Online Pet Pharmacy: 6 Major Benefits to Ordering on the Web

Owning a pet can do so much for a person. They can bring love, happiness, stability, relaxation, and stimulation to one’s daily life. This relationship is hardly a one-way street, though. When pets fall ill, owners must do what they can to treat their maladies and restore their health.

For a long time, a pet owner’s only option for getting veterinary meds was to find a store near their home. Over the past couple of decades, online pet pharmacies have emerged as a reliable option. Some may be skeptical, and not without reason, but there are benefits to ordering over the internet. Here are a few of the major ones.

General Convenience

Why would anyone shop at an online pet pharmacy? If you are asking this question, then consider why anyone shops at an online store of any type. After all, American e-shopping businesses collectively grossed over $460 billion in 2020 alone. Experts expect that the amount of revenue will only continue to boom soon. How much do you spend on shopping sites each year, and why?

For many, the biggest or even the only reason is the convenience of it all. Shopping at brick-and-mortar stores requires getting dressed, driving over or finding transportation, scanning aisles and shelves, waiting in line, and making your way home. Online shopping can be done from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. You do not even need to leave your bed — or your pet’s side.

Wider Selection of Medications

The convenience of online shopping is great. Arguably better still is that online stores can offer a wider selection of pet meds. Physically-based pet stores only have so much space. The medication section may be limited because other space must be reserved for other kinds of products. No such limits exist online, where businesses can offer thousands of goods without issue.

Online stores also have the advantage of being able to dedicate themselves to a single niche. Brick-and-mortar veterinary supply shops exist, but they are not all that common because such specificity is less lucrative than offering a broader catalog. Online pet pharmacies do not need to fret about rent, so they can afford to stick with medicine. You are more likely to find exactly what you need, and more, online than offline.

Availability at All Hours

Pet emergencies do not always align with a 9 AM-to-9 PM schedule. A health crisis can occur at any moment. You may be able to find a 24-hour emergency animal care center in your area for immediate treatment in the dead of night. Finding a 24-hour store with exactly the supplies your pet needs may be more difficult. Most pet-related retailers close in the evening, and waiting for them to reopen in the morning can take up precious time.

Online pet pharmacies do not have a reopening time because they never close. Shoppers can visit them, browse their products, and place an order at any time. That could potentially mean less agony for you and your furry friend. The sooner you place an order, the sooner your pet can receive the care it needs.

Swift Delivery

There is one hitch to this 24-hour availability: the need to wait for shipping. When your pet experiences health issues or a full-on crisis, time is of the essence. In this area, shopping offline may be better than shopping online. With the latter, the products may need to travel a great distance from their warehouse to your doorstep. With the former, they may only need to travel from the pharmacist’s hands to yours.

Pet pharmacies are keenly aware of this problem, and the best of them take measures to minimize the trouble. Many offer overnight delivery on their products. Some even do it at no extra charge, voluntarily eating the cost so your pet’s pain can go away faster. It may still not be fast enough, but it is still a great practice that may prove helpful.

Potentially Great Savings

Pet meds are vital, but that does not necessarily mean they come easy. Whether you get them yourself from a store or your veterinarian orders them on your behalf, you will need to pay up. Shopping online may be the more economical option in a few ways. For starters, comparing prices between different stores is as simple as switching between tabs. Furthermore, online stores cost less to run than physical stores.

Speaking of less mark-up, online businesses typically get their products through bulk purchases. Under this practice, distributors offer large amounts of the same product at a lower price than buying the same number of that product individually. Businesses pass these savings onto their customers by offering them at discounted costs. Even when you account for shipping fees, ordering online may be cheaper than ordering at a brick-and-mortar pet pharmacy.

Prescription Acceptance

When you take your pet to the vet, they may conclude that specialized treatment is required. Many people believe that only a physically-based pet store can fill a prescription. This assumption is false. Most online pet stores offer prescription-only products in addition to their selection of over-the-counter meds. They also offer means to submit the prescription information, so they can approve it and send the drugs your way.

Before you trust just any website to fill a prescription, though, you must check for accreditation. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) investigates every alleged online pharmacy, including pet pharmacies. If the site passes their strict criteria, they approve it as a Veterinary-Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (Vet-VIPPS). People in need can acquire medications on such sites with confidence in their quality.

Shop at a Pet Pharmacy You Can Trust

We will be the first to tell you that not every online pet pharmacy is a good place to shop. Some peddle unapproved treatments from disreputable sources. Others overcharge customers and take too long to deliver. Some are neither, including Lambert Vet Supply. Our online pet pharmacy earned Vet-VIPPS approval by working with genuine veterinarians to offer only the best medications. Visit our store for great prices, excellent service, and the many other benefits of shopping for pet meds online.