[YoungCurmudgeon]

I am one of those money grubbing veterinarians many on this thread seem to suddenly despise. As a public service I have to comment on the use of ivermectin for prevention of heartworm. Yes, it is effective. It is the active ingredient in Heartgard, but it is extremely toxic to Shelties, Collies, and dogs who are collie or sheltie mixes. It will cause seizures and neurological damage in these breeds and may result in a very nasty, slow death. Just thought everyone should be aware.

[Joe 6-pack]

Thanks for your contribution to this thread! I was totally unaware that there were some breed specific issues with Ivermectin...of course, I’ve never owned one of those breeds. Your input is greatly appreciated!

[TexasRepublic]

I am one of those money grubbing veterinarians many on this thread seem to suddenly despise. As a public service I have to comment on the use of ivermectin for prevention of heartworm. Yes, it is effective. It is the active ingredient in Heartgard, but it is extremely toxic to Shelties, Collies, and dogs who are collie or sheltie mixes. It will cause seizures and neurological damage in these breeds and may result in a very nasty, slow death. Just thought everyone should be aware.

I will second what you have said. The breeder that I bought my Australian Shepherds from warned me off Ivermectin after a vet prescribed it to treat demodectic mange. Some vets apparently are not aware of the danger, or downplay it. The breeder had one dog die and another go blind before identifying the cause. The Ivermectin is dilute enough in Heartgard that it has not caused my dogs any problem after 6 years (yet).

[brytlea]

I didn’t use it because of money grubbing vets, but because I had multiple dogs and it got quite a few other things in addition. I did it with my vet’s knowledge. I have always loved my vets (and when I didn’t I found a new one). Good vets work hard for their money, they have to know about all sorts of different species, their patients can bite, scratch etc them and the owners are no walk in the park either. Did I mention I love my vets? And most of the time they like me too.
And thank you for mentioning about some of the herding breeds (I see I was late on this). I am always loathe to mention Ivermectin to people, since I’m not a vet. It’s a choice *I* made, but I think people should talk to their own vet, and do their own research. It worked well for me. While I was using it we not only never had heartworm, we never had any internal parasites at all.

[nixonsnose]

My neighbor used it on his dog and gave him too high of a dose. The dog went blind for about a week and almost died.
He has a pit-mix.

[Shannon]

I had a HW+ rescue Sheltie. As I'm sure you know, the University of Washington is the only place in the country that tests for the gene to see if the dog will react to Ivermectin. Best $70 I ever spent. She didn't have that mutant gene. We did the slow-kill method and she converted in under a year.

ps. I love my vet. He treats all my rescues like first class "citizens" and even gives me prescriptions to Walmart to save me money.

[BADROTOFINGER]

I have 3 of those dogs. Is there an alternative for them?