Our local vet couldn’t sell a cat worming tablet without examine for “free” , they said they would but the government won’t let them ? Is this correct ?

Don’t know about there in the UK, but here in the USA, a vet won’t give out a prescription med without an exam.
There are some cat & dog worming meds available over-the-counter I believe, but don’t know how their effectiveness is vs the prescription meds.

Our local vet couldn’t sell a cat worming tablet without examine for “free” , they said they would but the government won’t let them ? Is this correct ?

Yes

the government won’t let them

Sounds like a sensible precaution, otherwise people are likely start taking cat worming tablets for recreational purposes. They probably want to establish whether you’ve even got a cat.

I’m pretty sure I’ve bought over-the-counter worming tablets before.

The vet stuff may be more potent and require a prescription, I don’t know, but you can almost certainly buy ‘some’ products without that. Maybe it’s ‘treating an infection’ versus ‘prophylactic’ usage?

They probably want to establish whether you’ve even got a cat.

I lol’d.

Fwiw I used to buy worming syringe stuff from pets at home. What a pleasure it was for both of us getting that down his gob.

You can buy online to avoid this.

Horse worming tablets – the shop had to ring up the woman who was trained to sell them (but wasn’t in that day!)

Yeah the Vets stuff is more powerful than stuff from the Pets Shop or Supermarket hence they have to check the Animal over to make sure they are healthy enough to take or have flea stuff etc on them.

Some of the stuff from other sources are just not as good so can work out false economy.

The govt requirement is similar to a prescription from your own doctor for long term medication (think prescription anti-histamines etc) so unless the animal has been seen within 6 months, for a condition related to that for which the drugs are required, then they are not legally “under the care of a veterinary surgeon” and therefore cannot be given prescription medication.
At least that is my take on the situation!

unless the animal has been seen within 6 months, for a condition related to that for which the drugs are required

So you need to prove that your cat has got worms then.

That’s got to be a bit tricky shirley ?

I thought this was going to be a debate on old gits racing….

Some wormers are POM (prescription only medicines). This means they can only be sold if a vet has examined the animal and prescribed that medication. For long term medication that is usually taken to mean having been seen for that condition in the last 6 months.

With worming and flea treatment a more sensible approach is to check if they have been seen and prescribed that medication before.

If not then a free flea check or weigh and worm is usually offered. Hell we may even administer the tablet for you!

It can be a pain to drag the cat in but at the visit I would usually suggest trying a new product that does fleas, ticks, eggs, round and tapeworm all together in one easy to use spot on. Much easier than giving the cat a tablet. POM only too though.