Is ivermectin safe for my Collie mix puppy with demodectic mange?

Hello. Yes, Ivermectin is used to treat demodectic mange in dogs. The dose is given once a day & repeat skin scrapes are done. Once there are 2 negative scrapes where no live mites are found, the ivermectin will be discontinued. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Twerp! If Twerp has demodex, it will not be a "one size fits all" treatment. Classically demodex was treated with oral ivermectin which is dosed based on the animals weight. It is a higher dose of ivermectin than is in heartgard and is off label use of the drug. It works well and the dog tends to be on it for several months until 2-3 negative skin scrapings. Now a days we have found that the oral flea and tick medications have an added "perk" of also killing demodex. You just give the monthly oral dose like it is labeled to give for flea and ticks and by 3 months the fur usually has grown back and the mites are gone. Nexgard, Simparica and Bravecto are the oral medication that can do this and again are based on the weight of the dog. I hope this helps and I wish Twerp the best!

Technically, all heartworm preventatives (even those with ivermectin) are safe in dogs with an MDR1 gene mutation since the effective dose of medication in heartworm is significantly lower than that which would cause neurotoxicity. However, most vets will preferentially choose selamectin (Revolution) or milbemycin (Interceptor) based products for MDR1 mutant dogs over ivermectin (Heartgard) based products. If Tasha has historically been very sensitive to heartworm preventatives, I would advise giving her flea/tick prevention and heartworm prevention 2 weeks apart rather than simultaneously. Your vet will be able to perform a blood test for heartworm disease prior to starting Tasha on a heartworm preventative, as all are prescription based.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Personally, I no longer use Ivermectin to treat Demodex. I stopped about a year ago. I started using Bravecto (flea and tick preventative) that is used to treat Demodex off label. It is not marketed for use in cases of Demodex but many vets, including myself, have been using Bravecto to treat Demodex cases with very fast responses to treatment. I would discuss this as a different treatment option with your veterinarian. Rather than using Ivermectin injections, the Bravecto is given as a treat and lasts for about 3 months for one single dose. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

It sounds like your veterinarian is treating your puppies for some form of parasitic disease. The Oligovet is a vitamin supplementation formula and should be OK to use in the puppies. Ivermectin is not recommended for use in puppies less than 6 weeks old. At six weeks it should be OK to administer although I cannot speak to the reasonableness of the dose without knowing the concentration your vet has provided you.

I am currently working in Belize and we have many other dewormers. Do you not have any veterinarians near you? A better dewormer would be pyrantel pamoate. You cannot get a 2g Ivermectin tablet into a small enough dose for a 1.4kg puppy. Don't even try as you will kill her.

Hello again. I am glad that you got her tested and got to the bottom of her skin problems. The veterinarian will have to give you specifics on how to give this medication because by law we are not allowed to give out the very complex dosage regimen for ivermectin without having first physically examined Pushinka. We are bound to the rules of the veterinary client patient relationship act, which prohibits this or we fear disciplinary action and even a loss of our license. If you ask your vet they will likely give you the dosages that she needs based on her weight. She will need to be on this for roughly 4-6 weeks. She needs to have 2 negative skin scrapes before being taken off the medication and skin scrapes should be done every 3 weeks. I would also continue the shampoo we discussed to also control the secondary bacterial infections that are occurring on her skin. I would then discuss with your vet about prescribing dosages for an antihistamine to hopefully help control the itch. Best of luck with Pushinka!