Sheltie heartworm meds - what to do?

[HolisticFurMom]

I agree that it's just as safe as any of them. I mean arguing which one is safer isn't doesn't make a lot of sense because any dog can have a negative reaction to the toxins in any of these. I don't think one is safrer than the other for a certain breed, it depends on the dog individually. I've known enough dogs in rescue over the years who react negatively to all of them at different times. It has to do with the animal and how sensitive neurologically it is and how much their organs can handle and hopefully that their organs are able to withstand dose after dose ... So all of them are risky, but not due to the breed specifically.

Best of luck.

[ClantyreSheltie]

Actually it is a breed specific sensitivity. The link I posted earlier has the list of affected breeds and problem drugs.

While in theory, any dog can react to anything, Shelties have an added layer of potential sensitivities that owners should be aware of.

[SheltieLuver]

The Whole Dog Journal recently had a very interesting article about dogs with the MDR1 gene.
I did not know this, but this is a direct quote from the article. "All heartworm preventive medications can affect dogs with the MDR1 mutation, including ivermectin(Heartgard), milbemycin(Interceptor, Sentinel), selamectin(Revolution), and moxidectin(ProHeart, Advantage Multi) The very low dosed used for heartworm preventation, however, should not cause and harm, even to dogs with two copies of the defective gene."

[HolisticFurMom]

I don't give any of this stuff to my animals so I am not sure how it works... no one I know gives it either so definitely not well-versed but since you said it wouldn't harm the dogs with mutant genes, it doesn't seem to be the dog's breed that is the problem when there's a reaction to THIS (HEARTGUARD)medicine.

But it's my understanding, and you stated this too, no matter what THIS breed(or any other breed that can be affected byt he mutan gene) has in terms of mutations, they're fine on heartguard and issues wouldn't be related to breeds who can carry the mutant gene...

Because of that mutation leading to issue with medicines, I think people are thinking it's a breed-specific issues, but in reality, these heartworm doses aren't harmful to the dogs who carry the mutated genes anymore so than a dog without the mutated genes. Therefor, the sensitivity shock of heartworm medicine prescribed by vets isn't a real threat for these breeds. HEARTWORM tablets sn't a breed-specific issue. Sure the individual toxins, just straight, would cause more issues for mutated dogs, but we're discussing heartworm medicine dogs get from their vets in tablet form.

I've seen dogs of all varieties react to heartworm/flea and other medicines and I've seen dogs of all varieties be just fine. Each time you put the pill down your dogs throat you're taking a chance, regardless of breed, that ill effects may happen. It has nothing to do with having a Sheltie or a Border Collie when we're dealing with the tablets prescribed by the vet. Just to clear that up by what I meeant when I said breed-specific problems aren't an issue with the heart worm medicines prescribed by the vets

[GillsGoneWild]

I use Trifexis and have had no problem. Trifexis is a once-monthly tablet that kills fleas, prevents heartworm disease and treats and controls adult hookworm, roundworm and whipworm infections.

[arca]

Thank you for the suggestions everyone.

I went ahead and ordered Heartgard, but now my vet's office is refusing to clear it with Petmeds. They're giving me the same spin about how it's not a safe drug for herding breeds, even though I told them that my dog was on it for years before Interceptor and had no negative reaction. They even said its actually illegal to prescribe Heartgard to certain breeds!

This is the same vet who switched him onto Interceptor. Now they keep pushing me to switch him to Revolution.

I'm not even sure what to do at this point.

[PatC]

how frustrating for you...and for all of us, that different vets have different beliefs about these things. And it really shouldn't be about "beliefs." Like I said before, I had "Interceptor" drummed into my skull by my dogs' breeder, so I've gone with ordering the Interceptor Spectrum from Australia. So far so good--it comes in the form of a "tasty treat" and the dogs love it--and there is no prescription required.