What Are Veterinary Drug Monographs and How Do I Use Them?

April 30, 2021
3 min

“Monograph” is the word you might not have heard for the in-depth drug profiles that you’re used to referencing in Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs (or in the Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook). Whether you pick up the book or turn to the Plumb’s app on your phone, you’re referencing drug monographs regularly for essential animal-specific information like:

  • Dosages by species
  • Drug formulations
  • Uses and indications
  • Contraindications and adverse effects
  • Toxic doses and their treatments

Whether your patient manages to eat their entire bottle of carprofen at once or refuses to take their pills altogether, the drug monograph has what you need. 

What you already love about drug monographs in the Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook is amplified by the Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs platform. Here are 5 reasons to get your drug information online with Plumb’s.

1. The Plumb’s app is always available

No more rushing around trying to find the book—especially since it inevitably ends up in the last place you’d look, like under a pile of patient travel sheets in boarding. Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs is always available on the nearest device.

Some of us love keeping Plumb’s open on a desktop computer while writing records. For others, it’s a snap to check dosages and add notes on the go from a phone. Many veterinary practices also keep the app on their pharmacy iPad for instant access.

Plus, as hard as you try to maintain work–life balance, you inevitably need drug information from home—like when one of your own pets comes down with something bizarre. Who actually wants to lug the nearly 4-pound “pocket edition” back and forth from the clinic? Accessing Plumb’s online makes it convenient to calculate doses anywhere, send them to your team, and get back to your day.

2. Searching is simple

Rather than having to flip through pages of generic drugs (though you still can if you prefer), you simply start typing. Enter the first three letters of the drug’s generic or brand name and there you have it! No more trying to remember whether it’s levi… leva… oh right—levetiracetam.

Once you get to the monograph, quick links at the top make it easy to jump to the information you use most. Wherever you are in the monograph, the table of contents sticks with you for easy navigation to any section.

3. Staying current is easy

You won’t have to worry about whether you have the latest Plumb’s again. Or stress because a new drug got approved too late to be included, leaving you waiting impatiently for the next edition. (We’re looking at you, maropitant.) 

An extensive team of veterinarians and veterinary pharmacists keeps Plumb’s continually updated, so you always have access to the most up-to-date Plumb’s. For example, you’ll already find the new emetic ropinirole ready and waiting for you in Plumb’s (along with more than 20 other drug monographs you won’t find in the most recent edition of the book).

4. You can take your notes on the go…

Plumb’s makes your sticky notes and margin scribbles easy to add, edit, and access anywhere. 

Bookmark drugs you reference all the time and put notes in any section of the monograph—whether that’s your local neurologist’s preferences for referral or the Chill Protocol for managing aggressive and fearful dogs. You’ll see your notes whenever you review the drug monograph. Plus, you can sort your whole library of notes from your Plumb’s homepage—no more flipping through the book.

5. …and these practical prescribing tools, too

There’s even more to Plumb’s than drug monographs—and you won’t find these tools in the book. With Plumb’s, you also get:

So, not only are you ready to use the word “monograph” in a sentence, but also you are ready to make the most of them.

If you don’t have Plumb’s yet, pick your perfect plan here.

Still not sure? See Plumb’s for yourself in this demo