More often than not, I find that I am asked to have patients’ medications compounded into liquids or other forms that will be easier to administer to dogs and cats. When the medication is, “easier to swallow”, pets get treated more often, and thus get better. So often, I leave a medication for a patient and return months later to find that the pet parent was unable to give it as prescribed.
Turns out, there is a whole industry of easier, and tastier options for medicating. Not all drugs can be manipulated this way, but many can. It is worth asking your vet about it. You may pay a little more to have this “designer drug” made up, but it often worth it.
Did you know that there are not just capsules and tablets, but there are gels, super tiny tabs, high potency tablets that enable you to give much smaller pieces per dose, medi-melts that disintegrate rapidly on the tongue, and granules available? One company makes what they call “gourmeds”, which are chewable tablets in natural chicken and fish flavors for dogs and cats. Horse lovers, you may know them for the apple, molasses, peppermint and alfalfa flavors they also make. There are also transdermal gels that absorb through the skin, typically the inside of the ear.
Here is a list of flavors available by one such company. Note that not all flavors are available for all compounded medications.
Alfalfa
Anchovy
Apple
Apple-molasses
Bacon
Banana
Beef
Bubble Gum
Butterscotch
Cheddar Cheese
Cherry
Chicken
Duck
Fish
Grape
Marshmallow
Molasses
Peanut Butter
Peppermint
Pina Colada
Raspberry
Strawberry
Triple Fish
Tutti-Fruitti
Vanilla
Venison
Remember to ask your vet if you think you or your pet would benefit from these options.
Dr. Dawn
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