OPEN WIDE; DRUGSTORE CATERS TO FINICKY CRITTERS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

What do you do with a finicky primate who won't take his insulin? Or the cowardly lion afraid of taking his seizure medicine?

Forget about a spoonful of sugar. Try guava, beef or perhaps liver.

That's how Valley Drug & Compounding carved out a niche in an industry dominated by chain super-stores: custom blending medicines suited to animals' own tastes and dosage sizes, fooling them into thinking they're getting a tasty treat.

``Without the medicine the animal may die or be euthanized, because they're not going to get better,'' said Ralf Figueroa, the pharmacist who co-owns the store with Irving Reitzenstein and Sydney Simmons. ``If an animal has a severe infection and the only medicine available commercially is a bubble-gum flavored medicine for children and the cat won't take it, the animal will die.''

The pharmacy, which counts the Los Angeles Zoo among its clients, is one of a small but growing number of drugstores that specialize in the traditional art of compounding, or customizing medicine for dosage, flavor and format. And it's among an even smaller number that specialize in animal medications.

A yummy medicine can mean the difference between life and death for an animal because, unlike a stubborn child, you can't exactly explain why it's needed.

For L.A.'s zoo, the pharmacy saves in-house vets from the exasperating task of forcing animals to take their medicine.

``It can be very difficult,'' said veterinarian Janna Wynne. ``Sometimes it can be impossible. I've tried to give medications to monkeys where you hide it in something. They taste it, spit it out, take it apart and throw the pill on the ground. There's no way to tell them, You have to take that.''

But the pharmacy can whip up one of its specialties, medicated capsules or syrups that taste and smell like banana, beef, cheese or some 40 other flavors.

Elephants tend to like cantaloupe and green apple flavors, Figueroa said. Ostriches and emu are attracted to brightly-colored foods, while chimps like guava flavor. Dogs like liver and cats go for a triple-fish mixture of canned tuna, sardines and salmon.

Sometimes the flavors are unique to a particular animal.

``We had a cat that only liked asparagus, so we went out and bought asparagus,'' Figueroa said. ``We have someone who owned a 'possum that really liked scrambled eggs, so we went out and mixed in scrambled eggs and it worked really well.''

Valley Drug & Compounding, known as Valley Drugs when it was on Laurel Canyon Boulevard for 50 years, moved to Ventura Boulevard last year after selling its previous location to RiteAid.

Compounding is a return to the old days when pharmacists worked with a mortar and pestle, before drug makers improved production methods in the 1950s and '60s, said a spokeswoman for the Professional Compounding Centers of America, an industry group.

It is coming back now, as customers seek personal attention, and companies discontinue medicines that don't sell.

The group has about 100 members in the Los Angeles and Orange County area, and 2,600 nationwide. Only a fraction of those specialize in veterinary compounding, though the field is growing quickly.

Compounding helps independent pharmacists survive in an industry dominated by chains and squeezed by insurers,PCCA President David Sparks said.

``It's the only way, I think,'' Sparks said. ``Unless a pharmacist is very adept at merchandising a complete, full-blown drugstore operation - and most aren't - it's hard to compete with a professional-type pharmacy that just fills traditional prescriptions.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo: (1) L.A. Zoo keeper feeds Sweet Pea, a black rhino, a tasty snack with tuberculosis medicines mixed in by Valley Drug & Compounding.

(2) Ralf Figueroa shows the range of gel caps he uses for giving medicine to animals from elephants to house cats.

(3) Flavors help convince critters to take their medicine.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer