Fayetteville Pharmacist Develops Easier Ways To Give Medication To Pets

Pharmacist Gary Newton treats all kinds of patients, even the animal kind. He has been compounding medications for animals for 10 years. It makes up half of his business.

"The need comes in the door and you meet it," he said.

Exotic animals and cats are tough to give medications to, so Newton comes up with alternatives like beef-flavored chewables and topical creams. He injects rats with medicine for snakes, puts pills in fish for Seaworld's Flipper and just recently made a snack for wolves with kennel cough.

"We put their antibiotic into Jello, so they would take it," he said.

Veterinarian Dr. Margaret Wright uses Gary on a regular basis. She sees a lot of exotic animals like birds and iguanas. Pills are almost impossible for owners to administer.

"He has helped us tremendously," Wright said. "We could not treat the exotics as well as we're doing if he did not compound drugs for us."

Gary said he enjoys treating pets and even encourages owners to bring them in for him to see.

"The biggest service a pharmacist can do for pets is to make it possible for them to get their medicine," he said.

Gary compounds medications for pets all over the country.