Expert: Jessica - 2/22/2011

Question
That's it in a nutshell, I have 2 cats close in age about 2 or 3 yrs apart. They were both cats found by good people wanting to give to good home, which was me & my family of 4. I've been trying to keep up with vet visits, but it's getting expensive. My husband isn't big of our cats, but tolerates them. So spending the less amount of money on the better. Sad, but true, I felt sorry for the kittens & took them in, I love cats!! My main question is why can't I get revolution on the internet without vet approval? Can I get revolution without vet visit?
My cats haven't been seen since last year. Their script ran out and the website petcarerx will not renew order without vet prescription. Vet won't renew prescription without seeing the cats, which is about $100 each vet visit and then buying the medicine is about $100 so that's about $300 just to get a script for fleas doesn't this sound ridiculus?? I'm so not trying to sound inhumane, but I'm a stay home mother of 2...need I say more! With the economy we're $300 is a grocery trip & a doctor visit for one my kids!!! Can you help me with this? Oh, I like revolution because it's very easy treatment for the cats open tube and squirt in the right area, done!!

Answer
Hi Summer,

Because Revolution is absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream, it is considered a drug.  Most vets, like medical doctors, like to see their patients once a year before writing prescriptions for drugs such as this.  Your vet might be willing to sell you the Revolution from his office without seeing the cats, rather than writing you a prescription to buy online.  But this varies from vet to vet.  And it may save you money up front to avoid a vet visit but cost you more to buy Revolution from your vet in the long run.

However, if you're only looking to avoid fleas, you can treat your cats with a different spot-on treatment that IS NOT considered a drug, which will not require a prescription from your vet.  The same website should carry these products.  Frontline and Advantage are two flea treatments applied just like Revolution.  However, these stay on or in the skin, never entering the bloodstream, so they are technically considered pesticides as opposed to drugs.  Frontline protects against fleas and ticks, while Advantage only protects against fleas.  The only drawback to these treatments is that they provide no protection against worms (such as roundworms and heart worm) or ear mites like Revolution does.  These treatments also last one month, just like Revolution.  But if you bathe your cats, choose Frontline, as Advantage washes off with shampoo.

Just a word of caution - there are some ultra-cheap spot-on treatments available at grocery stores and mass merchandisers.  As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.  The safety record for these is poor, and many cats have even died.  A few years ago, the products were finally pulled from shelves, but the manufacturers only changed the formulas slightly before remarketing them.  I recommend that you use only Frontline or Advantage.

Best wishes!

Jessica