I recently discovered (by accident) a way to cut the cost of compounded medications, with a little effort. The tylosin that Bob takes is one of the nastiest tasting things ever....trust me, I tried it! I asked the pharmacist to make it up into capsules, thinking that it would be easy to give those on a long-term basis. Don't know what I was thinking....the first time he bit into one of the capsules, he learned to clamp his jaw so tightly you'd think he had lockjaw. He looked like a cat version of Teddy Roosevelt! I didn't know what to do with the rest of the capsules. It would have been really dumb to take them to the pharmacist and have him open each one and dump them into the Triple Fish flavoring to mix it up....and it would've taken forever! So, I asked the pharmacist if he could just sell me some Triple Fish. (OK, eventually I'll have to learn how to make the stuff myself, but this is a baby step towards that!) So, every day I take an empty 10cc. syringe, cap it and pour a little Triple Fish into it. Then I dump a capsule of tylosin into the syringe, add a little water and the plunger and shake it up. When it is mostly mixed, I throw a blanket over Bob and squirt the medicine in his mouth. Most days I get away without blood loss....remind me to have Bob's nails trimmed at the vet next time we're there!
Compounded meds we've gotten at the pharmacy have cost us $45 to $70 a bottle in the past. The difference in price of the 'homemade compounding' to the pharmacy stuff is more than 50%. The capsules cost $10 to have made up at the pharmacy, and the Triple Fish was another $10.....the syringes I'm using were left over from a spay/neuter clinic I helped at, so they are free. (They had antibiotics and distemper vaccine in them, so I wash them before reusing. )
Medicating cats is tedious enough, it shouldn't be expensive on top of that. Make sure to ask your vet if there is a more cost-effective way to medicate your pet. Ask for a discount, especially for rescued animals. Ask for samples. And, if you have to go to a 'people pharmacy,' call around for the best price. You deserve it!