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Heartworm
Prevention for Dummies
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Years of misinformation
is recorded on the Internet
like brain damage regarding the heartworm prevention dose for dogs
using inexpensive Ivomec 1%. The
conflicting
dosage
advice proves why forums need
moderators to edit such pages. The worst one is
chronologically backward (oldest post first). It has
156 replies starting with the oldest
post - July, 2023 - that kicked off the very bad
idea of giving undiluted Ivomec.
No one challenged that bad advice for 2 years!
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Someone should delete the misinformation
related to giving a dog Ivomec straight from the
bottle at a dose of 1/10 ml per 10 pounds of body
weight.
That is 37 times the correct dose.
Apparently the folks at GardenWeb have not yet
discovered the value of editing out misinformation.
RE:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com
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Monthly dog dose in Heartgard is
2.72 mcg/lb (6 mcg/kg)
I give my German Shepherd the equivalent ivermectin dose in
Heartgard
.
A 50 pound dog needs a monthly oral dose of 136 mcg (136
millionths of a gram). Thus I can see that there is a wide
margin of safety because the
LD50
is thousands of times the dose used to
prevent heartworm.
Ivermectin safety results in its action on the nervous system
of an insect
,
not a mammal.
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WIDE MARGIN OF SAFETY
The ivermectin lethal dose
for 50% of animals (LD50) is 13,000 times
the dose given to a dog for heartworm
prevention.
So much for vets who post "warnings"
on the Internet.
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Vets, vet techs, pet stores, and manufacturers
of
products such as
Heartgard
have a vested
(
$financial
) interest in having me pay them
$76/yearbut I can do this for $0.03/month. That's right -
it only costs about 3 cents a month.
This page relates to using ivermectin to prevent heartworms
in a 120 lb. German Shepherd. If I didn't pay attention in
grade school to learn weights & measures then I'd make sure
I got permission from
my parents or other grownup persons to help me.
READ:
How to kill a dog with stupidity + ivermectin.
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How simple is it, really? My dog receives 6 mcg/kg each
month.
Take 1 ml Ivomec. Dilute in 9 ml of propylene glycol. Give a
100 pound dog 1/3 ml monthly mixed in food (equivalent dose
to Heartgard medication).
That's it.
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The biggest lie
is that I might overdose
my dog using Ivomec (for cattle) purchased from the feed store.
Ivermectin
is ivermectin
- the Ivomec product is every bit as good
as anything a vet uses.
To do this myself, without a vet, I have to be
intelligent enough to know micrograms from
milligrams and understand what a milliliter is.
I can do that!
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Micrograms
Dogs require a dose in microgram amounts; not a huge
horse or cow dose in milligrams.
To kill my dog, the LD50 =
80 mg/kg
If my dog weighed 50 pounds the lethal dose = 22 kg x 80 mg = 1,818 mg
that is 1.8 grams!
That would be more
than 3 bottles of Ivomec!
I don't want my dog to get heartworms
There is no reason to put my dog at risk. It only costs
pennies a year to prevent this nasty parasite.
I make it a point to administer the preventative dose on the
first of every month so I don't forget.
View this chart
comparing medications
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Mosquito-borne Dog Heartworm Disease
[more...]
Each year thousands of dogs become disabled
or die from lung, heart or circulatory problems
caused by heartworm disease...caused by a large
thread-like round worm, Dirofilaria immitis...because of their location,
are commonly called "dog heartworms." ...cases have
been reported from dogs native to all 50 states. ...the danger of infection is
greatest during the summer when temperatures are
favorable for mosquito breeding."
Some breeds have a
genetic sensitivity
and can have toxic
symptoms at only 15 to 200 the therapeutic
dose.
"...
breeds
considered at high risk
for ivermectin
toxicity are collies, Shetland sheepdogs,
Australian shepherds, and Old English
sheepdogs. Not every individual dog from
these breeds is sensitive to
ivermectin...these breeds are not at risk
when using the low dose heartworm preventive
products; only when using the off-label skin
parasite protocols."
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How I prevent heartworms in Tyler for
$0.02/month
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Vets are too damn expensive for me
One of the most recommended medications is Revolution by
Pfizer Inc.
The
Pfizer Revolution website
is an example of paternalistic
marketing that promotes veterinarians.
I can't afford all the costs associated with obtaining the
product.
Revolution requires a prescription
. The vet has to do a lab test first to see if the dog
has heartworms; if the test is positive then there is a
different course of medication to first kill the worms.
But the best
thing to do is make sure Tyler
never gets heartworms
by
administering a monthly dose of ivermectin.
$157.00
To obtain Revolution I'd have to pay: $50 visit to the Vet, $45 for the
heartworm test, $62 for 3 month's dose of Revolution...
that
is $157.00 minimum.
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View this chart
comparing medications
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Yes! I want to see how
you make the dilution for Tyler The Wonder Dog!
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Ivormectin for
heartworm prevention
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Other meds
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Diluting Ivomec
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Next adventure of
Tyler
the Wonder Dog...
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