"A kindly gesture bestowed by us on an animal arouses prodigies of understanding and gratitude" - Sidonie Gabrielle
FLAVORx's Pharmacist's Ursula's dog, Bear
Did you know that there are more than 77 million owned dogs and 93 million owned cats in the United States? People love their pets! In fact, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA), many Americans think of pets as members of their extended family. An AP-Petside poll (June 2009) indicated that half (50%) of American pet owners consider their pets to be as much a part of the family as any person in the household. Pets provide owners with companionship without asking for anything in return. They are much like young children.
Luna, FLAVORx's Graphic Designer Kerry's puppy
Another recent AP-Petside poll (November 2011) found that roughly 80% of pet owners took their ‘pet-children’ to a vet in the past year, including 85% of dog owners and 79% of cat owners. Once they leave the veterinarian’s office, pet owners are often faced with yet another challenge- medication! Administering medication properly and ensuring that your pet gets what is prescribed, is very important for your pet’s health. Yet many animals refuse medication and they certainly do not ‘understand’ why they need to take medication in the first place. What they do know is that something unfamiliar and possibly disgusting is being force fed to them by someone they trust and love. This struggle often leads to stress and mistrust of the caregiver, which is difficult for both the pet and the owner. This frustrating scenario helps explain why the practice of pharmacy compounding is becoming a popular solution to such veterinary problems. Customizing medications in animal-friendly flavors results in easier administration to animals and avoids negative contact experiences for owners and their beloved pets.So as ‘pet-parents’ it is no wonder that when our pets get sick, we rush to the veterinarian, concerned about our pet’s health and hopeful for a quick recovery.
As a FLAVORx customer, you already know how valuable medication flavoring can be for kids and parents. With the FLAVORx Veterinary System, you can now provide the same quality service to pets and pet owners too. Getting pets to take medicine is no small feat. In fact, 72% of dog owners and 90% of cat owners say they struggle to medicate their pets. Pet owners will attempt to mix liquid medications with canned food or hide pills in peanut butter and cheese. Unfortunately these tricks don’t always work. By offering a great-tasting liquid alternative to tablets and capsules, you’ll make a big impact with your customers and open up a whole new revenue stream for your business.
As a pharmacist and a pet owner, I understand how people feel about their pets. For many of us, our pets really are like members of our family.
Marybeth's feisty fido, Dory
We want to be sure our pets are happy, healthy, and trust that we are not doing anything to harm them. For a pet that refuses to take medication because of the taste, compounding and custom flavoring is a wonderful solution. Cats typically don’t like pills, but they do like the taste of tuna. Dogs don’t appreciate a liquid medication being squirted into their mouth, but they won’t mind when it’s bacon-flavored. I believe that pleasantly flavored medications will not only ease medication administration, but positively affect the course of healing for our treasured pets. They’ll feel better faster and pet owners will be grateful. I am sure dogs and cats would thank us if they could.
I recently had the pleasure of reading a great book and I wanted to share it with you. FLAVORx has a close relationship with Elliott M. Sogol, the co-author of The Good Pharmacist. Perhaps you are familiar with this book already, but if not, know that this engaging read has been well-received by the pharmacy community and is a great reference for existing and future pharmacists. This book not only highlights the key qualities and identifies the main challenges, but ultimately encourages pharmacists to ask themselves if they are doing everything they can to be a “good pharmacist.”
