As a vet tech and an employee in the veterinary field, I have to put in my 2 cents. This article explains how I feel about these types of "pharmacies" so I like to use it.

http://www.skipspharmacy.com/sppress/?p=13

"Why we buy Heartworm Medicine From our Vets
One of the most important things we do for our dogs and cats in Florida is to provide a heartworm preventive. The heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) is now recognized as a major, global parasite affecting dogs, cats, wolves, coyotes, and foxes. From its discovery in dogs more than a century ago and the documentation in cats in the 1920s, researchers have devised diagnostic tests, preventives and treatments, but the disease still spreads.

Heartworm prevention is simple. It involves a blood sample be drawn to determine whether the parasite is present and regular dosing with preventive medication. Heartworm infestation is dangerous; untreated dogs may die, and treated dogs may be too seriously infested to be treated. In addition, treatment can be expensive.

In other words, prevention is the name of the game. In this case prevention is simple. Before 1988 the only heartworm preventives that were available had to be administered on a daily basis. This was, frankly, a pain and there was non-compliance from the best of us. Now, with once a month dosing the task is easy. You put a little sticker on your calendar to jog your memory and it’s done. You can write the date you intend to give each monthly dose on the packaging itself, so that you will become immediately aware if you have skipped a month. Not only does this save you a lot of money that you would have to spend on heartworm treatment but most importantly it saves your pet from an enormous amount of suffering. If you are really bad about remembering to do this, or are too busy to remember, a 6-month preventive injection is available for dogs from many veterinarians. Now up this point I am sure I have a consensus. The following are some facts that you may not be aware of.

Only the heartworm preventive you buy from your vet is 100% guaranteed from the manufacturer. This means if there is any product failure, they will pay for the treatment of your pet.
The only authorized vendors of these products are veterinarians. Unauthorized retailers have obtained many of these products from overseas sources. These products may have been subjected to extreme temperature changes during shipping that can dramatically impact the effectiveness of the products. Internet and catalog goods are second, third, or even fourth hand products. During the process of reselling they may have been stored in a shed or in the bed of a truck. There is no temperature control and there is no regulatory agency to inspect how these products have been handled. Veterinarian’s products are shipped directly from the manufacturer under the proper conditions.
Internet companies are not getting their products from the manufacturer. The heartworm medication manufacturers maintain a strict policy of selling products exclusively through practicing licensed veterinarians. The issue here is that a professional veterinarian-client-patient relationship exists to help ensure that patients receive proper medical care.
Some of the medication being sold through catalogs or internet companies in the US was made for foreign markets; these foreign medicines are not approved by the FDA for sale in the United States. They may be materially different from the US products in a number of ways, including their purity, potency, and their instruction for use. These are not the same products.
The last issue is price.

If you compare your veterinarian’s price with the price of the medication plus shipping you will realize you are not saving that much money. In some cases catalogue sales end up being more expensive or the same price as that charged by your veterinarian.
As a pet owner the health of my pets is of utmost importance. I consider us lucky to be able to purchase these life-saving preventive medications. I also consider the importance of the veterinarian-client relationship."

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((¸¸.·´ ¸.·´ -:¦:- Lauren -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ Guinness' Mom

As a person who has also worked in the pet industry for 11 years including Veterinarian offices I also understand how important it is to keep pets healthy and always check with your vet 1st when it comes to the health of your pet. However I don't think wanting to save some money means you love your pets any less, especially in this day and age. I just went to my vet today and they said it will be just over $155.00 without price matching so if I go to this website and simply printout an invoice to show proof of the cost they will match the price which is $79.00 which means I WOULD be buying from my vet and I WOULD be saving a lot of money and the shipping at this website specifically is only 3.99 for each order.

It just concerns me when people are purchasing prescription medications that have potential harmful side effects from places that they know nothing about. This website doesn't have a single shred of information about where they are located, where they order their medications (reputable distributors would never ship to a company that doesn't require prescriptions), or even how to contact them other than via email address. While it's good that you are purchasing your products form your vet, by using the prices from this website that uses questionable practices, you are forcing your vet to lower his prices drastically. It costs him MUCH more to purchase the medications that these people spend on their's so, essentially, to avoid getting ripped off by the online pharmacy with poor quality of counterfeit medications, you are ripping off your vet.

Info from the FDA:
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2006/606_pets.html

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((¸¸.·´ ¸.·´ -:¦:- Lauren -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ Guinness' Mom

I'm sure someone else like you has laid into a former poster for posting about online meds or for having an opinion that is different from yours but people will make their own decisions. I think most everyone understands why it is best to buy medications from their own VET and for those who don't I'm glad you posted the link from FDA so anyone reading this can form their own opinion from this drawn out post but as I said before in this day and age when you get reamed at the gas pump, the grocery store and by your VET for those 300 to 400 dollar cleanings and 100 bucks for hydrotherepy or what I would call a bath, YES I will be the 1st to admit I bargain shop and don't feel bad about using pricematch. Funny thing my vets office knows how many animals I bring in (ferrels, and strays as well as my own) they are the ones who suggested it to me, they KNOW how much I spend on everything else and were trying to help me out. Point is, If I can get a bargain from my vet now and then I WILL take it. It is a rare occasion that I am not spending an arm and a leg when I take my dogs in so don't expect me to feel like I'm doing something wrong by saving money. Are all the rescues that vaccinate their hundreds of dogs themselves in the wrong too for not paying super high retail prices from their vets? I don't think so. Maybe we should tell all the people getting their dogs microchipped cheap that they should go see their VET for that too since there could be a chance that something could go wrong. Not all of us get a discount on our vet bills so we find ways to save money when we can but thank you for your 2 cents.

My opinion is simple.

Most vets dont like these websites for 3 reasons.
1- First and foremost- We don't trust them not to keep our signature on file, reuse it, and continue to script out meds to people we haven't ok'd. They send us fax after fax after fax and then say we never responded to their first fax. They cost us manpower and time. A lot of clinics won't respond by fax anymore and have clients mail in scripts to the pharmacies for this very reason. It's not because we are trying to make it more difficult for you.
2- Some of them are bogus, with fake stuff made goodness knows where.
3- Most people don't ask us first if we can price match- they just run to the cheapest place. And it often is only $3 cheaper, or the exact same price after shipping. We're trying to make a living too, so if you ask if we can match the price we will most likely try to work with you. And while there are a few clinics that are rolling in the money and high priced- most aren't. If you never ask, and you just go elsewhere, most vets will remember that later. It hurts the relationship, and makes them less likely to give you freebies or fit you in on a crazy day, or other stuff vets do for the clients they love the most.

Personally, I don't care much. But on a super busy long day (many vets work 7 am to 6 pm), when the client I have bent over backwards for wants to order pet meds online to save $3, that can get pretty frustrating.

Thanks for the information. We have been buying Heartguard from our vet, but appreciate this info!