Canada Drugs Direct- anyone use this pharmacy to order meds to the US for your cats?

[Meowmee]

Hello Everyone,

Moderators- I am not sure if this is the right forum for this.

I am wondering if anyone has used this online pharmacy to order for your cats, and what was your experience? I am looking into ordering Zena's flucatisone inhalers from here. I have started having doubts now and wonder if I should nix it now. Originally a pharmacy with this name was shutdown for illegalities, this is no longer the same one but it has the same name apparently. But this one has a lot of bad reviews which give me pause.

I originally found another Canadian pharmacy about 2 months ago, which I can't remember the name of now which was about $30 cheaper per inhaler. CDD can order a generic version and is about 1/3 the cost per inhaler of the cost here. Unfortunately, there are no good rx coupons here for it, so I would pay around $94 per inhaler if I order one, which I did already for the first one, and about $84 per inhaler for three. At CDD three generic inhalers are $63 or so for all three, that was with a first order discount.

If you know of a better online or other stationary pharmacy to order from, from Canada or otherwise, please let me know. I had inquired at another Canadian one this week and their price was pretty much the same as it is here, so it would have been pointless- for the name brand. Thanks

I want to clarify that I meant that I received the first inhaler from a regular local pharmacy here in the US for around $94, but if I get three at one time it is cheaper- $86 per inhaler- but for some reason dvm only wrote to order one at a time with refills allowed on the rx, which could be changed to 3 at at time instead. I think that it is for what is now called fluticasone and not Flovent maybe, I am not actually sure about that.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I did a search under Canada Drugs Direct on this site and found nothing. Did you google "best price Fluticasone" and then check reviews for whatever phamacies showed up? That's what I do when I am shopping.

 

[Alldara]

I usually compare price at all pharmacies accessible to me. There are 4 within walking distance and they can have wildly different prices even though 3 are Loblaws.

You can check on your provincial website to see if the pharmacy is allowed to operate in Canada/your province. Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities in Canada

There might be other pharmacies listed in your region on those websites as well.

 

[Twylasmom]

I used Northwest Pharmacy to order Twyla’s inhalers and their prices were fair and their shipping reliable.

Canadian Pharmacy – Certified Online Pharmacy Canada

 

[Meowmee]

I usually compare price at all pharmacies accessible to me. There are 4 within walking distance and they can have wildly different prices even though 3 are Loblaws.

You can check on your provincial website to see if the pharmacy is allowed to operate in Canada/your province. Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities in Canada

There might be other pharmacies listed in your region on those websites as well.

I am Canadian, I am not living in Canada and have lived in the US since I was young. But I can order to US from some pharmacies there. I found another one which is $59 for the brand per inhaler, they don't have the generic in Canada, this one is regulated by the Canadian equivalent of the FDA, forgot the name, so, there should be no issues with long shipping times etc. I will check your link and the other pharmacies mentioned here. He said they don't do the drop shipping from other countries and all meds are regulated.

 

[Meowmee]

Thanks everyone, I am going to check these links etc. and will post more later

 

[Meowmee]

I used Northwest Pharmacy to order Twyla’s inhalers and their prices were fair and their shipping reliable.

Canadian Pharmacy – Certified Online Pharmacy Canada

I checked and it seems the generic for it is available for 44mcg and is only $37, half the price of another one I found. I already called dvm to ask her to call in a new rx to that other one, but she is not there until next week so I can call again over the weekend and Monday. I have to call them to see how long it will take. I am probably going to have to buy another higher price one here if it takes too long.

I just wonder why this pharmacy has the generic but the other one I called Canada Cloud Pharmacy told me that there is no generic for flovent in Canada yet? That is odd. So even though they say they don't ship/order from other countries etc. I wonder if they will order it? The first pharmacy told me they order the generic from New Zealand or Turkey. I have forgotten now. This one said they will order it probably though, I was not clear on that but it will take up to 3 weeks or longer so I have to get one here for now.

Apparently the $96 was with a good rx coupon for one inhaler, although I don't remember using one last time, odd, so normally it is around $250!!! Criminal.

Ok- so I set up my account there and will ask dvm to fax a new rx there instead. They are closed on the weekend so maybe I can email but will call dvm early Monday. It took two hours to get through to them today, sometimes they never answer the phone or there is trouble, I don't know. This pharmacy had the same issues of how many puffs to rx though, very confusing. Finally she said 2 puffs per day to get 3 inhalers at once and then can have refills. I hope that is accurate because I do not want to have to ask dvm again for another rx! So, that would cover a year with only 1 refill and then the rx she said runs out after a year anyway, so I better make sure to order before that if he still stays on this.

I actually had an account already and had forgotten about it- for Sybil when she went into heart failure, but I never ordered because the cardiologist said to stop the inhalers. I was giving her my own unused inhalers at first I think. I can't remember now.

