For veterinary medications administered per os , animal health companies\nstrive to develop highly palatable dosage forms that are voluntarily accepted\nby animals to improve compliance and convenience. Achieving high palatability\nis often complex and difficult even without the presence of an active ingredient.\nThis work compared acceptance and preference studies, as standardized\nmethods are not established for informing formulation development or\nfor more routine testing. Formulation development was followed by an acceptance\nstudy completed with laboratory Beagle dogs. One acceptance study\nand one preference study were completed in mixed breed dogs, also laboratory-\nhoused, to gain wider representation of dog breed and age. Through\nthese studies, we have evaluated both formulation parameters and palatability\nstudy conduct. In general, more complex palatants that have appealing taste,\nsmell, and mouth feel enhance voluntary uptake. However, dosage forms that\nare too chewy may not be freely consumed even with complex palatants. The\naddition of aroma can entice dogs to prehend the tablet, as observed in one\npreference study. Preference studies in the veterinary pharmaceutical field\nidentify the preferred first choice or first prehend, but not which product will\nbe routinely voluntarily and fully consumed. Acceptance studies with cross-over\ntreatment groups are used to quantify the full consumption of a dosage form\nwhen a dog is not given two choices at once. Since all dogs in acceptance studies\nare offered all treatment groups throughout the study, a comparison between\ndegrees of consumption could suggest that one formulation might be\npreferred over another.
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