Repeat Prescriptions
You can order repeat prescriptions and medication online using the form at the bottom of this page. Please use the form rather than phoning reception or sending an email — it makes sure we have all the details we need to process your request promptly and accurately. Please allow 2 to 4 working days for all prescription and medication requests.
RCVS rules for repeat prescriptions
Before we can issue any repeat medication — whether we dispense it ourselves or send a written prescription to a pharmacy — we have a legal duty under rules from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), which oversees vets in the UK, to make sure the medication is still the right choice for your pet. The key rules are:
- For prescription-only medicines (POM-V), we need to have seen your pet for a check-up within the last 6 months.
- For prescription parasite treatments (flea, worm and tick products), we need to have seen your pet within the last 12 months.
- Sometimes, depending on your pet’s health, we may need to see them more often than that — the vet will let you know if that’s the case.
- Controlled drugs can only be prescribed in 28-day quantities at a time, in line with RCVS controlled drug guidance.
Antimicrobial prescribing — new RCVS guidance
The RCVS has introduced new guidelines about prescribing antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and parasite treatments. We will need to examine your pet in person at a consultation (not over the phone or by photo) before prescribing these types of medication.
This includes things like ear or eye drops, and all prescription flea, worm and tick treatments — many of which contain antibiotics or are otherwise caught by the new rules even if you wouldn’t normally think of them as antimicrobials.
In practice, your pet will need to come in for an in-person consultation in cases like:
- Ear or eye infections (most treatments contain antibiotics)
- Skin infections requiring antibiotics, including long-term cases
- Switching from one flea, worm or tick product to another
- Suspected urinary tract infections (a urine test alone is no longer sufficient)
- Suspected gut infections (a stool test alone is no longer sufficient)
- A prescription flea, worm or tick treatment where your pet hasn’t been seen in the last 12 months
This change is about using antibiotics and parasiticides responsibly, to help slow antimicrobial resistance — which is a serious issue for both animal and human health.
If your pet needs an in-person consultation before we can dispense, you can book one online:
How your medication is supplied
The form will ask whether you’d like the medication dispensed by us or sent as a written prescription to a pharmacy. Both options follow the RCVS rules above.
Option 1 — Dispensed by us
We’ll prepare the medication at the practice and let you know when it’s ready to collect. Please allow 2 to 4 working days for your repeat to be ready, longer if any of the items are not normally kept in stock.
There’s no prescription fee — you just pay for the medication.
Payment is required before or at the time of collection. We’re unable to release medication that hasn’t been paid for. You can pay in person at reception, in advance over the phone, or via a payment link we can send by SMS or email.
Option 2 — Written prescription, sent direct to your chosen pharmacy
If you’d prefer to have your medication dispensed by an online pharmacy or another supplier, we can issue a written prescription. We now send the prescription directly to your chosen pharmacy. We’ll email the signed prescription (as a non-editable PDF) straight to them, usually within 2 to 4 working days, and they’ll then contact you to complete your order.
If you have already placed your order with the pharmacy when you request the prescription, please include your order number or account reference so the pharmacy can match the prescription to your order without delay. If you haven’t yet placed the order, please send us the order number as soon as you have it.
We send prescriptions direct to the pharmacy because it keeps the process simple and reliable: there’s nothing for you to scan, upload or post, no risk of the prescription being delayed in the post, and the pharmacy can start preparing your order the moment they receive it. It also protects against the small but growing problem of prescription fraud across the UK veterinary sector.
The fee for a written prescription is £21.00 per item (one item per written prescription). If your pet needs multiple medications, we’ll issue a separate prescription for each.
Payment is required before we send the prescription to your pharmacy. Once we’ve prepared the prescription, we’ll contact you to take payment. You can pay over the phone or via a payment link we’ll send by SMS or email. As soon as payment has been received, we’ll email the prescription to your chosen pharmacy.
Exceptions
In a small number of cases we will issue the prescription differently:
- Human medicines (under the prescribing cascade) — these are normally best dispensed by a local high-street pharmacy. Where that’s the case we may give you a hard copy of the prescription to take to the pharmacy in person, or send it to a named local pharmacy on your behalf.
- Controlled drugs — by law, prescriptions for controlled drugs must be in hard copy. We will post these directly to your nominated pharmacy on your behalf.
- Other exceptions — if your chosen pharmacy cannot accept emailed prescriptions, or in rare cases of a technical issue, we may issue the prescription differently. We’ll let you know if this applies.
Which pharmacies can we send to?
We can send written prescriptions to any registered UK pharmacy of your choice. The best-known online options include:
- Animed Direct — animeddirect.co.uk
- Pet Drugs Online — petdrugsonline.co.uk
- VetUK — vetuk.co.uk
- Vetscriptions — vetscriptions.co.uk
You can check that any pharmacy is properly registered on the VMD’s online register at gov.uk/check-veterinary-medicine-registration. We’d advise avoiding any website that offers to dispense prescription-only veterinary medicines without a written prescription — these are operating illegally and the medicines may be unsafe.
A note on prescription fraud
Altering a written prescription — for example changing the date, the quantity, or the medicine — is a criminal offence under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations. So is submitting the same non-repeatable prescription to more than one pharmacy. Online pharmacies cross-check prescriptions with the issuing practice and will report suspected fraud to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
Our prescriptions are issued as digitally-signed, non-editable PDFs sent straight to your pharmacy. This is the most secure way for both you and us — it removes any risk of the prescription being lost, altered or misused along the way.
Request a Repeat Prescription
The form will ask whether you’d like the medication dispensed by us or sent as a written prescription to a pharmacy. If you choose the written prescription option, you’ll also be asked for the pharmacy name — and, if you know them, the pharmacy email address and your order number or account reference.