Larry Hamilton said a unique pharmaceutical method is as useful for animals as it is for people.

Hamilton, a veterinarian at Honor Heights Veterinary Clinic on West Okmulgee Avenue, said compounding helps treat animals large and small.

“Compounding is important when you’re preparing a medication for the patient’s size,” he said. “There’s a big difference between a 2-pound dog and a 150-pound person.”

Compounding means taking raw components for a prescription and preparing them locally, rather than relying on a drug company to supply that medicine in that particular form. It is only done at certain pharmacies.

“Compounding and using local pharmacies has given us access to drugs we haven’t had previously,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been integrating a lot of human drugs into the veterinary system. Those are off-label uses which we often have learned about from the pharmacists.”

In practice 27 years, Hamilton said he has only been making use of local compounding pharmacies for the past four or five years. One way of delivering medicine has only been available for about a year.

“Most recently, compounding has made transdermals available,” he said. “For example, there are gels rubbed inside a cat’s ears where the medicine is absorbed through the skin. It has been a great help to us.”

Hamilton said animals vary greatly in how well they cooperate with humans trying to give them medication. If a drug company only makes a medication in tablet form, and the animal won’t take it, compounding can offer the medication as a liquid.

At the west side Economy Pharmacy, Chris Schiller, PharmD, said they have a special room dedicated to the compounding process. The main work area is covered in a clear plastic hood and features constant ventilation to remove all dust.

“The four main components we work with are powder, glycerin, the active ingredient (medicine), and flavor,” he said. “The most popular flavors are liver, chicken and fish.”

Schiller said they have prepared medications to do everything from treating pain to providing hormone replacement for a female dog.

He added that compounded medications can make life easier for animals and their owners.

“If you have ever tried to give a cat a tablet, it’s not fun,” he said.

Carrie Hartley, with sales and marketing at Economy Pharmacy, said the approach works equally well with large animals.

“For horses, we can create a paste and put it on their tongue,” she said.