Eventually I will take him to an internist prolly to make sure that he actually does need to be on this for life because I am still not sure about that. I have some worries because even though they say it is safe as an inhaled steroid, Sybil's heart doc said she should not be on albuterol or a steroid inhaler with advanced heart disease. Zena does not have it afaik know but it is still a possibility I guess with everything that happened when he went to er. Hopefully it was all from toxo then.

 

[Twylasmom]

I checked and it seems the generic for it is available for 44mcg and is only $37, half the price of another one I found. I already called dvm to ask her to call in a new rx to that other one, but she is not there until next week so I can call again over the weekend and Monday. I have to call them to see how long it will take. I am probably going to have to buy another higher price one here if it takes too long.

I just wonder why this pharmacy has the generic but the other one I called Canada Cloud Pharmacy told me that there is no generic for flovent in Canada yet? That is odd. So even though they say they don't ship/order from other countries etc. I wonder if they will order it? The first pharmacy told me they order the generic from New Zealand or Turkey. I have forgotten now. This one said they will order it probably though, I was not clear on that but it will take up to 3 weeks or longer so I have to get one here for now.

Apparently the $96 was with a good rx coupon for one inhaler, although I don't remember using one last time, odd, so normally it is around $250!!! Criminal.

Ok- so I set up my account there and will ask dvm to fax a new rx there instead. They are closed on the weekend so maybe I can email but will call dvm early Monday. It took two hours to get through to them today, sometimes they never answer the phone or there is trouble, I don't know. This pharmacy had the same issues of how many puffs to rx though, very confusing. Finally she said 2 puffs per day to get 3 inhalers at once and then can have refills. I hope that is accurate because I do not want to have to ask dvm again for another rx! So, that would cover a year with only 1 refill and then the rx she said runs out after a year anyway, so I better make sure to order before that if he still stays on this.

I actually had an account already and had forgotten about it- for Sybil when she went into heart failure, but I never ordered because the cardiologist said to stop the inhalers. I was giving her my own unused inhalers at first I think. I can't remember now.

Eventually I will take him to an internist prolly to make sure that he actually does need to be on this for life because I am still not sure about that. I have some worries because even though they say it is safe as an inhaled steroid, Sybil's heart doc said she should not be on albuterol or a steroid inhaler with advanced heart disease. Zena does not have it afaik know but it is still a possibility I guess with everything that happened when he went to er. Hopefully it was all from toxo then.

Northwest does also ship from other countries so it takes a few weeks. Twyla was on an inhaler for three years, even though she had some heart issues. An inhaled steroid is much gentler to the system as it does not go into the bloodstream. Twyla’s asthma was controlled with one puff a day, so you can play around with dosage and do the minimum that works for your cat. If it is triggered by something you may only need to use it seasonally. As an asthmatic myself I can say the albuterol inhalers are much harder on the system than the inhaled steroid. And the inhaled steroid is much less risky than long time oral steroids.

 

[Meowmee]

Northwest does also ship from other countries so it takes a few weeks. Twyla was on an inhaler for three years, even though she had some heart issues. An inhaled steroid is much gentler to the system as it does not go into the bloodstream. Twyla’s asthma was controlled with one puff a day, so you can play around with dosage and do the minimum that works for your cat. If it is triggered by something you may only need to use it seasonally. As an asthmatic myself I can say the albuterol inhalers are much harder on the system than the inhaled steroid. And the inhaled steroid is much less risky than long time oral steroids.

Yes thanks I know it’s safer, but I still think there’s some risk if they have heart disease. Because Sybil cardiologist expressly said she was not to use any of those because it would hurt her heart. Of course she had advanced end stage HCM at that point.

I don’t really know what’s going on with Zena, but on the 1st x-ray at er and then one of the x-rays at the new dvm she said he has the donut shapes which is what Sybil had.

However, the only time he ever showed any signs of coughing was when he had toxo pneumonia…he is not showing any sign of asthma at all now. But the lung inflammation was still there so that could be from toxo pneumonia.

Whereas Sybil was having asthma attacks when she was a young cat, that’s how it was diagnosed along with the x-ray.

I am asthmatic too, I have trouble using the steroid though. I’ve been put on that sometimes but I always stop because it gives me a terrible sore throat. Now even the albuterol is giving me a sore throat, but I got a spacer recently and I’m trying that- I found it is less irritating to my throat, but it takes longer for it to help me.

I’ve only been doing one puff with Zena. I did two for the first couple of weeks maybe. because he was becoming more resistant to it, and I was getting worried that it could hurt him if he does have some type of heart disease. I don’t know. It’s so hard to tell because he hasn’t shown any signs of that really at all except for what happened the night he went to the ER.

