The Tails of Truth Podcast:

Tails of Truth: Where You Fill Your Pet's Prescription Actually Matters. Here's Why.

There's something happening behind the scenes at your vet clinic that most pet parents never hear about.

In this episode of Tails of Truth, holistic veterinarian Dr. Angie Krause and veterinary nurse JoJo get real about one of the most quietly controversial topics in veterinary medicine: pet pharmacies. From the hidden labor costs of third-party online pharmacies to a genuinely alarming real-life medication error at a human chain pharmacy, this episode is one every pet parent needs to hear.

Here's what Dr. Angie and JoJo cover:

  • What actually happens at your vet clinic when a prescription request comes in from a third-party pharmacy and why it costs your vet time and money with zero revenue in return
  • The economics of small independent vet practices and how third-party pharmacy use is quietly contributing to their financial strain
  • JoJo's cautionary tale about a cat who received his owner's blood pressure medication at the wrong dose from a human pharmacy for five full weeks
  • Why vet-specific online pharmacies are safer, including the built-in verification checks that human pharmacies don't have
  • How to support your vet without necessarily paying more including auto-ship discounts and price matching you may not know about

This episode is about 15 minutes. Worth every one of them.

Key Takeaways

  1. Every time your vet approves a prescription from a third-party pharmacy, it costs them 15–20 minutes of unbillable time and zero revenue.
  2. Filling at your vet clinic's own online pharmacy is almost always price-competitive with big-box options and often has auto-ship discounts.
  3. Human chain pharmacies don't have veterinary-specific safety checks, errors can and do happen.
  4. Vet-specific online pharmacies verify medications against your pet's species, weight, and chart, a layer of protection human pharmacies can't offer.
  5. Small independent vet practices are under genuine financial pressure from third-party pharmacy use. Where you fill a prescription is a form of advocacy.
  6. If your vet calls something into a human pharmacy, always text them a photo of the medication before giving it to your pet.
More Episodes

Sound Bites

    Checking metafield_content: true

    Has value: true

    Children count: 6

  • "Some of the things you can buy on Chewy, they are selling it for less than we can buy it for at wholesale."   — Dr. Angie 

  • "When you go to a third party like Chewy because you're trying to save $2... it is gutting the small practices that are left." — JoJo 

  • "I'll sign off anywhere from five to ten of these per day, sometimes more. And that takes up so much time. And the amount of revenue made on that is none."  — Dr. Angie 

  • "The benefit of using your veterinary clinic's online pharmacy is that they are veterinary focused and only have veterinary safe drugs. — JoJo 

  • "We want to please everyone. We want you to get your stuff. We want you to get it for the best price possible too. It's just right now it's coming at our expense."        — Dr. Angie 

  •  "Help us help you." — Dr. Angie 

Featured Products

Follow Us On

Spotify Spotify Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts YouTube YouTube + More