Sometimes in veterinary medicine, you know exactly what your patient needs, but the right dose or formula isn't available off the shelf. That's where veterinary compounding comes in. It’s like turning a puzzle piece to help it align perfectly, creating a tailored solution that fits each pet’s unique needs.
Here are five common examples of how your search for the best solution can be found in veterinary compounding.
Compounding provides tailored treatment options for a variety of circumstances.
#1: Thyroid medication for cats: Less stress and improved compliance
The words “daily medication” strike fear into many cat caregivers. The stress, struggle, and sometimes downright impossibility of getting an oral tablet into a cat every single day can negatively affect the cat’s outcome and compromise the cat-owner bond.
In this circumstance, many veterinarians turn to compounding to provide a cat-friendly alternative to traditional methimazole. Depending on the cat and client’s preferences, flavored oral preparations or transdermal applications can make managing hyperthyroidism an easy and positive experience.
#2: Medications for pets with allergies: Reaction-free options
Treating allergic pets can be especially challenging when standard medications trigger reactions, leaving both veterinarians and pet parents feeling frustrated. Many commercial drugs contain fillers, preservatives, or flavorings that can cause allergic reactions in sensitive patients, resulting in worsening stress, concerning complications, and delaying healing.
Compounded medications can be tailored to exclude these allergens, creating a formula that is both effective and safe. Whether a patient needs a formulation free from gluten, soy, or specific additives, compounding allows veterinarians to customize their patients’ treatments to promote health, not reactions.
#3: Alternatives to oral medications: Transdermal gels bypass the GI tract
Whether it’s a cat with a painful oral condition, a post-surgical pet in recovery, or a pet with chronic nausea from kidney disease, sometimes oral medications are simply not an option.
Whatever the reason, compounding accommodates your patient’s needs with alternative, low-stress formulations such as transdermal applications. By allowing pet owners to administer a precise dose of medication without stress or discomfort, compounding makes it easier for caregivers to stick to treatment plans.
#4: Precision dosing for small and senior pets: Exactly the right amount
Ever feel like Goldilocks when you look at your pharmacy shelves? This size is too big, this size too small—so which one is just right?
Pets who are very small—or seniors with changing metabolic needs—often fall outside standard product sizes, making it difficult to find safe and effective treatment options with commercially available medications. For example, a senior dog being treated for Cushing’s disease might fall between two available strengths of trilostane—or a tiny patient like a rabbit, gerbil, or toy-breed dog may need a dose of medication that is far smaller than anything commercially available.
Compounding helps veterinarians avoid potentially over- or under-dosing their patients by creating a formulation that precisely matches the pet’s needs—so their dose is always just right.
Pet-friendly preparations increase compliance by making treatment easier and stress-free.
#5: Behavior medications: Support for the human-animal bond
After explaining to a client that modifying or managing their pet’s behavior will take time, the last thing you want to do is hand them a bottle of daily pills that could increase fear, stress, anxiety, or aggression—for the pet and the pet parent!
Compounding offers a better solution. With pet-friendly formulations that make daily medication easier and less stressful, compounding helps caregivers support long-term behavior plans across a variety of species—without compromising trust or damaging the human-animal bond.
Veterinary compounding can be the right fit
Sometimes, finding the right treatment can feel like trying to make an ill-fitting piece work in a complex puzzle.
Now, with a better understanding of veterinary compounding, you’re equipped to offer customized solutions that elevate your practice, improve compliance, and ease treatment for patients, clients, and your team.
As your partner for practice success, Wedgewood combines pharmaceutical expertise with a deep understanding of and appreciation for the uniqueness of each pet. Just like finding the right puzzle piece can complete the final picture, we bring you and your patients the tailored treatments they need to fit perfectly into their individual care plans—helping you solve the puzzle of their health and well-being.
