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Ivermectin dosage


Olivia
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The dose isn't ml per pounds or anywhere close (we're talking fractions of mls). You definitely want to consult with a vet and I'd really only do it if I had gazilion dogs to dose. Which, um, I do.

 

Has the price of Heartgard just gone way up? This is the third board I've been on where this topic's being discussed.

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The reason I ask is a friend of my mom's has a bunch of dogs and she can't afford Heartguard or Interceptor, etc. She has never had them on heartworm prevention. The vets there don't really push it or let people know how dangerous heartworms are. I know, if you can't care for them you shouldn't have them, but she already does. She loves them and is now trying to do right by them. She is having them all tested and the man at the Co-op sold her the ivermectin and told her to just give them all a cc or two of it each month!!! I told her 'heck no' and to wait on giving it until I could help her figure out the dosage. She has called her vet but they won't tell her the dosage, just that she should come in and buy Heartguard if she wants heartworm preventative.

 

I can give her a 1 ml syringe that has 10ths and such marked on it. Would that help?

 

Thanks again,

Olivia

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It is important to remember that people usually use the Ivomec sheep drench because it is much more diluted than cattle and injectable forms. Sheep drench has 0.8 milligrams/millilitre. A 1% catttle solution would have 10 milligrams per litre. Our vets have recommended a 50 pound dog get 1 millilitre(cc) of sheep drench. 40 pounds - 8/10 of a ml. 60 pounds - 1.2 ml. It is difficult to dose with the cattle ivermectin, and could be deadly to the dog. It is 12 1/2 times as concentrated. A 50 pound dog needs less than 1/10th of a ml with the cattle ivermectin - not easy to be accurate.

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It is important to remember that people usually use the Ivomec sheep drench because it is much more diluted than cattle and injectable forms. Sheep drench has 0.8 milligrams/millilitre. A 1% catttle solution would have 10 milligrams per litre. Our vets have recommended a 50 pound dog get 1 millilitre(cc) of sheep drench. 40 pounds - 8/10 of a ml. 60 pounds - 1.2 ml. It is difficult to dose with the cattle ivermectin, and could be deadly to the dog. It is 12 1/2 times as concentrated. A 50 pound dog needs less than 1/10th of a ml with the cattle ivermectin - not easy to be accurate.

 

 

Sorry - the cattle 1 %concentration would have 10 milligrams per MILLIlitre.

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I personally use the cattle 1% or at the moment I'm using the no name ivermec horse wormer same 1% but made to drench horses not inject cattle.

 

I've used the cattle injectable for quite some time now. I don't feel comfortable giving out the dosage that I've gotten from 3 different vets as it is quite different from the dosages I've read here. The last vet I talked to in MO was totally against using ivermec on my (border) collies, after giving him the appropriate links to different articles on ivermec sensitivity he has relinquished his border collie issues on ivermec and agreed with the dosage that I use being the proper amount. Funny thing with this vet was he was happily selling Heartguard to BC's without any hesitations. Go figure.

 

The latest vet I go to here in AR gave me the same dosage. I've never had a problem with ivermec 1% solution and will continue to use it. I think the hub bub is that it is a relativity small dose with complications arising from overdosing very easily. I'm not a vet but I can certainly measure cc's down to the 10th degree.

 

Please keep looking for a vet that will help you with the dosage. Or use some generic heartguard which is way cheaper than the name brand. Someone mentioned here that Iverheart Plus was a good one.

 

Now that I didn't help anybody with the ivermec information :rolleyes:

 

I was wondering if anyone uses Safeguard (Panacur) for Tapeworms in dogs. The AR vet really didn't think it would cure our problems with the critter eating guarddogs. I bought Drontal that he had but spent way to much because I think this is going to be an on going issue with tape wormings every 6 months or so. Nothing worse that seeing a gigantic load of tape worms coming out your sweet LGD's hinney. It's the stuff nightmares are made of! This vet did think that Safeguard would work on Tapes in the sheep. hmmm....

