Payment Plans
We will always provide you with reasonable and competitive prices, but will never compromise on the health and welfare of the pets we care for. We will always choose the best, safest and most effective treatments for your pets.
A full written estimate will always be created for you at the time of your initial examination. This will allow you to be fully informed before treatment is provided, thereby avoiding any additional anxiety that undetermined costs can bring, to an already stressful situation.
To help us keep administration costs to a minimum, all consultations, treatments and operations must be paid for at the time of service, or when your pet leaves us to go home with you. We accept checks and all major credit cards, and because we understand that veterinary expenditures are often unplanned, we make available Care Credit, a convenient payment plan that offers programs to spread payments for care over 6 months up to several years at very competitive interest rates. Ask about Care Credit at our front desk, or go to carecredit.com for more information.
VetnCare Internet and Mail-Order Pharmacy Policy
We strive to provide the highest quality medical care for your pet, and part of this process is to ensure that your pet receives only the highest quality pharmaceuticals.
There are many online pet pharmacies that offer enticing prices. Unfortunately, these deals may not always be as good as they seem, with counterfeit and altered medications commonly dispensed to patients. Additionally, these products are not backed by the manufacturer warranty, as they are often sourced through ‘grey’ markets.
In line with recommendations from the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Veterinary Medical Board, and the FDA, we do not work directly with third-party pharmacies, due to the difficulty validating the integrity of these businesses.
Our goal is to make sure you are educated on any choices you make in regard to your pet’s medications. Please consider the following important factors prior to using alternative pharmacies:
- Be aware that there is wide variation in online pharmacies, ranging from good to poor. It is important to always do your research.
- When considering the use of online pharmacies, it is important to note that all of the major manufacturers of veterinary products have policies to sell exclusively through veterinarians. This means that there is a chance that these products may have been illegally diverted, are counterfeit, or have been mishandled or compromised in some way. In addition, many of the product guarantees made by manufacturers are void when sold outside the proper veterinary channels. So if your pet has an issue with the product, there will be no compensation or information from the manufacturer.
- Some of the top online pharmacies have been cited and fined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Veterinary and State Pharmacy Boards for failing to follow applicable pharmacy and prescription laws and regulations. If even some of the more ‘reputable’ online pharmacies are practicing less than legal methods, it is worth a pause to consider the consequences, prior to using any online pharmacy.
In accordance with the CVMA policy on prescriptions; and assuming we have a current doctor/patient relationship with your pet, we can either fill your prescription at our clinic, alternatively, we will happily provide you with a written prescription to take to an outside pharmacy. We will not provide any prescription information to anyone other than you, and will no longer directly respond to requests from outside pharmacies (by either fax or email).
