Is it ok to give a very large dog a small dose of horse wormer?

I know the box of Ivermectrin says not for use with other animals. It's a liability thing. But has anyone used it for dogs and know it is ok? Maybe it would be a huge no no. Seems to me as long as we don't overdose, it would be ok. I'm just interested because it would be so much cheaper than dog products for worming. I guess I wouldn't wanna use it for a toy breed but a Newfoundland and a Maremma...huge dogs...horse size dogs.

Some breeds of dogs, like Border Collie, ivermectin kills. I wouldn't chance it. I use Sentinel, which is lufenuron and milbemycin, safe for most dogs.

Size isn't the issue. Hope some vets weigh in. It's like neurological blood uptake timey wimey kind of thing.

Spongegirl said:

I know the box of Ivermectrin says not for use with other animals. It's a liability thing. But has anyone used it for dogs and know it is ok? Maybe it would be a huge no no. Seems to me as long as we don't overdose, it would be ok. I'm just interested because it would be so much cheaper than dog products for worming. I guess I wouldn't wanna use it for a toy breed but a Newfoundland and a Maremma...huge dogs...horse size dogs.

Click to expand...

Use it all the time . Figure the weight and then mark 4 spots on the adjusting ring . A quarter turn is about 25 # dose . A very wide safety margin on dose . So you will not harm your dog . Hound hunters use this a lot . No collies or collie mixes as it will kill them . It is a genetic thing. This is the same ingredient as heart guard . I use the febendazole for all other worms this is generic Pancure . There is another one that is ok but it does not do tapeworm . So I do not use it . I can't remember the name now .

There are a few problems with using horse wormer on smaller animals.

One issue is that the actual wormer is not distributed evenly within the paste. For larger animals getting a big dose, this doesn't matter so much because while they may get some paste with a higher concentration of ivermectin, they are also getting bits with lower concentration as well. This means it can be very easy to overdose a smaller animal. IF you use horse wormer (which I don't really recommend) it would be better to squirt it all into a bowl and mix it up real well, then dose your animals. That way the ivermectin is more evenly spread throughout the paste.

The other problem is ivermectin toxicity. I know it's seen mainly in collies, but any dog with even a tiny background of collie can have the gene for toxicity. I have an Australian cattle dog who was poisoned by horse wormer that dropped out of a horse's mouth. It was a really scary experience, and he did not eat much at all. It's just something to keep in mind if you decide to go this route.

Very interesting, thank you all.

Other breeds that should not have ivermectin include australian shepherds, English shepherds and any crossbreeds that are remotely related to/descended from them.

well I have an Italian shepherd except its called a Maremma. lol not decended but still hmmmmm. Im trading my Maremma for a Newfoundland. Maybe I wont use it on the Maremma since this breed is unknown and few have experiences with them. I need him alive by Sunday for a good trade

there is a blood test that vets can do to see if your dog carries the gene.

I use liquid ivermectin, the inject able solution.

My Vizsla licked the end of a horse wormer tube. The next morning she crashed into the bathroom bouncing off the walls to say hello, totally blind. 300 dollars latter and a trip to the regular veterinarian then to a doggy eye specialist 6 hours away she slowly got her sight back. I am upset just trying to type about it. Now she is locked in the house anytime we worm. I was petrified to even give her the ivermectin based heartworm medicine.