Posted on 08/23/2011 7:14:11 AM PDT by Marie
FORT WORTH, Texas - If your dog has heartworms it will be harder to get a cure. The only company producing the parasite-killing drug has run out and veterinarians don’t know when they’ll get more.
Veterinarians across the country are in a quandary because Immiticide is the only FDA-approved drug available to treat dogs with heartworms.
Drug company Merial said its supply is gone and it can’t produce any more because it can’t get the drug’s active ingredient in the United States. The FDA has been hesitant to allow overseas suppliers to fill American orders.
Vets are working with what they have left in their stock room or they’re prescribing a costly combination of drugs as a substitute to keep dogs stable.
“Not only do we have to purchase the drug later, we don’t know whether there is going to be an increase. We will have to keep the dogs stable until we get the Immiticide,” said Dr. Cynthia Jones.
Dr. Jones said the situation is heartbreaking. She knows most shelters won’t be able to afford the substitute treatment and families will be hesitant to pick up sick dogs. They may be put down.
“Those dogs make wonderful pets. We can cure it. We can fix this. If we can fix a problem like this, we want to try,” she said.
No one is quite sure when the heartworm drug will be available again.
Read more on myFOXdfw.com: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/entertainment/pets/081211-dog-heartworm-drug-supply-runs-out#ixzz1VrOgSpgd
Yep. That is one of the primary reasons we have never moved: we have a “well-trained” vet! As breeders, we really appreciate that he is a reproductive specialist, a superb diagnostician, and an excellent surgeon. He has breeders and show people coming in from out-of-state!
You know that you spend too much at the vets when you (and some of your dogs!) get holiday cards... And I am not talking just Christmas cards!
I was very upset to leave my last vet (but husband’s job dictates where we live). One year she sent us not only a Christmas card but a GIFT certificate for $25! If you think THAT doesn’t suggest how much I spent there that year... LOL But I loved her, she was awesome, she listened to me, but she always always told me what SHE thought as well. We were a team. I have had a more difficult time finding a vet I really like where we are now. Part of the problem is I have far fewer dogs so I see them infrequently and so it’s harder to build that relationship.
Whoa...what was discontinued?
My wife is quite demanding of a vet: she insists on being able to be present at all surguries; likes to “go in the back” with the dogs, when they are taken out of the initial room; and does quite a bit of over-the-phone business. At our present vets, all the staff know our family by first name, and we have sold and given dogs to several of the staff. We also get a “breeder” discount, which is about 15% across the board, which is not something to sneeze at! Additionally, the vet’s son recently got hired as a weather person at one of the local TV stations, where my sister-in-law also works, who does Collies and rescues... Seems sort of incestuous at times....!
This is just an ObamaCare dry run...they’re just gauging the reaction for when they have to tell you that Granny’s not gonna make it cause we have to save the medicine for younger folks...
I recommend ivermectin to many of my clients with multiple big dogs, but only if I think the client is responsible enough to measure out the right dose. If you have more than one greater than 50 pound dog the cost of Heartgard or Intercepter is painful, and for me having to buy them in cartons of 10 (as is required) is crippling. I carry Iverhart in my clinic because it’s the cheapest packaged heartworm prevention I have found.
So just to get this straight, the drug used to treat already infected dogs is not available. But the preventative drug still is?
All harder to do when you only have one dog (or two). Hopefully I will not be in this situation forever, but for now, it is what it is.
My best situation was when I worked for my vet. Obviously she was my favorite. :)
midrin.
It’s the only thing that works for her.
That's what I got.
check post 23
Yes, I worked for a vet years ago and people do lots of goofy things. One client injected something a breeder had given her in a syringe (I don’t recall what it was now, it wasn’t ivermectin, but it was supposed to be given orally and the client had to find a needle to put on the syringe in order to inject it!).
I don’t have a problem affording preventative at this stage in my life, especially for one or two dogs —it IS expensive but I spent about $500 last time I was in the vet for my dog’s yearly visit including her vaccs and a cyst the vet wanted to look at so the heartworm meds were the least of my problems. :) Besides I’m far more irritated by the 75$ a year licensing fee I pay out here. I don’t feel like I get anything for that except annoyed.
cattle dosage per weight
I don’t know what your daughter’s migraine medication was. But there is a whole new group of meds that actually stop the migraine rather than just alleviating the symptoms. They work much better.
The medication I am most familiar with is Zomig.
http://www.zomig.com/zomig-coupon.aspx
The original medication of this class was Imitrex. But I think Zomig is an improvement.
I have 3 of those dogs. Is there an alternative for them?
For the collies and such, the preventative is USUALLY ok, but the deworming dose is way too high, and they will be seriously affected.
For those who use the paste, DON'T. You have no way of accurately measuring, and it will cause considerable damage, if not death.
On the heartgard package, divide the amount of active ingredient by the weight of the highest pound dog on the package, and that is your highest safe dose per pound you can use of the injectable. Be warned, the injectable is in milligrams per cc, not micrograms, so a small mistake is a 1000 X overdose.
.
If you are not good with numbers (not willing to bet your dog's life on your mathematical genious)ask you vet to calculate the correct dose for your dog. If they won't do it, ask them why?
Most are not greedy. They just don't want to be resposible for your dog dying when you screw up your calculations.
ps, the injectable is in liquid form, however, it is given oral for prevention, never injected.
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