There are many instances in which a manufacturer has discontinued a specific veterinary medication, or when an animal is unable to take a prescribed medication in a commercially available form.

Other times, your favorite pet may be a bit on the picky side when it comes to taking their meds and you’d like a customized flavor, dose or delivery method to help make medicine time a bit less stressful for BOTH of you.

When this happens, your Veterinarian may contact a compounding pharmacy to provide a customized pet medication for such specific challenges.

A compounding pharmacy can do the following for your pet:

  • Create alternative dosage forms of the prescribed medication
  • Customize the strength or dosage of the prescribed medication
  • Create a hard-to-find or discontinued prescribed medication
  • Add flavorings to a prescribed compounded medication to make them more palatable to your pet
  • Provide an alternative to oral medications, such as a transdermal gel which is absorbed through the skin when rubbed into your pet’s ear or a shaved area on your pet
  • Create capsules which can combine several necessary prescribed medications

Animal Pharmacy Compounding—A Growing Field

The practice of pharmacy compounding is an innovative, growing field, both for humans and for pets. Your pet may have some variation of the many diseases that humans have, including heart conditions, diabetes, cancer, eye infections, ear infections, and skin rashes.

Medicating pets, however, can present unique challenges that can best be solved through compounding. Your pet may refuse to swallow a pill—even when disguised in food. Further, it can be extremely tricky to get the precise dosage required by your pet. A dosage which works for a Great Pyrenees may be difficult to reduce for a Terrier. Large or exotic pets can also bring specific medication challenges.

Compounding Pharmacies Can Create Custom Medications for Your Pet

We are a compounding pharmacy which means we can create customized medications to treat a wide variety of health issues, including parasitic infections, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, seizures, appetite stimulation, and many other issues as well.

We can also create anti-fungal inhalation for birds or hard-to-find medications for a pet’s urinary incontinence.

If your pet is one of many who refuses medications, compounding can be the answer you are looking for.

Cats are typically difficult when it comes to taking pills, but most cats love a good ear massage. A lot of our cat owners opt for the transdermal creams to apply to the ear because their feline friends think they’re getting extra pets when really, they’re getting their medicine.

While a dog may resist a medication being squirted into their mouth, they may have no problem when the medication is meat-flavored, or when the medication is made into a treat or dog biscuit.

While birds can be unable to consume large volumes of a medication, they may accept small dosages of a fruit-flavored concentrate.

Pet Compounding—Manipulation of a Drug Beyond Label Stipulations

In short, compounding for your pet can include any manipulation of a drug beyond what is stipulated on the drug label, but is still based on a licensed Veterinarian’s prescription. This manipulation can include flavoring, concentrating, diluting, mixing, or changing the dosage form of a prescribed drug.

We are regulated by both the federal government and state governments as well. Federal regulations require that compounded medications be modified versions of what you would otherwise buy at the store or pharmacy.

How Archway Compounding Pharmacy Can Tailor Medication to Your Pet’s Needs

At the Archway compounding pharmacy, our trained pharmacists make every medication to order, from scratch, offering your pet customized dosages and delivery methods. Speak to your Veterinarian about compounded medications for your pet. We can answer your questions, talk to your Veterinarian, and properly customize your pet’s medication.

We are ISO certified, maintaining rigorous standards with a number of certifications for sterile environments. If your pet has special medication needs, contact us and speak to an Archway compounding pharmacist.