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Pet Prescriptions Online UK
Order your pet’s prescription medication online. Get the prescription from your own vet, upload it, and our team checks it against your order before we dispatch UK-wide.
- Operated by Farm Vet Services
- RCVS Veterinary Oversight
- VMD Registered Online Retailer
- UK Delivery Including Northern Ireland
Veterinary oversight: Patrick Finnegan, BVMS, MRCVS · Stephen Hazelton, BVMS, MRCVS — meet our veterinary team
How Ordering Your Pet's Prescription Works
The same four steps for dogs, cats, horses and small pets — wherever you are in the UK.
Choose your pet’s medication
Find the product your vet has recommended in our full range, or search by condition.
Add your vet’s prescription
Order online, then upload a clear photo, scan or PDF of your written prescription.
We check it
Our team checks the prescription against your order before anything is dispensed.
We dispatch UK-wide
Once approved, your order is prepared and posted — including cold-chain items where needed.
Do You Need a Prescription?
Medicines marked POM-V (Prescription Only Medicine – Veterinarian) can only be supplied once a vet has examined your pet and issued a written prescription for a medicine to treat them. This applies to many long-term treatments, such as pain relief, heart and thyroid medication, and insulin.
Plenty of other pet medicines — including many flea, tick and worming treatments — do not need a prescription. Each product page tells you which applies before you order.
What Counts as Pet Prescription Medication?
Not every product you can buy for a dog or cat is a prescription medicine. Veterinary products in the UK sit in different legal supply categories, and the category decides what has to happen before the product can be supplied. Prescription pet medicines — the ones usually described as POM-V — can only be supplied once a veterinary surgeon has assessed the animal under their care and written a prescription for it.
That is the practical difference. A wormer or a shampoo can go straight into a basket. A veterinary prescription medicine online needs the paperwork behind it before anything can leave the dispensary, no matter which retailer you use. It is the medicine’s legal category that sets the rule, not the shop.
If you are not sure which category something falls into, the product page tells you whether a prescription is required. You can also browse the wider range of pet medicines available online.
How We Check Your Prescription
Pet Med Direct is operated by a UK veterinary practice. Every prescription-only order is checked against your vet’s written prescription before it is dispensed — confirming the medicine, strength and quantity match what was prescribed for your pet.
If anything on an order does not match, or the prescription cannot be verified, we’ll place the order on hold and let you know what’s needed rather than dispatching it. The full process, including timings and what to do if your prescription won’t upload, is covered in our Prescription Help Centre.
Matching the Prescription to the Order
Most prescription orders that get held up are held up for the same reason: something on the order does not match the prescription.
What Has to Line Up
Four things are compared: the medicine itself, its strength, the quantity authorised, and the animal it was prescribed for. A prescription written for one tablet strength does not cover a different strength, and a prescription written for one dog does not cover another pet in the same household.
Pack sizes are the most common sticking point. If your veterinary surgeon has authorised a set quantity, we can supply up to that amount, so a combination of packs adding up to more will hold the order up.
Repeats and Ongoing Supply
Some prescriptions authorise repeats, which means further supplies can be made from the same document without another visit. The number of repeats and the total amount that may be supplied are set by your veterinary surgeon and written on the prescription.
Once the authorised repeats have been used, or the prescription is no longer current, your vet needs to issue a new one. If your pet is on long-term treatment, our guide to repeat pet prescriptions covers how continuing supply is handled.
Uploading Your Prescription
You can place your order first and upload the prescription afterwards — use your order number so we can match it to the right order. A clear photo, scan or PDF is fine, as long as the vet’s details, your pet’s name and the medicine are all legible.
Need help with a rejected photo, a file that’s too large, or a prescription your vet can send us directly? The Prescription Help Centre covers each of these in detail.
If You Have Trouble Providing the Prescription
Prescriptions get mislaid, scanned badly, or sent in a format that is hard to read. If the document cannot be verified, we will tell you what is missing rather than dispatch the medicine.
If you are stuck, use our contact page and we will explain what is needed. For the more detailed questions, the pet prescription help centre covers most situations.
Dog and Cat Prescription Medication
The process is the same for both. The products are not.
Dog Prescription Medication
Dog prescription medication ranges from short courses issued after a consultation to long-term treatment reviewed by your vet. Once the prescription has been written, order the matching product from our dog medication range.
