Pharmacy & Nutrition

High Desert Veterinary maintains a well-stocked in-house pharmacy — so whether your pet needs a medication today or requires a long-term prescription, we’re likely to have it on hand. We also carry prescription diets and a curated selection of premium nutrition products, because what your pet eats is as important as what we prescribe.

In-Office Pharmacy

Our pharmacy stocks the medications most commonly needed for dogs and cats in Central Oregon — from urgent care treatments to long-term prescriptions for chronic conditions. For custom formulations (compounded medications in a form or dose your pet can actually take), we work with Pet Pharmacy Northwest in Corvallis, a trusted compounding pharmacy that prepares medications to your pet’s specific needs.

If you’d prefer to fill a prescription elsewhere, we’re happy to provide a written prescription on request. We do recommend verifying that any pharmacy you use is credentialed and reputable — counterfeit and substandard pet medications are a real problem at some online retailers.

Shop Online

We’ve partnered with VetSource, a credible and reliable online pharmacy, for direct-to-client delivery of medications, prescription diets, and pet care products. Everything available through our VetSource portal has been vetted — so you’re getting what your pet actually needs, not a third-party approximation of it.

Prescription Diets

For pets managing specific health conditions, what they eat isn’t just a wellness choice — it’s part of their treatment plan. We carry Hill’s Prescription Diet formulas developed by veterinary nutritionists and backed by clinical research. A prescription is required because these diets are designed to work alongside a diagnosis, not around one.

Conditions we commonly address with therapeutic diets:

  • Skin & food sensitivities — hydrolyzed or novel protein formulas for pets with confirmed food allergies or chronic skin issues
  • Digestive health — highly digestible ingredients to support recovery from GI upset, IBD, or colitis
  • Weight management — clinically proven fat loss while preserving lean muscle, especially important when weight is affecting joint health
  • Kidney support — controlled phosphorus and quality protein to reduce workload on compromised kidneys
  • Urinary health — pH-adjusted formulas to dissolve or prevent certain bladder stones and crystals
  • Joint & mobility — therapeutic levels of omega-3 fatty acids for dogs with arthritis or degenerative joint disease

Premium Nutrition: Stella & Chewy’s

For generally healthy pets whose owners want to feed at a higher quality standard, we carry Stella & Chewy’s — minimally processed, responsibly sourced, and nutritionally dense. Their raw and freeze-dried formulas preserve the integrity of whole food ingredients without the bacterial risks of traditional raw feeding. Many owners notice improvements in coat quality, energy, and digestion after switching.

Stella & Chewy’s is not a substitute for a prescription diet when one is clinically indicated — but for the healthy pet whose owner wants to prioritize ingredient quality, it’s one of the better options on the market and one we’re comfortable recommending.

A note on pet nutrition

Nutrition comes up at nearly every wellness visit — and for good reason. What your pet eats directly affects their energy, weight, immune function, coat health, and long-term organ health. It’s also one of the most confusing areas for pet owners to navigate, given the volume of conflicting information online and in pet stores.

A few things worth knowing when reading pet food labels:

  • Ingredients are listed by weight before processing — “chicken” listed first doesn’t always mean the food is primarily chicken once moisture is removed
  • Look for an AAFCO statement confirming the food is “complete and balanced” for your pet’s life stage
  • “Natural” and “holistic” are marketing terms with no regulated definition
  • Grain-free diets have been linked in ongoing FDA research to a form of heart disease (DCM) in dogs — worth a conversation with us before committing to one
  • Raw diets carry real risks including bacterial contamination and nutritional imbalance when not carefully formulated

We don’t have a one-size-fits-all recommendation, because nutrition genuinely isn’t one-size-fits-all. What we do recommend is making it part of your pet’s annual wellness conversation — not something pieced together from social media or pet store advice.