Dr. Lantry and her team of dedicated veterinary experts and support staff at the Animal Medical Clinic of Gulf Gate are constantly focused on providing the best possible care for pets and the best possible service for their owners.
Our pets today are beloved family members, so we when they’re not well, we want to do all we can to make them better. But anyone who has a dog or cat knows how challenging it can be to medicate a sick animal. Compounding pharmacies have solutions to this problem and other difficulties that can arise when it comes to pet medicines.
Dr. Stephanie Lantry, a veterinarian at the Animal Medical Clinic of Gulf Gate, says pets most commonly require medication for itchy skin and ears, as well as digestive issues. Attempting to give pets pills, especially cats and smaller dogs, often causes problems and results in the pets not receiving the medicine they need.
While compounded medications can cost more than their commercially available counterparts, most pet insurance plans will cover the medicine if it isn’t related to a preexisting condition. Also, a larger supply sometimes reduces the price per day of the medicine.
One advantage of compounded medications is that they can be made into alternate applications that are often much easier than pilling your pet. These include transdermal creams that are administered by rubbing on the ears and liquid formulas that you can mix into your pet’s food or have flavored to appeal to your pet’s tastebuds.
Transdermal medications work particularly well for finicky cats. “Even if the absorption rate is lower than it would be with a pill, it’s better than none at all,” Dr. Lantry says.
In fact, she says one of her feline patients’ lives was saved thanks to a cream version of her thyroid medication. After trying and failing to feed her cat special food and give her pills for her overactive thyroid condition, the owner thought she would have to put her cat to sleep. Dr. Lantry prescribed transdermal medication that the owner rubs on the cat’s ears every day.
“The cat is still alive after three years,” Dr. Lantry says. “It really made a difference between life and death."
Another main reason compounded medications are prescribed for pets is lack of availability, either because they’re off the market entirely or on backorder. For smaller dogs, standard doses simply may be too large for them but with compounding, medication can be made into any strength.
“We will do our best to go the extra mile to find the best option so it’s not a struggle every day and the pet can receive the medication it needs,” Dr. Lantry says.
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