian Heartworm Medicine
Wikipedia Heartworm page
The American Heartworm Society page for Dog owners
An article on Suddenly Senior all about the legality of buying cheap prescription drugs in general from Canada. Interesting reading for anyone who wants to buy cheap prescription medication for people as well as Dogs. I recommend you read this.
It is, of course, our decision whether or not we feel that we should use any treatment at all. The risk is not large for many Dogs, while some areas can be real problems, i.e areas with high numbers of mosquitoes. But, on to the issue of Canadian heartworm medicine.
Why Buy Canadian Heartworm Medicine?
The simple fact is that in the US and the UK basically all heartworm meds require a prescription from the vets. This is to ensure that no animals are given the medication if they have adult heartworms, which can be dangerous. As long as a Dog has been given the all clear then it is safe to give the medication on a monthly basis.
The problem arises that it takes time to get the prescription and prices are normally much higher to buy from the vets than online. More owners have now discovered that by buying from Canada they do not require a prescription for many of the most popular heartworm meds. Not all of them, but a number of brands and generics. Combined with low prices this is a very appealing option. As long as we know that are pet does not have adult heartworms or has been already regularly treated with a medication then we run no risk of any adverse effects, prescription or not. Even for the prescription heartworm meds the prices are very much lower in many cases.
This is why people are searching for Canadian heartworm medicine online.
But Is It Legal?
This is the question. It is still a grey area for people searching where to buy cheap meds from Canada. Canadian sites have on their pages a disclaimer that the FDA has taken the position that virtually all prescription meds shipped to non Canadian residents from Canada may, in most cases, be breaking the law. The problem is that it is not an open and shut case. There is no emphatic yes or no. Virtually all? In most cases? This is simply confusing but what I have found is that no one gets in to trouble for buying prescription meds from Canada. And as they do not need a prescription for many of our options there is no problem as far as I can see. Many more people are also buying their own prescription meds from Canada to make big savings so why not for the Dogs? Whether it is prescription based or not in Canada.
This is obviously all that the Canadian based sites have to inform their visitors of. So there is no definite position on the legality, as far as I can see. What I do know is that tens of thousands of US and UK based Dog owners buy from Canada every month and I have not heard of any problems regarding any legal issues. This is for meds that require a prescription in all countries and for those that do not require a prescription in Canada.
So, should you buy from Canada?
That is entirely up to you. I have heard of no problems as the legality of doing this is pretty inconclusive for the prescription ones. How would anyone even know what is in the package shipped to your door?
In reality it is simply up to the individual whether they think it is right as the legal side is not definite but does hint that we should not really do this. But with the Internet opening up borders and allowing us to buy items from anywhere in the world to save money and time it is difficult to see this ever being concluded.
Whatever you do and wherever you buy heartworm medication from you must ensure that your Dog has been cleared by a Vet if they have not received a monthly treatment for more than three months.