What Southern Ontario vet clinics charge for a visit, a prescription and the medication
We phoned twelve veterinary clinics as the owner of a healthy adult dog on an established medication. Medications cost 15% to 85% more than shipping from an online pharmacy, with a $30 fee just to send the prescription.
Telepets Team
Sept. 14, 2026 · 2 min read
All figures are before sales tax.
The short version
Switching clinics costs an exam, and so does every annual check-up. Expect about $140 for either.
You can take your prescription elsewhere, for a fee. All twelve clinics will write one. Ten charge $25–$48 to do it.
Clinic medication prices run about 50% above online pharmacies. Across the three medications we priced, no clinic beat the lowest online all-in price.
Appointments come quickly. Five of the eleven clinics that answered offered a next-day visit. One was booked three weeks out.
Medication prices
We priced medications for three common treatments. Clinic prices were 15% to 85% higher than having the same medication shipped to your home by an online veterinary pharmacy.
If you were willing to drive to pick it up, Costco pharmacy was a cheaper option.
Clinic prices as quoted by phone. Online pharmacy prices from each pharmacy’s website, with shipping to the Greater Toronto Area shown in pink; Pets Drug Mart shipping is estimated. September 2026 data, before tax.
Clomicalm 20 mg336 tablets
Clinic prices as quoted by phone. Online pharmacy prices from each pharmacy’s website, with shipping to the Greater Toronto Area shown in pink; Pets Drug Mart shipping is estimated. September 2026 data, before tax.
Apoquel 16 mg84 tablets
Clinic prices as quoted by phone. Online pharmacy prices from each pharmacy’s website, with shipping to the Greater Toronto Area shown in pink; Pets Drug Mart shipping is estimated. September 2026 data, before tax.
Clinic fees
Each dot is one clinic. The dispensing fee is what a clinic adds when it fills a prescription in-house; two clinics said it is already in their medication prices.
Clinic
First visit
Fee to write a prescription
Dispensing fee
Next appointment
L6XBrampton
$140
No charge
$38
2–4 days
L6SBrampton
$85
$30
$22
2–4 days
L3PMarkham
$150
$38
$38
About a week
L5JMississauga
$150
$48
In the price
2–4 days
L6KOakville
$148
—
—
—
L9CHamilton
$133
$31
$22
Next day
K7KKingston
$141
$30
$23
Next day
N2RKitchener
$140
$35
In the price
Next day
N6KLondon
$118
$30
$30
Next day
N4KOwen Sound
$135
$40
$20
2–4 days
K9KPeterborough
$104
$32
$35
3 weeks
M9BEtobicoke
$69
$25–35
—
Next day
A dash means the clinic did not give that figure on the call.
How we did this
We phoned twelve clinics in the first week of September 2026 and asked each the same questions about its fees, whether it would write a prescription to be filled elsewhere, its next available appointment, and its price for three common medications.
Twelve clinics and three medications point in a direction rather than settle the question. We plan to collect more data to get a clearer picture of what these results mean for the best ways to save on medication for our furry friends.