 

Kristen

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Safeguard gets tapes, no problemo. I also use Valbazen because it takes care of a wider range of parasites than just stomach worms, but wild horses won't drag the information out of me publically. :rolleyes: PM me if you are interested in chatting about parasite control in those LGDs.

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This is from the HeartGard product insert.

 

DOSAGE: HEARTGARD® Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel) Chewables should be administered orally at monthly intervals at the recommended minimum dose level of 6 mcg of ivermectin

per kilogram (2.72 mcg/lb) and 5 mg of pyrantel (as pamoate salt) per kg (2.27 mg/lb) of body weight.

 

HeartGard Plus

 

A 1% ivermectin solution is the same as 0.01 g/mL or 10,000 mcg/mL (where mcg is micrograms).

 

A 0.08% ivermectin solution is 0.0008 g/mL or 800 mcg/mL.

 

Mark

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  • 2 weeks later...

So if we do the math:

 

a 40 lb dog would get 108.8 mcg of ivermectin

 

to provide that using the 1 percent cattle injectible, you'd need to measure out 0.01088 ml. That's a little over 1/100th of an ML. Not a dosage I'm confident in my ability to measure. And remember that in dogs that have the mutation that causes ivermectin sensitivity, a 10x overdose could be fatal.

 

So the question you have to ask yourself, is "Do I feel lucky today?" (With apologies to Dirty Harry)

 

to provide the same 108.8 mcg of ivermecting using the .08 percent sheep drench, you're looking at 0.136 ml -- a much more doable dosage with an insulin syringe, but still not one that I am particularly comfortable with measuring considering the potential consequences of improper dosing.

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Bill,

 

I'd want to make certain my dogs get at least the minimum dose but not to exceed a 10x dose (dose not shown to affect sensitive collies, data from product inserts). When using a measuring device that is not very accurate in the range that your dosing (i.e. 0.1 mL from a 1 mL syringe) the best approach is to dose higher to ensure the minimum effective dose is provided. I typically target 3x minimum dose for our dogs. If you look at the tablets/chewables you'll find that 3x the minimum dose is not far above what a dog would receive if it is at the low end of the weight range of that size tablet. BTW a 3x dose leads to an easy to remember volume dose.

 

As far as using the 1% ivermectin solution, you must dilute it before dosing. As you stated, it would be impossible to dose such a small volume with the volume metering devices available to the general public. Propylene glycol is a suitable diluent for the 1% ivermectin solution; ivermectin is not appreciably water soluble.

 

Mark

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As I understand it from several different vets, the dilution is only to make it easier to measure (i.e 9cc propylene glycol to 1cc ivomec). It is not necessary for dosing. My farm vet recommends *to his clients* (no interent recommendations here!) 0.1cc per 10lbs of body weight of cattle stength ivomec monthly.

 

We use a TB syringe (1cc total) or an insulin syringe without the needle to measure.

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Yes, the dilution is to make it possible to measure a dose (volume) close to the minimum effective dose.

 

A 0.01mL/lb dose of a 1% ivermectin solution would be 36.8x the minimum effective dose for heartworm preventative and about 1/4th the dose for treating mange. Higher than I'd be comfortable doing but probably safe for MDR1-1delta "normal" dogs. At this dose you'd really want to be certain that the dogs don't get any other sources of ivermectin (i.e. ivermectin laced manure) for fear of inducing ivermectin toxicosis.

 

Mark

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I've gotten both recommendations from different vets. The 9 to 1 propylene glycol and ivermec. Also the 0.1cc per 10 lbs dose of the cattle strength. I go with the 9 to 1. But I will say that the vets who mentioned the straight ivermec dose also said NEVER go over .6 cc's for any weight dog including my 100 lb. guard dogs.

I'm also wondering if using Cydectin on the sheep would cause the same ivermectin toxicosis if the dog eats the manure laced with Cydectin along with it's monthly ivermec worming. Aren't they both in the same catagory?

Kristen

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