What are you using for Hearworm, flea and tick control on Collies?

[jherold]

Last year I did Revolution plus Preventic tick collars. Worked great on the dogs. Not so great on me. The ticks did not attach to the dogs, but rode in on the dogs and then jumped on to the only other warmblooded creature not wearing a tick collar - me! My dogs sleep in the bed, so you can see the problem.

On the shepherd, I’m doing Advantix II and Heartguard. But the collie’s DNA test just came back Positive for the mutant gene that makes it risky to give ivermectin to her. (I know the risk is small with the low dose, but she’s had a couple of seizures and is sensitive to some topicals, so I’m being careful). Vet suggested I do the Revolution/tick collar again, but I’d really like better tick control. Anyone know a product that acutally kills the ticks without doubling up on the flea protection? Preventic Collars just repel them and prevent them from attaching, which just means they attach to me.

I live on a farmette so spraying for ticks isn’t practical and the shepherd has a very high prey drive so chickens aren’t an option either!

[Horsegal984]

Personally I would do Frontline Plus and Sentinel, its proven to be a great combo.

[bdj]

For heartworm and flea control, you can use Sentinel - it uses milbemycin instead of the ivermectin for the heartworms. (Does cost a bit more, though.)
In theory, you can also use Trifexis (same ingredient for heartworm), but I really didn’t like it - my dogs hated it - I think it upset their stomachs.

For the ticks - can you use the Advantix II that you’re already using on your other dog? I haven’t heard of any issues with that and collies specifically, and I’ve done the Sentinel/Advantix combo with my crew in the past and haven’t had any problems.

[Marshfield]

[QUOTE=Horsegal984;7542272]
Personally I would do Frontline Plus and Sentinel, its proven to be a great combo.[/QUOTE]

Frontline plus doesn’t work at all in many parts of the country. It’s useless in most of New England. I treat dogs all the time for flea allergy dermatitis that are on frontline or frontline plus.

Advantix or Vectra actually work. I have no experience with the new oral product. I’ve had good feedback about the Seresto collar, but no direct experience.

[kasjordan]

I use Vectra 3D on my GSD. The Frontline has run its course here. I used the Vectra last year and was happy with it, hoping for same results this year.
I use Heartguard Plus so no help there…

[jherold]

I was trying to avoid doubling up on the Flea protection if possible. I would like to keep the amount of chemicals I give this dog limited if possible. She acts weird and runs around the house for several hours after FrontLine. So it must bother her in some fashion.

Thanks for your suggestions. Keep them coming!

[LauraKY]

Either ivermectin (Heartgard) or milbemycin (Revolution) are safe for dogs with the MDR-1 gene. However, you can’t use ivermectin to treat mange at higher doses.

From Washington State:

[I]Ivermectin (antiparasitic agent). While the dose of ivermectin used to prevent heartworm infection is SAFE in dogs with the mutation (6 micrograms per kilogram), higher doses, such as those used for treating mange (300-600 micrograms per kilogram) will cause neurological toxicity in dogs that are homozygous for the MDR1 mutation (mutant/mutant) and can cause toxicity in dogs that are heterozygous for the mutation (mutant/normal).

Selamectin, milbemycin, and moxidectin (antaparasitic agents). Similar to ivermectin, these drugs are safe in dogs with the mutation if used for heartworm prevention at the manufacturer’s recommended dose. Higher doses (generally 10-20 times higher than the heartworm prevention dose) have been documented to cause neurological toxicity in dogs with the MDR1 mutation.[/I]

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/drugs.aspx

[jherold]

I know they say it’s safe, but I’d still prefer not to use the drug if there are alternatives that work as well.

[alto]

[QUOTE=jherold;7542338]
I was trying to avoid doubling up on the Flea protection if possible. I would like to keep the amount of chemicals I give this dog limited if possible. She acts weird and runs around the house for several hours after FrontLine. So it must bother her in some fashion.

Thanks for your suggestions. Keep them coming![/QUOTE]

In case you missed this list:

Many different drugs and drug classes have been reported to cause problems in Collies and other herding breed dogs that carry the MDR1 mutation.

