Patent ID: 7955632

Claim:
A process for manufacturing, without use of extrusion, an edible, soft chewable medication vehicle (a “soft chew”) having consistent unit-to-unit weight and active content, wherein the soft chew is palatable to dogs and cats, comprising: (a) providing an active agent and an oil, wherein the active agent is an antibiotic whose stability or potency can be adversely affected by temperatures typically generated during extrusion, an active agent that is not palatable, or both; (b) blending the active agent of step (a) with dry inactive ingredients including at least one each of a flavoring, a binder, a bulking agent, a humectant and an excipient, wherein all such dry inactive ingredients are free of infectious agents or contaminants, and the oil, all of the blending being performed in a low shear mixer, wherein operation of the mixer causes a dry edible soft chew mixture to be formed having the active agent uniformly blended therein; (c) adding a water-soluble polyethylene glycol anti-sticking agent to the dry mixture and blending it therein using the low shear mixer to form a edible soft chewable mixture; (d) removing the edible soft chewable mixture from the mixer; and, (e) molding the edible soft chewable mixture into individual unit masses without application of compression heat thereto, wherein the unit masses so formed are of consistent weight and active content from unit to unit and are generally more palatable to cats and dogs than tablet dosage forms of the active agent, wherein the edible soft chew mixture and the ingredients thereof are maintained at room temperature or no more than +/−10° C. thereof during performance of each step of the method, and wherein further no water is added to the active agent during performance of the method.