Why do I need a vet script for special dog food? Does it have drugs?

The prescription diets are formulated to treat for specific disease processes or conditions in pets. They are prescription only because they are not indicated for healthy pets with no issues and therefore need to be regulated, hence the prescription requirement. There isn’t just one specific ingredient in the food that makes it a prescription food per-say. The urinary diets are formulated with added salt, so this is what is causing the increase drinking and urination that your are seeing. This is done on purpose to help dilute the urine so that crystals don’t form. Most pets have to stay on this food lifelong because they are more susceptible to forming crystals and stones. I hope this information was helpful to you. Take care.

Foods in the US need to be regulated under AAFCO standards to be complete and nutritionally balanced, so most foods will do a good job of making sure your pet stays healthy and happy. Specialist foods generally are designed to treat an issue, such as a food allergy or a health problem, and are beneficial for pets that need it. As for the prescription diets your vet sells, these are specially formulated to help treat a specific medical condition like a prescription medication would. They are prescription-only because of this, and sometimes cost a bit more because a lot more research and formulation (and sometimes unique ingredients) goes into them to make them able to treat a health condition. In many cases, your vet can send a prescription for this food to an online pet store or pharmacy so you can purchase the product cheaper.

Hello Kevin, My name is Dr. Shines and I understand your thought process. Going to the veterinarian can be stressful! Unfortunately online veterinarians are not legally allowed to provide any type of prescription. Any prescription, even prescription food, requires a legal client patient relationship. This can only be established by having a physical exam. This legal relationship will last for 12 months from the date of the exam. I recommend to call Kevin's veterinarian and ask if there is a reason they aren't approving the prescription. Maybe there's a specific reason? You might also look into a mobile veterinarian who can come to your home and save Kevin the stress of a trip. I hope this helps and please feel free to reach out with any additional questions.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! So your Vet will prescribe the prescription food but not the treats? I would ask to speak to your Vet directly. Sadly anything that is prescription requires a valid Veterinary-Client-Patient-Relationship (VCPR). A VCPR requires a yearly exam which is what the law/veterinary boards require from the Vet. Any refill on prescriptions need yearly exams. With that being said you may be able to find the treats online as it is hard to enforce prescription diets, let alone treats. For what it is worth it is in the best interest of Oscar to have yearly exams and be up to date on his vaccines. I wish you the best!

If you are buying the prescription diet directly from your vet I would recommend looking at an online pet pharmacy to see if they carry the food. Often times these places can offer bulk discounts to purchasing cans and may also have a lower price available than your vet can offer. Your vet can send in the prescription for you so that you can then purchases there. Some other brands such as Royal Canin, Eukanuba and Pro Plan also offer prescription urinary diets so if Science Diet is too expensive, you may want to price shop and see if the other prescriptions available would work.

I would recommend just feeding normal dog food rather than using human food until you can discuss it with your vet. You may even be able to just call the clinic and ask for a prescription for another brand of dog food. Sometimes you have to dry a couple different prescription dog foods to see which one your pet will prefer. Hill's and Royal Canin also have similar prescription dog foods that you could try. Good luck!

If you have been feeding the Hills prescription food, you can always talk to your doctor about continuing this food. Yes, there is a difference between the prescription diets and regular food, but the regular Science Diet food is high quality. It will be less expensive to feed Science Diet sensitive stomach formula than to continue on the prescription food. You could always try a small bag of the regular food, and if Spartacus does not do as well, you could switch back to the prescription diet. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.