Services

Certain medications such as antibiotics, painkillers, heart and kidney medicines are licensed in the UK as Prescription Only Medicine - Veterinary (POM-V)s. As with some human medicines you will need a prescription from your vet to purchase POM-Vs.

Medicines are classed as POM-V to ensure they are used appropriately, with veterinary monitoring of dosage and side-effects. Prescription medicines are closely regulated to ensure correct storage, supply etc.

We offer written prescriptions for any POM-V.  However, some drugs can only be dispensed 28 days at a time, for example controlled drugs which can be addictive. You can order written prescriptions by contacting on us on 0114 255 4663 during opening hours or emailing info@highfieldvets.com.

We require at least 3 working days’ notice (and to dispense POM-Vs) to provide these and 7 days’ notice for controlled drugs, because a vet has to read your pet’s history and review prior blood results, the medication suitability, contraindications, interaction with other drugs and the need for monitoring/physical examinations and then issue the prescription or await delivery of and safely dispense the POM-V.

A written prescription is priced at £23.16 per prescription, second prescriptions for different drugs are priced at £13.88 if they are ordered at the same time.

Our policy is to see pets for medication health checks at least every 6 months as the pet legally needs to be ‘under our care.’  For prescription anti-parasite treatments eg., wormers, this is 12 months.

It is important to note that your pet’s condition may change over time, so intervals between prescription checks vary depending on individual circumstances.

A common misconception is that a written prescription will last for 6 months, however we can only supply a prescription for the time until your pet is deemed to require the next prescription check-up. For some this may be a few weeks or a month depending upon when they were last seen, or the speed we expect the condition to change. The vet will determine how long or how many times you can use a repeat prescription. For example, if we have seen your pet in January we may offer repeat medications until June before we will have to examine your pet. If you request more medication in May, we would only be able to do a prescription or dispense 1 more month of product.

There are various online pharmacies that you may contact but this is a contract between yourself and pharmacies.  Please ensure they are legitimate, and registered with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. PLEASE CHECK PRIOR TO ORDERING A PRESCRIPTION that the online pharmacy have the item in stock at the dosage you require, if we have to prepare a revised prescription we may charge an additional fee for this service.

Online pharmacies may charge handling fees.

The duration and the amount of medication on the prescription will vary between individuals.

As the duration of the prescription also depends on the severity of the condition, we may need to see your pet before authorising a repeat prescription (this service is chargeable) to make sure the correct treatment and dosage is prescribed and to check for any adverse effects.

There are some medicines that are described as "Schedule 3” or “controlled drugs” as they can be addictive. The differences between these medicines and other POM-V medicines are as follows:

• All medication prescribed must be purchased within 28 days of the date the prescription was signed.
• The original signed prescription must be posted to the pharmacy – they cannot accept faxed, emailed, uploaded, photocopies, etc.
• Repeat prescriptions are not accepted – each order must have a new prescription

It is an offence to submit a fraudulent prescription to obtain veterinary medicines or for a person to alter a prescription in any way unless authorised to do so by the prescriber. Any suspected case of such fraud or unlawful alteration of a prescription will be referred to the appropriate enforcement body. If we have any concerns about the validity of a prescription, the details will be verified with the issuing veterinary surgeon.

No effective medicine is risk-free and all medicines have the potential to cause adverse effects. If you suspect that you or your pet have an adverse reaction to any medicinal product, please contact your vet and report it to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).