Zoological Medicine

Great Care, Delivered. Compounding Pharmacy Services for Zoological Medicine

We care the way you care about happy, healthy, free-ranging and captive wild animals.

"All zoos and aquariums must have a pharmacy on-site where routinely used drugs, such as emergency resuscitative medications, antibiotics, anthelmintics, fluids, anesthetics, analgesics, tranquilizers, etc. can be maintained according to local, state and federal regulations.”

From Guidelines for Zoo and Aquarium Veterinary Medical Programs and Veterinary Hospitals, Veterinary Standards Committee of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians.  

But what do you do if the medicine you need isn’t “routinely used?” 

With thousands to tens of thousands of patients, your life as a zoological veterinary professional is one of constant challenge, investigation, innovation, and invention. Nno-one knows better than you that caring for the animals in zoos, aquaria, and preserves requires teamwork. Trainers, handlers, and dieticians all play crucial roles. Every week, Zoological Medicine professionals like you add our specialized compounding pharmacists to their teams.

A specialized compounding pharmacist can help you to make the difference for the animals in your care. For the specialized veterinarians who care for widely diverse populations of free-ranging and captive wild-animals in natural and artificial environments, we are your partner in promoting animal well-being by providing the custom-compounded medicines so often required by Zoological Medicine Specialists.

Turn to Wedgewood Pharmacy to help maintain the health of your animals.

As the nation's largest animal-health compounding pharmacy, our specialized compounding pharmacists have helped to solve unique medication problems for zoos, aquaria and preserves for years. Serving more than 40,000 prescribers, we have the experience and resources to help you to solve many complex medication-compliance issues.

Here are just a few examples of innovative ways we developed with zoological veterinary teams to treat animals from a Noah’s Ark of species, measured in weight from grams to tons We developed ...

• An unflavored, uncolored antibiotic gel, injected into bananas, for a primate who was too smart to eat grapes injected with a pink-colored commercially available medication;
• A banana-flavored paste to deliver antibiotic to a 600-pound tortoise;
• An anti-fungal water bath for frogs;
• A drug combination to be inserted into a feeder fish for shark;
• A eucalyptus-flavored oral suspension for a koala bear; and
• A banana-molasses-flavored Ibuprofen paste for an elephant with arthritis.

If you do not find the specific compounded medication, dosage form and/or flavor that meets your needs, please telephone Phil Scully, R. Ph, C.C.P. technical services pharmacist, at 865-832-1326 or via e-mail at (pscully@wedgewoodpharmacy.com).

To learn more about caring for free-ranging and captive wild animals, you may find these resources to be helpful.

American Association of Zoo Veterinarians
American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians
International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine
Wildlife Disease Association
Association of Avian Veterinarians
Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians
Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians
American Veterinary Medical Association
United States Animal Health Association
Association of Zoo Veterinary Technicians 
American Association of Zoo Keepers
American Zoo and Aquarium Association
The World Conservation Union
Alliance of Veterinarians for the Environment
AZA Nutrition Advisory Group