I will ask about that next time he goes to Dvm. Quinn was coughing the other night and I got so worried. But when he had his x-ray, it was totally clear. There was no sign of anything even though he was coughing before the treatment. He did not have an x-ray until after he was treated for a month on clindamycin.

yeah, I know the albuterol is worse on the heart than the steroid probably but the cardiologist expressly said he didn’t want her to be taking either of those that they would both be bad for her heart.

When I use albuterol, I don’t have any symptoms really my heart doesn’t race or anything. At some point when I had Covid pneumonia my doctor gave me levalbuterol because that was supposed to be easier on your heart. But I found that it did not help me as much as albuterol.

Northwest did tell me it’s going to take about 3 to 4 weeks for it to get here and it is coming from New Zealand. I think I can’t remember now… but anyway the generic is shipped from another country. Whereas Canada cloud it costs about $59 but it’s actual Flovent and it would probably get here in about two weeks. So I’m going to have to buy, another inhaler here too either way prolly.

 

[Meowmee]

I wanted to update that first CDD is not the same name as the pharmacy was shut down. And even though I did not pay them, after I read the bad reviews etc. and then forgot to call to cancel it, they mailed me 3 inhalers in 2 weeks.. much faster than expected. In fact it may be enough to make me believe in divine intervention, lol, because they arrived the day before his inhaler ran out!

So I mailed them a check. In the interim dvm had called new rx to two other pharmacies including Northwest. NW called me and said they received it but there was no date on it. I told them I had received it from the other pharmacy, not knowing they would send it to me unpaid etc. and I don't need it now and could they hold the rx for me etc. At first she said no, but then she said they will call dvm for a new rx with a date etc and will hold it. It may run out but if he is only on one puff now this is a years supply or so, and they said the rx is good for one year. But if I order in advance it should be ok.

The upside is I don't have to stress about it now or pay $93 for one inhaler again here etc. and I got 3 for $63 or so. The downside is they don't have a counter on them. I am shocked that in this day and age anyone makes an inhaler without a counter anymore.

They are flixotide inhalers in an orange container with 120 doses 50mcg. I looked it up so now I understand the color scheme for inhalers which I was unaware of before.

So, I have to write down each time I give a dose. I am not sure if I count the first priming doses which were 4 puffs according to the instructions. I am even more shocked they make an inhaler with no counter that also still makes a sound like it has medication when it is empty. This is dangerous for asthmatics obviously.

So next time, assuming he stays on it long term I will order from Northwest way in advance because they told me it would be 3-4 weeks at least.

 

[Twylasmom]

I wanted to update that first CDD is not the same name as the pharmacy was shut down. And even though I did not pay them, after I read the bad reviews etc. and then forgot to call to cancel it, they mailed me 3 inhalers in 2 weeks.. much faster than expected. In fact it may be enough to make me believe in divine intervention, lol, because they arrived the day before his inhaler ran out!

So I mailed them a check. In the interim dvm had called new rx to two other pharmacies including Northwest. NW called me and said they received it but there was no date on it. I told them I had received it from the other pharmacy, not knowing they would send it to me unpaid etc. and I don't need it now and could they hold the rx for me etc. At first she said no, but then she said they will call dvm for a new rx with a date etc and will hold it. It may run out but if he is only on one puff now this is a years supply or so, and they said the rx is good for one year. But if I order in advance it should be ok.

The upside is I don't have to stress about it now or pay $93 for one inhaler again here etc. and I got 3 for $63 or so. The downside is they don't have a counter on them. I am shocked that in this day and age anyone makes an inhaler without a counter anymore.

They are flixotide inhalers in an orange container with 120 doses 50mcg. I looked it up so now I understand the color scheme for inhalers which I was unaware of before.

So, I have to write down each time I give a dose. I am not sure if I count the first priming doses which were 4 puffs according to the instructions. I am even more shocked they make an inhaler with no counter that also still makes a sound like it has medication when it is empty. This is dangerous for asthmatics obviously.

So next time, assuming he stays on it long term I will order from Northwest way in advance because they told me it would be 3-4 weeks at least.

I just stuck a note on the fridge and made a tally mark every time I gave a dose. You shouldn’t have to include the primer doses in the 120, as there is enough in the cartridge to allow for that. I did sometimes feel the last few doses were less effective.

 

[Meowmee]

I just stuck a note on the fridge and made a tally mark every time I gave a dose. You shouldn’t have to include the primer doses in the 120, as there is enough in the cartridge to allow for that. I did sometimes feel the last few doses were less effective.

Thanks. so far I am just writing it by numerical number on the box so I know how many doses I gave. I read somewhere last night that you have to include the first four puff primer doses. I’ll try to find the link for that.

I found something called aero count that doesn’t seem to actually be available to purchase yet which you could put on any inhaler which will count the doses. Here is a link.

Trudell Medical International

www.trudellmed.com

 

[catkisses4ever]

I used Canada drugs direct a few years ago (recommended by my specialty vet which made me comfortable), also for fluticasone, and had a great experience. It was a lot more affordable for me!