Cat Prescription Medication
Cat prescription medication often comes in smaller strengths and pack sizes, which makes matching the prescription especially important. Prescribed products can be ordered from our cat medication range.
A UK Veterinary Practice Behind Every Order
Pet Med Direct is the online pharmacy of a working UK veterinary practice, not just a shop selling pet medicine. Prescriptions are checked by our team, refrigerated medicines are handled and dispatched properly, and if something on an order needs clarifying, we ask before we dispense it.
Delivering to Northern Ireland? Supply rules changed in 2026 — read our Northern Ireland prescriptions page for what we can send and how it works.
Veterinary Oversight at Pet Med Direct
Pet Med Direct is an online service provided by Farm Vet Services. Prescription orders are handled with oversight from registered veterinary surgeons whose RCVS registration can be checked independently.
Patrick Finnegan, BVMS, MRCVS
Registered Veterinary Surgeon
- RCVS Registration Number: 7230753
- Registration category: UK Practising
- RCVS listed location: Co Tyrone
- RCVS registration date: 30 June 2017
Patrick Finnegan is a founding partner of Pet Med Direct and a registered veterinary surgeon. His work with Pet Med Direct contributes to prescription compliance, responsible medicine supply and the professional standards applied to veterinary medicine ordering.
Stephen Hazelton, BVMS, MRCVS
Registered Veterinary Surgeon
- RCVS Registration Number: 7183305
- Registration category: UK Practising
- RCVS listed location: Co Fermanagh
- RCVS registration date: 1 July 2016
Stephen Hazelton is a founding partner of Pet Med Direct and a registered veterinary surgeon. At Pet Med Direct he contributes to clinical oversight, professional prescription review and responsible veterinary medicine supply.
Farm Vet Services, the veterinary practice behind Pet Med Direct, is listed on the official VMD Register of Online Retailers, maintained by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
Prescription FAQs
No. Only medicines marked POM-V (Prescription Only Medicine – Veterinarian) need a written prescription from your vet. Many flea, tick, worming and general health products can be ordered without one — each product page tells you which applies.
Use our upload page with a clear photo, scan or PDF and your order number. Full guidance, including accepted file types, is in the Prescription Help Centre.
Yes. You can place your order online and upload the prescription once you have it — your order will be checked and dispatched once the prescription is received and approved.
Timings vary by order. Our team checks each prescription against the order before dispatch — see the Help Centre for current processing guidance and what can delay an order.
Supply rules for Northern Ireland changed in 2026. Pet Med Direct can still supply NI addresses — see our dedicated Northern Ireland page for full detail.
In some cases, yes. Ask your vet practice and see the Help Centre topic on written prescriptions for how this works alongside your online order.
Yes. A prescription written by the veterinary surgeon who examined your pet can be used to order the corresponding medicine from Pet Med Direct. There is no need to register with a different practice.
The order cannot be dispatched as it stands. The medicine, strength and quantity supplied have to correspond with the prescription, so we will contact you to put it right.
We will tell you what the problem is and what is needed to resolve it. Common causes are an unreadable scan, missing details, or a quantity the document does not cover. Nothing is dispatched until the prescription has been confirmed.
Not always. Where your veterinary surgeon has authorised repeats, further supplies can be made from the same prescription until those repeats are used up. Once they are, or the prescription is no longer current, your vet needs to issue a new one.
No. Diagnosing your animal and deciding on treatment is the job of the veterinary surgeon who examines your pet. We supply the medicine that has already been prescribed and check that the order matches the prescription.
Explore More Pet Medication Guides
The main guide to ordering pet medicines online, covering both prescription and non-prescription products.
Ordering veterinary medicines and pet healthcare online if you live in Northern Ireland.
How prescription supply works for Northern Ireland addresses, including the 2026 rule change.
How ongoing supply works when your veterinary surgeon has authorised repeats on a prescription.
What an online vet pharmacy can and cannot do, and the safeguards that apply to veterinary medicines.
Ready to Order Your Pet's Medication?
Browse the full range or head straight to the Help Centre for more on how prescriptions work.
Browse Prescription Medicines A–Z →
Every POM-V prescription medicine we stock, listed alphabetically.