thepetbill

Prescription, dispensing and administration

Prescription fee (repeat) prices at UK vets

The fee a practice charges for a repeat written prescription, for a medicine your pet is already taking.

Published prices

No practice on our list publishes this price yet: vet businesses with 15 or more practices or out-of-hours centres must publish it, if they offer it, on each practice's website from 23 December 2026, and smaller practices from 23 March 2027.

What it is

The Order lists this item but does not define it, so ask what the practice includes.

Official price-list name: Prescription fee (repeat) (CMA Order, Schedule 1).

What's included

  • Anything that is an essential part of the service, and VAT (Art. 7(2)(d) and (f))

The three prescription fees

A written prescription lets you buy a medicine somewhere other than the practice. The list prices the first medicine, each additional one prescribed at the same time, and a repeat prescription.

Separately from the price list, the Order caps the fee. The first caps are £21.40 for the first medication and £12.70 for each additional medication prescribed at the same time, both including VAT (Art. 2 and 18). Many news reports give £21 and £12.50: those were the levels in the CMA's final report of March 2026, which the Order uprated for inflation (Explanatory Note, footnote 25). Large groups must keep to the caps from 23 March 2027 and smaller businesses from 23 September 2027 (Art. 3).

Why the price varies

  • Whether a review is needed this time. The CMA's definition of a repeat consultation includes prescription reviews (Explanatory Note, Annex 1). If a review is due, expect that price as well.
  • The cap. Article 18 caps the fee for a written prescription for the first medication, prescribed within or outside a consultation, and for each additional medication; it has no separate rule for repeats.
  • Prescription length. From the cap's start dates, a practice must not prescribe a shorter course on a written prescription than it would supply itself (Art. 18(2)), except for controlled drugs.

Background

Under RCVS guidance, prescription-only veterinary medicines must be prescribed by a vet who has first carried out a clinical assessment (RCVS supporting guidance, chapter 4, paragraph 4.7), which is why a repeat prescription can come with a repeat consultation. How often that is needed is a clinical decision.

Questions to ask the practice

  • What does your repeat prescription fee include?
  • How often does my pet need a review before a repeat prescription?
  • Can a repeat prescription cover a longer period?

We explain prices, not treatment. Ask your vet about the clinical choices for your own pet.

The rules

What the practice's price list must show, with the Order's article references

The exact name from Schedule 1, “Prescription fee (repeat)”, with no free-text description (Art. 7(2)(a)).

As for every item: each version on its own line with the standard one marked, a cat price and five dog bands where the price depends on the animal, and VAT included, kept up to date and changed before a higher price is charged (Art. 7(2)(b), (c), (f) and (g), and 7(5)).

Large vet groups must publish from 23 December 2026 and smaller practices from 23 March 2027 (Art. 3 and 7).

Unhappy with a bill or a price? Our guide explains how to complain, from the practice's own process to free mediation.

Questions

Will I get information about buying ongoing medicines elsewhere?

From 23 June 2027 at large groups, practices must give you the CMA's standard flyer when an ongoing medication is first dispensed (Art. 3 and 16).

Why might my bill be higher than the listed price?

Listed prices are for the typical case. Each price list must say so, and must warn that prices may go up in more complex or complicated cases (Art. 7(2)(l)). The price must still include anything that is an essential part of the service (Art. 7(2)(d)).

How up to date are the prices here?

Every price shows the date we last checked it and links to the practice's own page. We re-check weekly, and daily from 23 to 31 December 2026. If a price looks wrong, email [email protected].

Sources

How we get prices

Vet prescription fees in the UK: the new £21.40 cap and buying pet medicines elsewhereWhat vets may charge for a written prescription under the CMA Order, when the caps start, what the CMA found practices were charging, and how to buy your pet's medicine from another retailer.Vet consultation fees in the UK: first, repeat, nurse and out-of-hours appointmentsHow much a vet consultation costs, what the CMA found, why first and repeat appointments are priced differently, and why the appointment length now sits next to the price.What the CMA vet price rules mean for pet ownersFrom 23 December 2026 big vet groups must publish a standard price list. Here is what changes, when, and what you can do with it.