Transdermal Gels

The major advantage of choosing a compounding pharmacy for your patients’ prescription medications is that we can provide you with a variety of medication forms designed to enhance your treatment plans and maximize successful treatment outcomes. A highly popular option – especially for finicky pets – is transdermal gel.

What Is a Transdermal Gel?

A transdermal gel is a form of compounded medication that consists of a viscous substance (a gel) carrying prescription medication. Transdermal gels are applied topically so that medications can be absorbed through the skin.

The Advantages of Transdermal Gels

There are several advantages to choosing a transdermal gel for your patients’ medications, including:

Easy to Administer

Some pets simply refuse to swallow pills or liquid medications. Even when hidden in tasty, strong-smelling food, some animals will eat around their medications. Transdermal gels are the perfect choice for these patients that are sensitive to the flavor or scent of medication because they do not need to swallow it. Instead, patients simply feel like they are receiving some extra-special attention from their owners when they administer their medicine.

Improved Prescription Compliance

Since transdermal gels are much easier for pet owners to administer to their pets, your patients will benefit greatly from improved compliance to your prescription instructions.

Avoid Gastrointestinal Upset

Before entering the bloodstream, transdermal gels soak through a patient’s skin into the capillaries, completely avoiding the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, this form of medication eliminates the risk of patients experiencing gastrointestinal upset as a side effect of taking orally administered medications.

More Effective Administration

Since transdermal gels enter the bloodstream through the skin, this method of administration is also more effective because medications are better and more readily absorbed.

Dozens of Medications

Dozens of medications can be compounded into transdermal gel form for simple administration to your patients. Some of the most common medications administered via transdermal gel include:

Acepromazine Maleate
Buprenorphine
Methimazole
Tramadol (CIV)
Chlorpromazine

How to Administer a Transdermal Gel to a Pet

To administer a transdermal gel to a patient, a prescribed dose of gel is applied to a hairless portion of the patient’s skin (such as the inside of their ear or the inside of their thigh). The gel is rubbed into the skin like a lotion. Transdermal gels are usually administered using a transdermal gel pen which makes it possible to control the dose applied to your patient’s skin while also avoiding exposing a pet owner’s own skin to the medication.

Learn More About Transdermal Gels for Your Patients

At PetScript, we are proud to provide veterinarians with a wide variety of options for compounding their patients’ medications. We welcome you to contact us to speak with a pharmacist to learn more about the full list of medications and compounding choices available at our veterinary pharmacy.