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Abstract
A new frontier in the administration of therapeutic drugs to veterinary species is
transdermal drug delivery. The primary challenge in developing these systems is rooted
in the wide differences in skin structure and function seen in species ranging from
cats to cows. The efficacy of a transdermal system is primarily dependent upon the
barrier properties of the targeted species skin, as well as the ratio of the area
of the transdermal patch to the species total body mass needed to achieve effective
systemic drug concentrations. A drug must have sufficient lipid solubility to traverse
the epidermal barrier to be considered for delivery for this route. A number of insecticides
have been developed in liquid "pour-on" formulations that illustrate the efficacy
of this route of administration for veterinary species. The human transdermal fentanyl
patch has been successfully used in cats and dogs for post-operative analgesia. The
future development of transdermal drug delivery systems for veterinary species will
be drug and species specific. With efficient experimental designs and available transdermal
patch technology, there are no obvious hurdles to the development of effective systems
in many veterinary species.