A: Years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did issue findings on counterfeit FrontLine. A business took product bought overseas and repackaged with U.S. looking packaging. (The actual product in the box was the real thing.)

I contacted Merial, the pharmaceutical company that makes FrontLine and Heartgard to ask them about online sellers of their product and to ask about the comments that your vet made. "We only sell to veterinarians. We don't sell directly to web sites. We can't comment on where websites are getting product. We don't know how they are getting the product," says Natasha Joseph, Merial's Director of Corporate Communications.

I find it hard to believe that Merial doesn't know how or where large online retailers like 800-PETMEDS are getting their products. I think it's far more likely that they are giving this obfuscating answer to appease their veterinarian clients. It's clear in conversations I've had with numerous vets than Merial's sales reps are spreading the fear of folks buying counterfeit products to "encourage" the public to only buy their products through local vets.

In calling 800-PETMEDS, a customer sales representative said, "We have licensed pharmacists and buy products wholesale. We give your money back if you have a problem with a product - your local vet won't do that." The representative did say that vets may get medicines cheaper because they buy direct from the drug company whereas 800-PETMEDS has thinner margins because they buy it from a reseller/wholesaler.

Bruce Rosenbloom, CFO of 800-PETMEDS wouldn't disclose how they buy Merial's products. "It's not to our advantage to expose the secrets to our success," he said, adding, "We're not a replacement for the vet...we provide convenience and charge about 10-15 percent less than what vets charge. Plus we don't charge sales tax in most states." Reading between the lines of some comments and responses in the conversation I had with Rosenbloom, my guess is that his company legally buys Merial products overseas and then ships them to the U.S.

If your local vet charges a significant premium, you could ask them if they'd be willing to match the online price if price is important in your decision making. I wouldn't lose sleep worrying about buying bogus product when buying from reputable online retailers like 800-PETMEDS which is a public company and has been in business for about a decade.

Copyright Eric Tyson, 2008 - 2010 all rights reserved.

Eric Tyson is the only best-selling personal finance author who has an extensive background as an hourly-based financial advisor and who does not accept speaking fees, endorsement deals or fees of any type from companies in the financial services industry or product or service providers recommended in his articles, books and his publications.