Miracle Liquid Wormers
April, 1996
Dear Dr. Silverio
I am seriously considering starting my dogs on Ivermectin as a
heartworm preventative. Currently they are taking Heartgard Plus.
but as you know, this can get very expensive.
I’ve talked to a few breeders who use Ivermectin and they
seem to be well pleased with the results. However, they all give
different suggestions as to how much of this medication you need
to give your dog. The most common response I’ve heard is 0.1
cc per 10 lbs. of body weight. But, isn’t the recommended
dosage to kill other types of parasites in addition to
heartworms?
Would you please tell me the correct dosage (in cc’s) as to
how much Ivermectin I need to give my dogs if I want to kill
heartworms only? And, do I need to mix the medication with
anything to get the dog to take it better, especially since,
I’m assuming, the recommended dosage will be minute? Also,
I’ve heard certain breeds are more susceptible to this drug
than others. We have a Labrador Retrievers and a Chow mix. Are
there any reported side effects from these breeds?
Sincerely,
Angela E. Sullivan
Dear Angela,
Please refer to my article in the January issue of SPO Magazine.
addressing the use of Irermectin in dogs. As mentioned in that
article, the dose of Irermectin necessary to treat or prevent
intestinal parasites is about 30 times the dose used to prevent
heartworm disease. The dosage you listed, 0.1 cc per 10 lbs. of
body weight, is the dosage recommended for the prevention of
intestinal parasites and heartworms. Therefore, if you wish to
use the cattle wormer, Ivamec, as a heartworm preventative only,
the amount
needed would, indeed, be too minute to measure accurately. One
way to solve the problem is to dilute a small amount of Ivamec in
vegetable oil or propylene glycol (a solvent sometimes used to
treat bloat in livestock). The vegetable oil tastes better, but
the drug will mix better with propylene glycol because that is
the same liquid used to dissolve the Ivermectin in a bottle of
Ivamec.
One delution scheme which would minimize waste would involve
using a 1 cc syringe and the more common 3 cc syringe. Draw up .1
cc of Ivamec, using the small syringe, and mix well with 3 cc of
vegetable oil or propylene glycol. Using this diluted product,
the heartworm preventative dose would be a familiar .1 cc per 10
lbs. of body weight. A larger amount could be diluted and stored
in the refrigerator for future use, but the length of time its
potency would remain is unknown.
As stated in my original article, a number of dogs have been
found to be sensitive to Irermectin at the higher dosage, but not
at heartworm prevention dose. Most of the susceptible individuals
identified are Collies, but other breeds have also been
represented. These other breeds do not include a Labrador or a
Chow.
I would like to take this opportunity to discuss another
broad-spectrum anthelinintic which has apparently received some
attention recently. Albendazale is the name of the active
ingredient in the livestock dewormer Valbazen, manufactured by
Pfizer Animal Health. It is available in paste form and as a
drench (11.36 % suspension in liquid).
Although it has FDA approval for use in dogs, it has been found
to be effective against a number of canine intestinal parasites.
The drug has excellent activity against Whipworms and the common
hookworm and roundworm of dogs. It is also effective in treating
one type of tapeworm, Taenia, and a less common protozoal
parasite called Giardia.
The Tapeworm segments, or Proglattids, which are visible in an
infected dog’s stool, contain eggs which are not directly
contagious to another dog. These eggs must first be ingested by
an intermediate host, in which they develop to another stage of
their life cycle, and then be ingested by another dog before
adult tapeworm can be developed by that dog. For Taeniid
Tapeworms, the intermediate host can be a number of mammals,
including rabbits. Diprylidium caninum, the species of tapeworm
using the flea as its intermediate host, is apparently not as
effectively killed by the use of Albendazale. Other tapeworm
medication is necessary to treat dogs infected with this type of
tapeworm.
The recommended dosage of Valbazen suspension needed to kill
susceptible parasites is 25 mg 1 kg, given orally 2 times a day
and continued for 2 or 3 consecutive days (2 days is adequate for
treating giardiasis; 3 days is probably necessary for other
parasites). When using Valbazen suspension, each dose would be
about I cc per 10 lbs. of body weight, or 3 cc for a 30 lb.
beagle. It is not considered safe for use in pregnancy, and
whenever this product is used in any dog, it is considered
extra-label usage, not officially recommended by the manufacturer
and not approved by the
FDA.