A list of plants and food that are poisonous to pets. Read more

that 75% of pet owners sleep with their pets? This could be problematic according to the CDC.  Seemingly healthy pets can carry parasites, bacteria, or viruses that cause mild to life-threatening illness in their owners.

By: Susan Merenstein, R.Ph./Owner
At Murray Avenue Apothecary we love all animals and we believe they have the right to a healthy life.

Digestive disturbances are a very common complaint with our companion animals. A sick pet feels miserable and can affect your whole household, crimping your family’s plans and activities. It’s worrisome to leave your sick dog or cat behind. . .
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Our valued client and greyhound owner makes demo video about our renowned Greyhound Corn/Callus Cream.  More from greyhound owners here.

Pharmacist Susan Merenstein was featured in a story on Pittsburgh's WPXI Channel 11 News for developing a treatment for greyhound corns.  Below you can meet some of our greyhound friends and see actual treatment results.  Watch and read more

Flavored Medications
Animals can be notoriously finicky about their diet. The same problem often occurs with the animal’s medication. Murray Avenue Apothecary can prepare medications in a variety of flavors such as a fish flavored base for cats and a liver, chicken and beef flavored base for dogs.  Murray Avenue Apothecary stocks over 100 varieties of flavoring additives that can satisfy the taste buds of the most finicky animal.

Customized Medication Dosages
Often commercially available animal medications come in only one dosage or strength. In order to properly medicate an animal, particularly a small one, a reduced dose of the medication must be given. This can present a problem and a potential source of either over or under medicating, particularly if the needed drug is only available in a solid form. Murray Avenue Apothecary can provide the exact amount of the medication per dose needed to treat the animal. Additionally, Murray Avenue Apothecary can provide larger that commercially available strengths of medications and can format them into single doses for the larger animal.

Medications No Longer Available
Frequently, drug manufacturers will discontinue the production of particular medications and dosage forms because of low demand and, hence decrease profit. However, often a need for these medications continues to exist. When a veterinary formulation is no longer commercially available and no human drug preparation can be substituted, Murray Avenue Apothecary can help. The necessary pharmaceutical grade chemicals needed to compound individualized dosage forms for the animal can be obtained by Murray Avenue Apothecary. The resulting compounded medication can often out perform the discontinued formulation.

Alternative Dosage Forms and Routes of Administration
At times, it is impossible to administer a needed medication orally to an animal. In such situations, Murray Avenue Apothecary can concentrate the medication in a flavored gel that is then applied to the animal’s paw or fur and thus administered by licking. Additionally, medications can be incorporated into rectal suppositories or added to a specially compounded cream, gel or ointment that is then applied to the inside of the animal’s ear thus allowing for the transdermal absorption of the medication. In addition to PLO, Murray Avenue Apothecary utilizes a variety of transdermal bases.

Drug Combinations
Some veterinarian medical problems, such as skin disorders, often are best treated by using a combination of several drugs. In order to avoid multiple dosing while achieving cost-savings, Murray Avenue Apothecary can combine the needed concentrations of the required medications into a single, easy-to-use format.

We have many different varieties of supplements for your animal ranging from Joint and flexibility products to fish oil chews, to tasty multivitamins.  We even have calming chews or oral safe capsules called Happy Traveler to help with vet visits, thunderstorms, rides in the car or separation anxiety.  And don’t forget natural flea remedies and prevention and even shampoo!!

And don’t forget about our Greyhound Corn and Callus Cream compound for painful corns, calluses and other uncomfortable pad problems your dog may have.  We are working with The Ohio State University Veterinary School and Dr. Couto and have submitted preliminary data for a collaborative study.  We have already dispensed over 400 tubes in a year!  The results have been outstanding!

We are often called upon to come up with novel ideas to get your pet to take its medicine and we are problem solvers in the vet community.  We can make topical medicine to be rubbed on your animal’s ear flaps and to overcome nasty tasting oral medicine we can prepare a tasty liquid with many different flavors to choose from!  We will even give your animal a little sample flavor taste before we make their medicine!