Ivermectin toxicity in dogs

[pardygwyn]

Not fun! A friend of mine had a collie whose parents had supposedly tested clear for the drug sensitivity mutation. She came down with demodex, which the vet tried to treat with a very low dose of Ivermectin. Good thing it was a low dose, too - the dog ended up in a coma for three days and had not one but TWO copies of the mutant gene when her blood was tested afterward by her owner.

Long story short, this is serious stuff. I'm really glad to hear your dog made it through OK!

 

[Ashleyda88]

I am wondering what the outcome of this was as I am going through something very similar with my dog right now. Any information is greatly appreciated!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

My dog ended up coming through the poisoning just fine. He is pretty much back to normal now, though we did notice the poisoning aged him a bit. He's 11 now and still going strong. He just doesn't run as much now and has some arthritis ( which is totally normal in a dog his age!

Important thing is getting the dog through the worst few days after the poisoning. Sub q fluids are important and can be given by a vet (or you if you are experienced and have the supplies. Some vets let their clients do it themselves) if he's blind, he should get his sight back, but it will take a good two weeks to a month for it to fully come back. Other than that, there is not much you can do other than help him get around while blind and make sure he is eating drinking. Good luck! I hope your dog pulls through ok.

 

[Ashleyda88]

Thank you SO much for your reply, I thought that maybe because it was an old thread nobody would reply at all!
We are now 2 days into it and he is beginning to do better. The color is returning to his eyes finally and he isn't bumping into EVERYTHING. And to think all of this because one of our dogs (bulldog) is actually needing Ivermectin for her demodex.
I am beyond grateful that I found this forum/thread, and even more overjoyed that your pupper pulled through & recovered. There IS hope for my boy!

 

[ThistleRidgeGA]

Ivermectin toxicity is actually fairly common. There is a test, as someone else suggested, for the MDR-1 gene to determine if your dog may be at-risk using ivermectin. There isn't really a treatment for the toxicity, unfortunately. It's more or less treating the symptoms and making your dog comfortable until it pulls through. Vets can give you some IV fluids and such if you're comfortable giving them to your dog.

If you have a herding mix and what some folks call "long-snout dogs," consider having the test run, or use another form of treatment for mange, HW/HW prevention, etc.

 

[Windrider]

Knowledge of the MDR-1 mutation is a must for Collie and Sheltie owners like myself, as well as owners of Australian Shepherds, several other herding breeds and long -haired Whippets/Silken Windhounds. It is not only Ivermectin that causes problems. Dogs can die from this toxicity, so educate yourselves!

Washington State University's Vet school identified the gene mutation and still has the best info on it. That is also where you send the samples if you want to have your dog tested for the mutation.

Here's a link to their index page for the MDR-1 info.
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/index.aspx

They have a FAQs page and be sure to check out the list of affected breeds and the drugs involved in the sensitivity!

 

[bbrooks]

Thank you SO much for your reply, I thought that maybe because it was an old thread nobody would reply at all!
We are now 2 days into it and he is beginning to do better. The color is returning to his eyes finally and he isn't bumping into EVERYTHING. And to think all of this because one of our dogs (bulldog) is actually needing Ivermectin for her demodex.
I am beyond grateful that I found this forum/thread, and even more overjoyed that your pupper pulled through & recovered. There IS hope for my boy!

Hi. I'm writing to see if your dog fully recovered from the ivermectin toxicity. I have a Pitt bull puppy that is 10 weeks old and she has the toxicity, she got it last night and she can't see a thing! I'm so worried about her and I found this thread and it has made me feel a little better, especially knowing that one dog for sure has pulled through! She is eating and drinking whenever I get her to the food and water bowls. She is also walking around so I don't think she has it extremely bad but I do know for a fact that she can't see a thing!! She runs into everything and whines whenever she cant hear me or my husband close by! Im curious as to what all you did with your dog and how long it took him to fully recover, if he did? Thanks in advance! I'm terrified for my puppy, she is my baby and I don't want to lose her or have her stay blind!!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Her eye sight will come back. It make take some time but while she is having trouble seeing just be sure to give her lots of support by helping her get around. My dogs biggest problem was walking into things and we were worried about him getting injured that way.

