We have four cats, and none of them are easy to trick into taking medicine. That was especially difficult when one needed to go on twice-daily doses of thyroid medication. Rather than trying various pill pouches, rolling it in cheese, or grinding pills to powder for food mixing, consider having your pet’s prescription filled by a compounding pharmacy who will professionally mix the medicine with other ingredients to make it more appealing to your pet.

If you are in the Cambridge MA area, Skenderian Apothecary is a full-service independent pharmacy that will do compounding for pets as well as for children or other humans who need/want to make a medication more palatable. I’ve had them make chicken-flavored liquid medication for our cats. Contact them for more information.

Our vet more recently introduced us to BCP Pet Pharmacy in Houston TX. They are skilled in creating medicated “treats” in a variety of flavors for all kinds of animals. Listening to their hold message is interesting in itself – it mentions things such as medicating giraffes! Your vet calls in the Rx, then you call to give them your payment and shipping information. They are very quick – our chicken Methimazole chews would arrive within a couple of days.

So the next time you need to give your pet (or your child) prescription medicine for an acute or ongoing medical issue, consider whether compounding could make it easier for you and them!