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Post by jojodancer on May 5, 2008 8:40:01 GMT -5
So as some of you know, one of my fosters is adrenal and has a really bad teeth and a gum infection. He was put on clinamyacin for the infection, dandelion and milk weed for the elevated liver values (due to the infection) and saw palmetto for his adrenal. The doc would like to have the liver values lowered prior to the surgery so that it is healthier when dealing with the anasthesia.
All three of these meds taste awful and he was sputtering and spitting the meds out. Hubby and I went to the local compounding pharmacist (thank goodness I knew she existed - she was at the pet expo held in March) and had the saw palmetto and dandelion/milkweed compounded.
The saw palmetto was compounded with ferretone flavor; the dandelion/milkweed was compounded with chicken flavor. The pharmacist apologized, too, saying that the dandelion was so strong, that it still smelled a little funky to her. We sniffed it, and it smelled better than before, and smelled sort of like our gruel, so we didn't care.
Although they don't taste wonderful, Morris now only seems to cringe at syringe being forced into his mouth, as oposed to the stuff itself. Tonight we're going to try dipping the syringe into ferretone so that it isn't such a disdainful experience to being with.
The compounding cost $35 per med.
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 5, 2008 9:36:38 GMT -5
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. So how exactly does compounding work? Is it just adding different flavors to the medications?
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Post by jojodancer on May 5, 2008 9:49:40 GMT -5
I think there is a bit more to it than that, but yeah, essentially they'll flavor the meds but maintain the potency.
For example, we were supposed to give .25cc of the saw palmetto, twice a day. They measured the amount that was in the bottle, did some math, added the feretone flavoring, did some more math to make sure that our new dose would still have the same potency as the old dose, and now we give .48cc of the saw palmetto to Morris twice a day.
They also gave us a new bottle (since now there was more liquid in it) and a nifty new cap that allows us to never open the meds up, just stick the syringe into the cap, turn it upside down, and retrieve the meds. It might be worth it to get these bottles, tops, and syringes (they gave us new syringes that fit into the special bottle top)
As an aside, the ferretone flavoring is a bit oily, so it separates. We have to shake really well before syphoning, and then we have to give the dose pretty quickly, too, so that it doesn't separate in the syringe. It's ok, you just have to realize you need to chake and administer quickly. The chicken flavor doesn't have that problem.
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