You might send your question into the contact & see if they have any suggestions, also given that your dog is showing reactivity

We are currently seeking samples from dogs of the herding breeds (Collies, Australian Shepherds, etc.) that have experienced unexpected reactions to drugs when administered at normal doses.

(not sure how current this is)

I’d be cautious with Ivermectin even at the “safe” dose as your collie has already shown reactivity,
From the BC Board

The reason I say this is because my dog who had seizures, which I think I could connect to my use of ivermectin (all based on a seizure diary where I also kept track of flea, tick, and HW preventive applications), has not had any seizures that I know of since last May. I took her off ivermectin the preceding October, once the correlation suggested itself. When my vet suggested using Interceptor for Phoebe, I questioned the fact that it is also in the same chemical class as the drugs that cause problems in sensitive dogs, and whether it made sense to try it if ivermectin could be triggering her seizures. He said that milbemycin oxime does not cross the blood/brain barrier as efficiently as ivermectin does. She’s been on Interceptor for a year now and has had no seizures that I have witnessed. So if the trigger for her seizures was indeed ivermectin, then it seems that another drug from the same class of chemicals is not a trigger

Poster also included a quote from the AWCA - again there are research groups listed that you might contact.

There are some interesting posts (eg read the last entry on this page) regarding the safety of Ivermection at Heartguard doses.

“Safety” of toxins is always debatable, basically, dosages are chosen that are shown effective against the target organism, while host organism reactivity is below a certain threshold - it is naive to assume that the host is not experiencing ANY toxic effects.

Knowing your tick species may help in choosing an effective control program.

Re your GSD, you may be able to teach her to protect & herd “her” chickens but that’s much easier if you have suitable trainers to work with

[AKB]

We use Sentinel, and guinea fowl.

[scruffy_the_cat]

I use Sentinel on my 2 MDR-1 positive collies. I no longer use Frontline as it clearly distressed them. Even though there is a lot of Lyme, etc, here, I now test for Lyme/other tick-borne diseases regularly instead. I’m better with that than putting something on my dog’s skin that is not safe for me to put on my own skin.

I wouldn’t use any collars- there have been too many anecdotal reports of trouble.

[tallyho392]

I second the Vectra recommendation…I have a blue merle collie, which gives the double whammy for flea product danger…Vectra was the only thing my vet felt was safe enough for my gal…been 3 years now, and it works great…I also use it on my 3 other dogs, just so the collie doesn’t even have contact with anything dangerous…has been very effective on the heavy coated Anatolian and the smooth coat toy fox terriers as well…no ill effects, and good flea/tick control/killing

[alexis_liberty]

Vectra is now discontinued. Or at least I couldn’t find it available and one website said discontinued. I have a smooth collie who is not positive and he takes tri-heart.

[LauraKY]

[QUOTE=alexis_liberty;7557850]
Vectra is now discontinued. Or at least I couldn’t find it available and one website said discontinued. I have a smooth collie who is not positive and he takes tri-heart.[/QUOTE]

You can still buy it, but you can only buy it from your vet. I think that was the restriction all along.

[alexis_liberty]

Yeah. I just saw that one website said they were no longer selling it. We use it to for Merlin, our collie. It works great! The vets are definitely still carrying it because we just got some a week ago. We live in a highly wooded area and check for ticks constantly. Nothing!

[Horsegal984]

Just an FYI, with Vectra it it very water soluble, so use care with a lot of bathing or heavy rains.

For those worried about toxins, Vextra is more hazardous than Frontline (which actually can be used to treat head lice in people) though I understand that it is ineffective in some areas now.

[jherold]

Thanks everyone. We’re going with Sentinal and Advantix II for right now. She did well with Advantix and the only thing in question is the flea control part of the sentinal.

[bdj]

The upshot of the combo you’re doing is that the flea control in the Sentinel (lufenuron) has a completely different action than the stuff that’s in the Advantix II - I worried about that a long time ago and asked a vet about it.

Glad you found a combo that should work for you, OP!

[jherold]

Yeah, I didn’t want to essentially double up on the flea control, but my vet ok’d it as well.