Misskiwi67 wrote:Are you really going to cheap out on your hunting buddy and use something designed for animals 10 times the size of your dogs? Too much and you risk toxicity. Too little and you are leaving them unprotected...
That's the same argument vets use to get clients to buy expensive, ineffective, heartworm medication. To sell those products, they have to be safe in all breeds. But collie type breeds are genetically susceptible to Ivermectin poisoning, the main ingredient in virtually all heartworm medications. So the manufacturers reduce the amount of Ivermectin in their product to a level where it's safe for all dogs. Trouble is, those levels don't kill all the worms, and many dogs develop heartworms. A much more effective heartworm preventative program involves administering liquid Ivermectin orally at a rate of 1/10th of a CC per 10 pounds of body weight per month. While this would probably kill breeds that are genetically susceptible, hunting breeds do fine,
and they don't get heartworms! Liquid Ivermectin is sold to treat cattle and swine. I've bought generic Ivermectin online for $16/50 ML (1 CC = 1 ML); which is enough to treat my drahthaar for over four years! That's highly effective heartworm prevention for $4/year!
Yes, I'm cheap, but I also want my dog protected from heartworms. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
I've had several really good dogs, but none were perfect. Neither am I, so keep that in mind!