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Drug Company Price Increases
These will be passed on to our clients immediately,
but are not necessarily reflected in our drugs price list, as indicated on that page.
March 2005 Lots of companies have
made price increases this month: Animal Care, RCW Pedigree (large range of diets), Boeringer Ingelheim
(Metacam, Seraquin, Vetmedin,
Voren, Dermocanis), Vetoquinol (Propalin, Prilium, Clindacyl,
Cefaseptin, Clavaseptin, Tolfedine etc.).
February 2005 A big month for price increases.
Hill's have increased prices across the range - Science Diets, and Nature's Best. (The JVC is still the cheapest
around for the Science Plan range!). Novartis Animal Health
(who have now taken over as our biggest supplier) has increased prices across
most of the range of products including Program, Program Plus, anaesthetics, sedatives etc etc. The other
main price hike comes from Ceva which provides us with Galastop, Feliway, DAP, Selgian and more etceteras. As these companies are
amongst our main suppliers you will see the effect of these
price rises immediately
January 2005 Arnolds, the
company which supplies Felimazole, Vetoryl, Hypercard 10
and Tumil K along with
an array of surgery equipment and consumables, have
increased their prices. So have Virbac – they provide vaccines, antibiotics,
dental products and shampoo. Cook, the supplier of
a wide range of surgical consumables has joined the
price rise club this month along with Scherring-Plough – Ceporex, Intrac, Mysoline, Insuvet etc etc. Happy New
Year to them!
December 2004 There have been
NO drug company price increases this month. Merry Christmas
to them all
November 2004 Bayer, the large
German pharmaceutical company, has increased prices
across its large range of products. These include Drontal,
Baytril (antibiotic) and many, many others.
October 2004 Pfizer, the massive
international pharmaceutical company, has increased
prices. The products which we purchase include Stronghold, Rimadyl, Synulox, Medrone,
Antirobe, DepoMedrone, Pet
Tabs, etc etc. They are our fourth largest supplier, so there
will be a knock-on effect. Our biggest supplier is Intervet (price
increase last month), followed by Novartis (August)
and Merial (March).
September 2004 The big company
to provide a price increase this month is Intervet.
The increase is relatively small but across all products
- Vaccines, hormones, antibiotics, ACE inhibitors,
wormers etc etc. Intervet is
our biggest supplier so there will be knock on effect
on our prices.
August 2004 Novartis has increased the price of Program, Atopica, Fortekor and lots
of other products including anaesthetics.
July 2004 Vetoquinol has increased it's prices this month: Marbocyl, Propalin, sutures, Prilium, Clindacyl, Cefaseptin,
etc. Arden Grange (Pet food) has also increased prices.
June 2004 The only significant price
increase this month is from Leo Laboratories. This
company produces dermatological, ear and eye products
as well as some laboratory tests.
April & May 2004 There
were no significant drug company price increases
during these 2 months.
March 2004 Companies
providing us with price increase this month include: Virbac (Vaccines, antibiotics, dental products), Ceva (Flea collars and behavioural treatments
etc), Arnolds (orthopaedic
equipment, drugs) and Merial (Frontline®, vaccines and many others).
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MONTHLY SNIPPETS
January
2005
To
continue the theme of last month's snippet, we had
another case of "human medicine" poisoning
this month. This time it was the much more common drug
- paracetomol. Again, a pain killer, which, as with
humans, can be very toxic. This 30kg dog ate about
2grammes of the drug - enough to cause liver failure
and death. Luckily we had quick access to the antidote
and were able to start treatment very quickly and to
monitor his liver enzymes "in house". The
dog was transferred to OVEC for the week-end for continuous
intravenous infusion. Despite showing early signs of
toxicity, the dog has fully recovered......