If she's not having other issues, she should pull through. It just takes them a while to get back to normal. Unfortunately there is not a whole lot you can do in the mean time other than wait! Also make sure she is eating and drinking. You may have to help her with this.

 

[DaveBurton]

Chickerdoodle13, if your dog ate a horse's full ivermectin dose, that was one helluva big dose for a dog.

Heartgard's dose for preventing heartworm in dogs is just 6 mcg Ivermectin per kg of body weight, or 136 mcg for "25-50 lbs." (I checked, and the chart that rebelcowboysnb posted is correct, for 1% ivermectin solution.)

For a 1000 lb horse, the ivermectin dose was probably 200 mcg per kg, or 200 mg = 200,000 mcg. So if your dog is 25-50 lb, and he ate that dose, he probably got the equivalent of about 1500 Heartgard pills.

If your dog really got that much ivermectin, and recovered from it, my guess is that he does not have the gene that makes some collies and shepherds especially susceptible to ivermectin poisoning.

OTOH, if he does have the gene, then one little taste might have done it.

 

[ChickieBees]

Hi! I'm not sure if anyone will see this but I have to try. My Sheltie is 16!! and is now having to deal with Ivermectin poisoning. She got it from eating the eggs of the hens we treated, and I'm the one who fed them to her!! :'( I'm adamant about our dogs not being anywhere near our rabbits when they're treated (we also own a Rough Collie who was originally to be a show dog). They were in the house when our chickens were treated and all I had thought about was that we weren't treating our meat chicks so we were fine. My daughter and I treated the chickens a week ago Sunday night. This is now Thursday, ten days later. Holly is very lethargic and won't eat or drink now. I'm giving her her electrolytes subq and I'm considering giving her an ng tube due to the frustration of both her and I during the process of trying to feed her. She's stubborn, yes.. But lucky for her I'm moreso. Her symptoms seem to have peaked yesterday. I THINK she's maybe through the worst of it but our battle still isn't over. I need her to eat and drink... and of course walk. Her legs now all want to stick straight out from her body. I regularly do range of motion exercises and massage on her. She thinks I'm nuts. That's OK. I'm not.
I 'think' she can see somewhat but not too well. She doesn't want to sit up and look around except when I take her outside, then she perks right up. I hold her and she does her thing, more or less. She keeps her Pull ups on between times.
She has diarrhea but that's changing to not be so devastating looking, I'd that makes sense.. and she isn't vomiting anymore.
I guess obviously I worry about her getting through this but I worry about the affect her age will have on her being able to pull through. She's SUCH a fighter though. If you knew her story you'd know what I mean. We didn't get her until she was 11. She was born to be a show dog but was over sized for the Sheltie standards so she was sprayed and kept by her breeder as a pet. We ended up with her because the owner was going to put her down due to her terribly rotten mouth full of teeth! We took her to the vet, they capped the cost,most of her teeth were removed, and well, the girl we got in return was the most amazing gift! She's taught me a couple of things - 1) I'm sure I'll never own another Sheltie, LOL! (Sheltie quirkiness, goodness! ) But, most importantly 2) I will always bless the day I met and took home Holly! She came ready made - a full and complete pkg. Just open and play. She came trained in all kinds of ways. All we had to do was fix up the pkg slightly and we had THE MOST GRATEFUL dog we'll ever know.
I can't bear the thoughts of losing this girl. Not yet. Its not her time, I just know it. She came along and was there for me when I developed Fibromyalgia and Menieres disease and was bedridden for 4 years. Now I'm doing all I can to keep her alive and well for as much longer as we can. I'm not going to make her suffer a hopeless cause, but I don't feel it's hopeless. I do feel that this is another long haul for Holly and I.
I'd like to know if anyone has had a dog go through this long term as in Holly's case and what, if anything more can I do for her. I feel tremendous guilt and shame, but I'm thankful I have the skills to help he through this at home and that it will make her time going through this, much less stressful. I'm happy to hear more suggestions especially in the nutrition department. I need a high quality concentration of nutrients in a small quantity. Not too much to ask now is it? . No more the vet can do, nor do I want that. I want to care for her mainly because I know what and how to do what has to be done. So far so good. Prayers for my girl are gratefully appreciated. <3 Thank you for taking the time to read Holly's and my story. <3