Whipworm questions

[frawri]

I was told that since one of my dogs is a hearding breed. That those you mentioned can hurt my dog. Because hearding dogs can be sensitive to these ingredients and adverse reactions cause them to be at risk. Have you had any problems with these meds, looks like you have a Border Collie.

[frawri]

I just spoke to someone from bayer, the company that has the Advantage-Multi for dogs. I asked her about the adverse reactions my dog might have to the product. And she felt that because she wasn't a Collie, that it shouldn't hurt her. But I don't want to give her it unless I know for certain. Who else can I go to ask these questions? My vet said they don't have the product, so they wouldn't know anything really about it.

[Kater]

I just spoke to someone from bayer, the company that has the Advantage-Multi for dogs. I asked her about the adverse reactions my dog might have to the product. And she felt that because she wasn't a Collie, that it shouldn't hurt her. But I don't want to give her it unless I know for certain. Who else can I go to ask these questions? My vet said they don't have the product, so they wouldn't know anything really about it.

If you want to be 100% certain, I suppose you can test your dog for the mutation through WSU.
Here's a link about it: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/test.asp .

[frawri]

The heartworm meds we give our dogs has Ivermectin as the main ingredient. And they have had no adverse reaction to it. I think that the products you have mentioned will work just fine. The only problem I am having is, my vet doesn’t carry these brands. And you need a vet to buy the product in order for you to use it. Is there any other way I can get these products? I don’t wish to ask my vet hospital to buy them. They always inflate their products, by rather a large margin. I go to them because their vets are very good. And they take payment plans, which most other vets down here don’t do. So when ever possible I try and get the meds, and wormers from some other source. I like the idea of the Advantage multi, because it says it covers so many worms. But I would hate to use it and find that it wasn’t working. You mentioned you use Sentinel, does it help with killing flea adults? I know you mentioned it kills the eggs. Do you know of any other place I could check out the Advantage multi, for more testing that has been done on it? I know so many questions. Sorry. I just would like to make certain they are covered with the best stuff I can find. And because I do foster care, the more the med covers, the better off my dogs are going to be.

[Kater]

I think your vet should be able to write you a prescription and then you can buy the product online or from a mail-order catalog.

I would not suggest using 1800petmeds (even though their prices are cheap) because the manufacturers will not guarantee products sold through them. A more reputable company is Drs. Foster & Smith. I don't buy pet pharmaceuticals online, so I would suggest that you price shop a little, and maybe ask your vet for a suggestion.

Sentinel does not kill adult fleas....but it sterilizes any flea that has a blood meal on my dog. This type of method is referred to as an environmental control. It does not guarantee no fleas, but it means that the population will not get out of hand quickly. Then if I do see fleas, I address them (usually with Capstar or a topical). We have not had a lot of flea problems and so I prefer to err on the side of using less chemicals on my animals.

For more information on Advantage Multi I would suggest searching the internet. You can read stuff from Bayer as well as other third parties. I'm not sure how many vet journals are free to read online...but that might be another way to learn more. Advantage Multi is new to the U.S. (as you mentioned), and I'm sure it has been heavily covered in journals as of late.

Hope this helps.

[caseysmom]

I just purchased advantage multi for my cat but have not started using it yet, it was $110 for a 6 month supply.

[Kater]

I was told that since one of my dogs is a hearding breed. That those you mentioned can hurt my dog. Because hearding dogs can be sensitive to these ingredients and adverse reactions cause them to be at risk. Have you had any problems with these meds, looks like you have a Border Collie.

The sensitivity that you refer to is a known mutation commonly called MDR1. This mutation affects the blood-brain barrier and thus *numerous* otherwise safe drugs are toxic. I think it's prevalence has been exaggerated, and I don't think it has been documented (officially anyway) in *all* herding breeds by any means. (Here's an interesting article: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/101/32/11725 )

Research out of UC-Davis and other institutions has shown that the heartworm preventive dose is sufficiently low to not elicit a reaction in known sensitive (MDR1) dogs. I don't know what HW preventative you are using now, but it is more than likely also from the avermectin class of drugs, which includes Ivermectin. Personally I would only worry about the possibility of a reaction to avermectins if I had a herding breed undergoing heartworm treatment. This involves much higher doses of the drugs.

The MDR1 mutation is of concern to HW drug manufacturers and they do actively address it. Specifically they test their products on lines of Beagles (usually) that have been bred purposely to carry this mutation. Not sure how reassuring that is, as it is kind of sad, but it is the truth. (These animals are not abused by any means, but they also do not have what you and I would think of as the ideal life...)

Bottom line: The greater risk to your herding dog is undergoing heartworm treatment if he or she is not put on an effective preventative. I would not worry about possible reactions from any of the three HW preventatives I have mentioned here. I give my herding breed (yes, he is a border collie) Sentinel every month and I'm very confident in doing so.