December
2004
The
clinic was recently presented with a seriously ill
dog which had swallowed between 750mg and 1500mg of
a human drug used to treat migraines. The toxic dose
can be as low as 2.5mg/kg. This dog weighed 30kg. Her
toxic dose was therefore only 75mg - she ate between
10 and 20 times the lethal dose!! The drug overdose
caused severe bleeding from a potentially fatal duodenal
ulcer (diagnosed at the JVC using an endoscope) accompanied
by chronic, profuse vomiting and diarrhoea. Treatment
involved two weeks of hospitalisation with
intensive care. The owners were not worried about the
final bill - all they cared about was their dog's recovery
and having her home again - the insurance company can
worry about the bill!
November
2004
We
have a very friendly long haired black male (n) cat
requiring a nice home. He is good with cats, dogs and
people! Please contact us soon so that he can settle
in his new home before Christmas. Successfully rehomed -
thank you for your enquiries!
October
2004
When
James Herriot started his
first job, he was given his syringe
and his needle. Today, nearly all practices
have blood analysing equipment.
Some think that most practices should have an ultrasound
scanner. One day most veterinary practices will have
their own MRI scanners. One day most pets will be insured!
September
2004
Ah! the boney question. There is a push towards feeding
bones to dogs as part of their "natural diet".
One should first consider the benefits and the side
effects. Today we have a 15 year old dog with an intestinal
blockage due to fragments of bone. He is seriously
ill and may not be a candidate for surgery. Although
dogs are carnivores they have great difficulty dealing
with bones (especially cooked ones). Smoked bones are
available, but should only be given for chewing - not
eating. Raw meaty bones? - a different
subject altogether!
August
2004
A
client was out walking his dog on a hot day when 3
wasps attacked. The man was stung twice and the dog
(a 45kg Labrador) was stung once. The dog collapsed in shock
within a few minutes and the owner had to carry him
home (about a quarter of a mile). Both recovered with
rest and treatment!
July
2004
Driving
to work one morning (7th July), a client spotted two
little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels puppies (about
4 months old) sitting on the verge of the A40 near Eynsham.
She turned around, picked them up and brought them
into our surgery in Corn Street. Luckily, they each had a magic ingredient
which allowed them to be returned home - a microchip.
They escaped out of their owner's garden when high
winds blew the gate open - after a little panic and
one vital phone call, they were soon back in the garden
again!!!
June
2004:
We
have 2 young, pretty, friendly, spayed female cats
looking for a home! (Update - these have been rehomed!)
May
2004:
Poisons are attractive
to pets - do not believe what you read on the side
of slug bait packets. Mr J
can recount 2 very recent cases (and dozens over the
years) of slug bait poisoning in dogs. One died after
eating a whole box, the other survived after trying
to save slugs from their fate by eating the pellets
from around some Hostas. It took 3 days of intensive care to save him.
So, think before you try protecting your plants!
(April's
point has been superceded by events - please see our
vaccination price list or phone to ask about our dog
vaccine structure and the new pricing policy).
March
2004:
We
often charge £4.99 for missed appointments. This is
discretionary and is usually only applied to “repeat
offenders”. Isn’t it strange how some people
apologise profusely for missing an appointment and
insist on paying the fee and others hit the roof and
change vets?
Post Scripts
Fort Dodge has re-launched
their combination cat vaccine containing a Feline Chlamydia
component. This is now the only available vaccine against
this condition in the UK. The Jackson
Veterinary Clinic Ltd, in accordance with published
ethical cat vaccination recommendations, will stock
a small amount of this vaccine for use in multicat households
and where there is an increased risk of infection.
Please ask for our price (or go to our fees1 page)
as we charge slightly more than the regular combined
vaccinations for cat 'flu, enteritis and leukaemia.
A vaccine is now available
from Fort Dodge which contains
a component to protect dogs against Corona Virus infection.
This virus can cause diarrhoea and can be of significance
in breeding kennels and litters of pups. (Not stocked).
Yet another new vaccine from Merial protects
against Herpes infection in dogs. This virus is described
as one of the causes of the fading pup syndrome and
neonatal death. (Not stocked).
