MDR1 - Ivermectin

M

Mu_Cow

Forums Regular
Hi, I was on here when I was just getting my first little puppy Kairi a year or so ago. She's now a lovely little dog only 13" tall and a complete menace about the house. She's ridiculously intelligent and knows my body language better than I do. She's too small for showing so I'm hoping to do agility but having terrible trouble finding good classes in my area.

Anyway, last night I brought her to the vet because there was something up with the skin on her chest and I thought she might have hot spots and I was going to change her food but thought the vet might be able to help in the short term. The vet said that it could be a kind of mange from foxes as it has been going around in our town and there is a green beside our house that always has foxes at night. He gave her a drug called Ivermectin and said that it can upset her tummy and that she may vomit within the next hour but should settle after that.

She was a bit hyper last night but she is a fairly hyper active dog so I didn't think anything of it. This morning my mum woke up and found her on the floor twitching and shaking, breathing very shallowly and completely unresponsive. We brought her to the vet and she has been on an IV all day and I went to see her this evening and she was so drugged that she didn't respond to me at all but they said that she was responsive earlier.

I looked it up online and shelties have a gene called MDR1 that mean that they react badly to ivermectin. I was just wondering if anyone here had any experience with a dog taking the drug and what to expect. Was there anything that your vet did that really helped? I just don't really know what to expect. Like, if she hasn't showed any sign of improving in the next 24 hrs that I should start to get really worried, or rather more worried. I'm just so utterly scared for my little perfect girl
 
Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry to hear Kairi is sick. I don't know anything about this drug nor have I had any bad experiences like this, I'm praying for you both.:hugs Keep us updated.
 
if an affected dog takes a higher dosage than is normally found in heartworm medication (ivermectin can be one of the active ingredients) then they could have a very negative response.

MDR1 is a gene in all dogs- but a mutation found in many herding breeds leads to adverse reactions in affected dogs- they can't process the medication the way that unaffected dogs can.

Ivermectin sensitivity is not a new issue so I'm surprised that your vet would have used it.
did he actually do a skin scraping to diagnose the mange?
 
I have just found out from my dad who spoke to the vet (he knows him better and is more likely actually to be stern where as I'm a pushover) that he never told him the drug exactly but it seems to be a strain of it and would have the same effect, he implied that it had pretty much the same chemical make up. I'm going to demand the name of the drug in the morning because I think it's ridiculous that we haven't been told. Sorry for the inaccurate info, dad had presented it as fact earlier as he had misunderstood my question

He didn't take a scraping as he knew a lot of dogs in the area had had the exact same problem. He is a farm type vet, mostly large animals but he's normally very good with the dogs and is always going off to classes to keep himself up to date.

I know what he should have done now, and trust me I will be looking elsewhere for a vet. Right now though, I think I need to know what to expect. One moment I'm convinced I've lost her and she's going to going to die away from me and without anyone who loves her. And then the next moment I think the vet said she was responsive and a bit better so she will be fine. I was just hoping that someone might have some experience of a dog having the drug.

Apparently he gave her a very low dose and he even spoke to the drug company and they were shocked at how badly she had gotten considering the dose. But then its their product so they are bound to downplay it.

I really don't know what to think or do right now, I'm a complete mess and completely scatterbrained as you can probably see from my post
 
I'm so sorry to hear Kairi is so sick. I hope she'll pull through.

I know it's a little late for it this time, but I'd suggest, when she comes home (thinking positive thoughts) that you get her MDR1 tested officially. Washington State University's Veterinary School does the testing for a very low cost, $70 - your vet will charge a LOT more for the same test. You can find the information here: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/test.aspx.

I had this done for my two dogs when it became apparent that Interceptor wasn't coming back, and if it did my vet wasn't going to carry it. I printed out a copy of the results (they send them via email) and gave a copy to my vet for their records. I also have the original email for my records.

Again, I really hope she can come home to you soon, healthy and happy. You are in my thoughts.
 
Thanks, I'll have to go searching for the irish version of that once this is all over. I'm afraid Ireland are a bit backward when it comes to animals. I'm really going to have to do a lot of educating of myself so this doesn't happen again. I just trusted the vet and didn't think he would give her anything to make her worse. I was looking into illness shelties were prone to not the medication, that didn't even enter my head.
 
Mu_Cow said:
Thanks, I'll have to go searching for the irish version of that once this is all over. I'm afraid Ireland are a bit backward when it comes to animals. I'm really going to have to do a lot of educating of myself so this doesn't happen again. I just trusted the vet and didn't think he would give her anything to make her worse. I was looking into illness shelties were prone to not the medication, that didn't even enter my head.
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Mu_Cow:

I don't know anything about Shelties in Ireland or where the best sources of information can be found there. I do know that there are so many areas of concern for our breed of choice that finding info can be a daunting task, even with access to the internet. One suggestion I would offer is that rather than poking around in the dark, contact Ireland's Kennel Club (or what serves as the national equivalent) for a little help with info sources.

I stumbled on this web page that listed all sorts of organization's links that may be helpful:

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/findaclub/breed/list.aspx?id=5140

Prayers for your pup, and wishing you many years of companionship.
 
Mu_Cow said:
Thanks, I'll have to go searching for the irish version of that once this is all over. I'm afraid Ireland are a bit backward when it comes to animals. I'm really going to have to do a lot of educating of myself so this doesn't happen again. I just trusted the vet and didn't think he would give her anything to make her worse. I was looking into illness shelties were prone to not the medication, that didn't even enter my head.
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Oops! I didn't even look at where you were located. Hopefully you can find some information for Ireland, or worst case, England. The link to the Kennel Club JLSOhio51 posted is probably a good place to start.

ETA:
I was just reading the FAQs for WSU's Vet school for the MDR1 tests, they have information on testing outside the US: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/FAQ.aspx, last question on the page. This is the information that may help you:

The Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory will test dogs from all European countries except: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands and Austria. For individuals in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands and Austria, the exclusive licensee for MDR1 genotyping is Genetic Counseling Services, and they may be contacted as listed below.

http://www.gencouns.nl

[email protected]
0252 532 284
Genetic Counseling Services
Weeresteinstraat 45
2182 GR Hillegom
The Netherlands
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Well, the first thing to do is to order an MDR-1 test from Washington State. It might even help to talk to them about your situation and see what guidance they can offer.

From the literature I have read (I am not a vet), dogs with the mutation basically can't get the drug out of the blood-brain barrier as quickly as normal dogs. It just kind of hangs out up there, leading to seizure and possibly coma. The "treatment" is to provide supportive care until the dog has enough time to process that drug out of the brain. There is nothing that will speed it up, you just have to wait it out.
 
Fingers crossed that your pup makes a complete recovery - awful that you can't do anything but wait and see.
 
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