Veterinary compounding helps customize medications to meet the specific needs of individual animals. It also allows veterinarians to provide individualized care for their pet patients. Compounding can include flavoring medicine, mixing, diluting, concentrating, or changing the dosage form of medicine.
Generally, medicines are compounded when their commercially available counterparts are unavailable in the market due to formulation, discontinued production, or inclusion of inactive ingredients. Compounding medications for animals has become increasingly important in recent years because many medicines for different pets are not available in an appropriate formulation.
Compounding veterinarians can compound different types of medicines to improve animal health. Some of the most common types of compounded medications include:
Transdermal Medications
Transdermal medications are applied to the skin and absorbed in the bloodstream. The main advantage of such medicines is that they easily penetrate the skin to target areas beneath the skin and provide relief. Typically formulated as gels, creams, or patches, they can treat various medical conditions like pain, inflammation, and anxiety. These medicines are effective, and work faster as compared to oral medications.
Flavored Medications
Flavoring is a significant part of compounding pet medicines. Flavored medications are prepared to be more palatable for animals. If medicines have good taste, then it is likely that pets will have them without any hesitation. Flavored medication can be compounded in various forms, such as tablets, capsules, and liquids.
For example, suppose your dog does not like the bitter taste of the medicine. In that case, you can get the prescription compounded accordingly to suit your dog’s taste buds for better medicine adherence.
Topical Medications
Unlike transdermal medicines that penetrate the skin, topical medications are meant to remain on the application site. They can help eliminate ticks in animals and treat skin, ear, and eye infections.
Topical medications can be compounded in various forms, like liquids and ointments. While applying topical medications, one has to ensure that the pet is still for the time being so that the medicine effectively targets the application site.
Injectable Medications
Injections can be used to treat numerous conditions, such as pain, inflammation, and infections. Then they can be compounded in several forms like solutions, suspensions, or emulsions. Some pet owners may have trouble getting pets to take their medicines, or some may forget when to give them. So, in that case, such pet owners can go for injectables, a convenient alternative to medications in oral form.
Final Words
Veterinary compounding has become essential for enhancing pet care and improving animal health. By providing individualized care, making medications more palatable, and providing cost-effective alternatives to traditional medicines, veterinary compounding has helped improve the lives of countless animals.
If you need to get medicine compounded for your pet, contact our Jacksonville pet medication compounding pharmacy today. Our experienced compounding pharmacists will compound medicines as per your pet’s requirements.