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Free Consultations with
our nurses
These new introductions to our services are proving
to be very popular and rewarding:
Well Pet Awareness: New for 2005. We would like
you to get involved more with the health
of your older pets. For several years we
have been offering blood tests for cats aged
7 and above. We now offer free nurse consultaions for
older cats and dogs. It is vital to identify
diseases and conditions well in advance.
It is better to stop them happening! Doctors
advise we should have annual check ups in
older age – this equates to once every
7 years for our pets – is this realy enough? No, we think not. Give us a call
and we will arrange a consultation for you
and your older pet.
Puppy Parties: If you have recently registered
your new puppy with us you will receive an
invitation to come to one of our puppy parties.
These have proved so popular that people
ask to come again, they come from neighboring
practices and they have a great time. Lots
of food, games, prizes and fun. Some parties
held at other practices which we have heard
about are stuffy, boring events where you
are lectured on puppy behaviour - not ours! Megan puts a great deal
of time and work into preparing the parties
- make sure you reply to your invitation
or someone else will be enjoying the fun
instead of you and your puppy.
Weight Management Consultations: Since Waltham/Royal Canin introduced an effective weight reducing
diet, we have been very successful in overcoming
the difficult problem of obesity. Let's face it, obesity
is the correct word to describe a dog, cat
or person who is more than 15% overweight.
This means if your dog weighs 34.5kg instead
of 30kg, then he or she is obese! If your
pet is overweight, there are serious health
implications around the corner. Feeding less
is not the answer. Neither is "he only
gets one meal a day" classified as a
diet! In fact, more than one meal a day is
indicated if your pet needs to lose weight.
Careful planning and sticking to the rules
will make your pet happier, fitter, healthier
and he/she will live longer to enjoy it.
Several of our patients have reached their
target weight and have been issued with their
certificates of achievement. Please give
us a call if you would like to join....
Senior Pet Consultations: Recent improvements in blood
testing facilities at the clinic, better
foods for the older pet, a wide range of
drugs and products to improve the physiology
of the older patient and a better understanding
of their ailments has meant an improvement
in the quality of life for older pets. Don't
fall into the trap of thinking "he's
just old so we expect him not to...." Understanding
what is going on with regard to ageing and
doing something about it will be very rewarding
for your old friend - and you!
Arthritis Awareness: Perhaps the most common and
most overlooked condition in older dogs -
arthritis. Most of our older patients have
arthritis. Just because Fido doesn't
say "ouch" when he gets up, doesn't
mean it doesn't hurt! If your dog has trouble
getting into the car, getting up steps, is
stiff and/or lame after resting, limps at
all during exercise or is slowing down on
a walk - arthritis is the most likely diagnosis.
We can do a lot more these days to help arthritis
- not just pain killers, but tablets containing Glucosamiune HCl* and other joint improving products,
weight loss, exercise regimes etc, can all
help make life much more comfortable for
your older friend.
* Do not be fooled into buying Glucosamine Sulphate -
it is cheap but a waste of money as dogs
cannot metabolise it
- only the HCl form
will do!
All consultations in this list are FREE (you only pay
for the products) and you will be seen individually
- there are no group sessions.
If you would like more information on these services,
then please call us on 01993 842717. Thank
you.
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Fees and prices clarity policy. We have published on this web site a complete list of all the
drugs we stock showing the price to you They are
listed according to the commonest prescription, eg the
price for 30 Medrone V
4mg Tablets – the commonest number of pills
prescribed at one time. Then you can make comparisons!
Our general policy over the next few years is one
of reducing the price of drugs (our mark up has
come down by an average of 20% in the last 2 years),
but to increase our professional fees. This is
in line with the recent Competition Commission
Report, the potential orders of the Office of Fair
Trading (no Parliamentary Statute required - what
they say goes!), and as a result of the Marsh Report.
You may be interested to note that these are all
government bodies and someone out there voted for
the government!!
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Send us your interesting "pet" stories…
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