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Regular
Posts: 92
Location: oregon | Heads up!!
Had a big scare two days ago.
Our dog suddenly woke up blind.
Went to vet and had the eye specialist check him out. His puples
were extremely dialated and he couldn't see anything. After the doc
asked us many, many questions, my husband remembered when he wormed
the horses the day before, one of the horses spit out a little of the
paste. He covered it with some sawdust, but unbeknowest to him the
dog got to it. IT was Ivermectrin. This is extremely toxic to dogs
and can cause blindness. In 50 years of having horses, I never knew
this. So, I thought I would pass this along to all of you horse people
and you can pass it on to your friends, as well. Our dear dog regained
his sight the next day and today he seems fine. The vet said that he
was very lucky. So please be careful out there. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069
Location: MI. | Hey, thanks for the heads up! |
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Member
Posts: 44
Location: Virginia | Glad to hear your dog is ok-just when we think we are being as careful as we possibly can be something like that will happen. I am wondering about the ivermectin-I am not sure but I believe our dog's heart worm medicine has that as an active ingredient-don't have the package in front of me though. Maybe it's that the dosage level is higher for horses. Thanks for the warning! |
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Member
Posts: 10
Location: East Texas | It is the dosage level. Ivermectin is not toxic to dogs in small doses, but the levels needed for horses are way too high for a dog. Ivermectin is often given as a heartwom treatment or preventative to dogs. I used to have a Great Dane and my vet prescribed ivermectin for heartworms because he was so big I'd have to give him TWO of the largest heartguard each month!! NOTE....certain breeds of dog can NOT have ivermectin at all. Its been awhile since I worked at a vet's office (I used to work as a vet tech)... I believe it is the collies that can't have it at all..... but check with your vet before you give ANY medication in an off-label use. |
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Regular
Posts: 92
Location: oregon | My dog weighs 85 lbs, so he is quite large(dalmatian) And the dose he got hold of was quite small. The vet said that some pet owners try the horse paste to save money. YIKES!!! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
 
Location: Kansas | Can't speak to collies, but Australian shepherds have been known to have extreme sensitivity to ivermectin. Causes symptoms similar to heart problems. |
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Regular
Posts: 97
Location: Newport News, VA | Ivermectin is actually a drug with a very high safety margin. It takes a many times dose to cause problems, however, a horse dose would be many, many, many times the canine dose. The general dosage for horses, for the liquid form of Ivermectin, is 1cc per 110lbs, so not a whole lot could be toxic to dogs. I work at a zoo where we treat many of the animals with Ivermectin for heartworm preventitive. For many years we had been using the horse dose for our large cats with no ill effects. Many zoos have had problems, though, so now the dose we give is about 1/10th what we gave them before. The Heartguard brand of heartworm preventitive for dogs is Ivermectin. I believe the dogs breeds with problems with Ivermectin are collies and greyhounds. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
Location: Texas | Heartguard can be used on the dogs that are ivermectrin sensitive, the dose is very small. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 792
Location: East Tennessee, USA, Planet Earth | >> Our dog suddenly woke up blind.
I am so sorry to hear this about your dog. The info on Ivermectrin has been known for many years. Can I ask what breed your dog is? I just posted some info on aussie type dogs and how sensitive they are to many drugs.
Sending bright Reiki to your sweet dog!!! {{[ HUGS }}} |
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Regular
Posts: 92
Location: oregon | smokey is a dalmatian. |
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Veteran
Posts: 151
Location: Manitoba, Canada | Don't forget about protecting your cats. A few years back a farm neighbors cats got a dose of Ivermectin (accidentally or otherwise, I'm not certain) - the injectible version generally used on cattle. It killed every one of them. |
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Veteran
Posts: 150
Location: Farmville, VA | Dogs are like humans, some more sensitive than others, breed by breed and dog by dog. We use (in very, very, small dose) an ivermec base hart worm preventative that comes from the vet's office and have had great success in our kennels. |
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Regular
Posts: 92
Location: oregon | Let's stay on point here.
My warning to all horse owners out there is: Do not let your dog near the
paste, should it fall on the ground while you are worming your horses, since they tend to want to eat things that drop. It
can and will cause blindness in your dog, my dog was blind for 30 hours. It doesn't matter what breed your dog is. Horse wormer is toxic to dogs.
Luckily he recovered his sight. This isn't always the case. The heart medicine for dogs with a small percentage of ivermectrin is ok for dogs.
Be cautious.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069
Location: MI. | I just took my dog into the vet for some things that needed to be done and I did ask about the Ivermectin. The dosage was the answer I was given.......
Edited by Gone 2008-02-09 7:51 PM
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Regular
Posts: 90
Location: louisiana | This is weird because the medicine to worm for heartworms is Ivermec. You have to be very specific as far as weight. I have to weigh my dogs each month and give according to weight but it is Ivermec that the vet gives to worm. ????????????????? Insight please |
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.jpg) Expert
Posts: 2828
Location: Southern New Mexico | It's all in the dosage. The wormers for dogs are made for their weight, the wormer for horses is stronger because of their weight. My dogs are 52, 148 and150 lbs, my horses are between 950- 1300lbs. The only ones that get the same dosage are my two mastiffs since they are only 2lbs apart. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Minneapolis, MN | You can safely give 1/10ml of 1% ivermectin per 10lbs of body weight to dogs...except herding breeds. Granted, that's 50x the dose needed to control heartworms, but it a safe dose. |
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Horse Wormer Scare-BEWARE
