# Regulations/legal requirements for vets?



## Delta99 (8 June 2010)

Am in a bit of a pickle with my cat at the moment, wondered if there are any vets on here who can point me in the right direction?
The situation is the cat was diagnosed with overactive thyroids about 2 years ago and has been on felimazole since. She intially had several blood test to make sure the dosage is correct and then we were told that it would be sufficient for her to be seen every 6 months and get repeat prescriptions in between which has worked fine in the past.
Now the vets are saying that they need to see the cat every 3 months in order to fulfil their legal requirements.
Have spoken to a different vet and they tell me they would need to see the cat every 6 months.
Don't really want to change vets but there's no way that i'm putting the poor cat through the stress of going in every 3 months! 

Can someone point me in the right direction of where to find this particular regulation? I suspect it says that prescriptions should only be given if the animal is checked by the vet 'regularly', ie the time scale is at the vets discretion.
Thanks a lot for your help


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## Amymay (8 June 2010)

Not a vet, so sorry can't answer the legalities question.

But what is stressful for the cat about going to the vets?? Do they blood test every time?


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## Maesfen (8 June 2010)

There certainly is a time restriction with repeat prescriptions which they aren't allowed to issue if they haven't seen the animal since a certain time.  Whether that depends on the actual medicine used or is a set time for all medicines, I'm not sure.

This is copied from a practise site -
"We expect to check patients on long term medication every three to six months for prescription only medicines. Besides being a legal requirement, this is to ensure that there are no adverse reactions and that the dose rate and medication are appropriate."

This is from the Pet Prescription site -

Q. Can my vet insist on my pet having a check-up or tests every time I need a prescription?
A. Your vet should request that your pet has periodic health checks or tests. In order to prescribe prescription only medicine drugs (POM-V) your pet should be examined sufficiently frequently for the vet to have personal knowledge of your pet's illness. It is also important that your vet ensures your pet is responding appropriately to the medication and there are no undue side effects - for details of prescribing rules please click here
The frequency of examinations will therefore be dependent on the seriousness of your pet's condition and the effectiveness of the treatment. For most pets on long-term medication the frequency of such examination would normally be every 3-6 months. 

Hope that's helped.


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## fruity (8 June 2010)

I work at a vets and if a drug you are giving your animal is POM (Prescription Only Medicine) then we need to see that animal every 3 mths (some vets but not the ones in our area see them every 6 mths) there are lots of reasons why it's every 3 mths. The vet needs to check whether or not the animal is responding to the drug in a positive way,it might be that the animal needs to stay on the drug but the dosage might need to be up'd to a higher level or even lowered if it's responding very well. It might need to be changed to a completely different drug for the animal to improve any further. The vet also needs to check the heart and general health of the animal before prescribing medication again to see if the animal can cope with the particualr drug it's on or going to be put on,also we like to keep an eye on the animals weight as all medication dosages are worked out by what the weight of the animal is so theres no point in being on the same dosage of a drug if the animal is heavier as the medicine won't being working to full effect. It's frustrating and i hear it everyday from people as it's more the stress of bringing in the worried animal than the cost of a prescription check (around £12 this area) some of our clients choose hoime visits but thats costly,all i would say is at the prescription check get as many pills as you can for the 3 mths so it works out more cost effective,if you keep coming back now and again for more pills it's likely you'll have to pay a dispensing fee (about £4-5) which is annoying but the vets are within their rights to charge you.


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## star (8 June 2010)

3-6mths is normal.  basically the guidelines say we have to have the animals "under our care" to be able to prescribe to them.  it's up to us to interpret that and be happy with the intervals we recommend rechecks.  for me, if an animal is stable on long term meds then every 6mths is fine.  heart cases i see every 3mths and if they start to get a bit decrepid as they get older then i will reduce to ev 3mths and sometimes ev mth if I'm getting concerned about their quality of life.  It's my reponsibility to make sure the animal i'm prescribing to is getting the right medication at the right dose and nothing is deteriorating that I'm unaware of.


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## Caz1957 (22 July 2014)

Hi £12.00 for a check up I could tolerate, but I have to pay approximately £200 every 6 months for blood and urine tests and the vets can't tell me anything conclusive apart from over active thyroid !!!!!!


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## Casey76 (22 July 2014)

Hi Caz, you realise that this thread is 4 years old...?


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