Ten ways to medicate your pet you may not have thought of… The Switcheroo. Give a few treats in quick succession. Without hesitation make the next one the meds, then quickly another treat. We are going for a ‘what the?’ moment, quickly forgotten. The Chaser. Used for liquids. Into a syringe, draw up some potent yummy liquid such as the juice or oil from a can of tuna, sardines, gravy or the juice from the roast chicken bag. Into the same syringe draw up the required medicine dose. Squirt the whole lot in their mouth in one go. The [...]

While we hope to never have to medicate our beloved fur babies, it can come as a shock when we suddenly have to give kitty a capsule twice a day, administer an ear medication to the dog or a syringe of medicine to the rabbit. Zoos know all too well the difficulties faced handling and medicating animals who would rather not co-operate, and begin early in their lives preparing and desensitizing them to situations, syringes and other procedures that might need to be done during their lives. While the average person won’t be faced with injecting a gorilla or medicating [...]

When most people think of flavouring, they assume that you add the flavour in question – done! Strawberry flavoured? Add strawberry flavouring, right? Making medicines taste better, however, requires a whole lot more and this is where the ‘art’ comes in.Many medicines are incredibly bitter at worst and just plain nasty at best and have an unpleasant taste that can hang around for ages. For parents this can be a real challenge when trying to ensure the entire dose and course of a child’s medicine is completed.The potency of the medicine may be affected by changes in the pH which flavouring [...]

Medicinal cannabis refers to pharmaceutical grade extracts of the Cannabis Sativa plant Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Although there are literally hundreds of phytochemicals found in this plant, CBD and THC are the most widely studied for their potential uses in human (and animals) to treat a variety of medical conditions. Changes in regulations surrounding these chemicals which occurred a few years ago, renewed the medical and pharmaceutical world’s interest, although the history of use of this plant goes back to ancient times. Because these chemicals work on the Endocannabinoid System, which is present in the bodies of all humans [...]

We wanted to move into the future with a name and logo that is unique to only us and reflects what we wish to achieve for our customers and clients, and that is, a promise to provide health and wellbeing, through integrity, pride in our work, respect for others and their privacy, excellence in the field of compounding and holistic wellness, community involvement and professional service. The brand ATARA came about during these unusual and challenging times, to symbolise our journey forward with deeper understanding of what is really important and what we want to achieve through our business. ATARA [...]

You’re not alone. It is estimated that 30%-40% of the population has some sort of difficulty swallowing a tablet or capsule. Food is normally chewed before swallowing, and swallowing a tablet whole requires us to consciously override this normal behaviour as well as dealing with the gag reflex which nature has provided to help prevent us from choking. Children can usually begin to manage this process at the age of 10 but for a lot of people, for a range of reasons, they are never able to swallow a tablet or capsule whole, and it remains an embarrassing secret for [...]

While masks have become essential accessories during Covid times, it is important to remember that your facial skin is also facing unprecedented conditions. Your breath creates a hot and humid environment under your mask while the edges of the mask may cause redness and dryness with friction from prolonged wear. Rarely, a wearer may experience an allergy or contact dermatitis from their mask. This could be from the wire, fabric or chemicals within the fabric. A well-fitting mask that is snug and doesn’t slide around but without leaving impressions or indentations in your skin is the ideal, and may take [...]

A transdermal gel or cream is a way of delivering medicine to your pet through the skin instead of having to make them swallow it. There are many examples of this in human medicine now where medicines such as pain killers, hormones, even nicotine replacement is delivered through the skin to have an effect in the whole body. The advantages for medicating a cat this way, are obvious. No daily struggles trying to hold the cat and poke a tablet down his throat only to watch him spit it out under the couch two minutes later! Sometimes this route of [...]

Palmitoylethanolamide, also known as PEA, is a naturally occurring substance of the fatty acid amide family, and is very much in the news at the moment, as the removal of codeine from over the counter pain medicines has sent patients and health professionals alike searching further afield for safer pain options. It was originally isolated from soybean lecithin, egg yolk and peanut meal in the 1950s and has been readily available in Europe and North America as a supplement for some time. No prescription is required for palmitoylethanolamide and it is available in Australia from some compounding pharmacies. Taken orally, [...]

Hormones are the chemical messengers the body uses to tell cells what to do and when to do it. There are a huge number of them involved in nearly every process from controlling hunger and temperature regulation, sleep, reproduction and development, metabolism and the immune response. Mention hormones and mostly we think of the well-known male and female sex hormones, oestriol, oestradiol, progesterone and testosterone. These are the ones that head south during the latter parts of our lives and what we aim to replace in hormone replacement therapy during menopause and other conditions where these hormones get out of [...]