Posted on 08/23/2011 7:14:11 AM PDT by Marie
FORT WORTH, Texas - If your dog has heartworms it will be harder to get a cure. The only company producing the parasite-killing drug has run out and veterinarians don’t know when they’ll get more.
Veterinarians across the country are in a quandary because Immiticide is the only FDA-approved drug available to treat dogs with heartworms.
Drug company Merial said its supply is gone and it can’t produce any more because it can’t get the drug’s active ingredient in the United States. The FDA has been hesitant to allow overseas suppliers to fill American orders.
Vets are working with what they have left in their stock room or they’re prescribing a costly combination of drugs as a substitute to keep dogs stable.
“Not only do we have to purchase the drug later, we don’t know whether there is going to be an increase. We will have to keep the dogs stable until we get the Immiticide,” said Dr. Cynthia Jones.
Dr. Jones said the situation is heartbreaking. She knows most shelters won’t be able to afford the substitute treatment and families will be hesitant to pick up sick dogs. They may be put down.
“Those dogs make wonderful pets. We can cure it. We can fix this. If we can fix a problem like this, we want to try,” she said.
No one is quite sure when the heartworm drug will be available again.
Read more on myFOXdfw.com: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/entertainment/pets/081211-dog-heartworm-drug-supply-runs-out#ixzz1VrOgSpgd
Thanks, good to know.
Thanks for the ping. I read the thread earlier, and the ivermectin sounds pretty good. It’s readily available from the feed store, I used to use it on my horses.
It does seem to work. Even with the prevalence of heart worm here in Louisiana, my dog has been on ivermectin for years. No problems.
Thank you for the ping; there’s some good information here. :-)
Agreed.
Thanks for your contribution to this thread! I was totally unaware that there were some breed specific issues with Ivermectin...of course, I’ve never owned one of those breeds. Your input is greatly appreciated!
I do not understand why we don’t know why we have shortages of certain drugs. This makes no sense, and you’re right, why is the media not on this story like white on rice?
It's odd. I remember during some of the flu epidemic scares how detailed they were about the availability of Tamiflu,who made it, and how the plant Star Anise was a key ingredient and that China was the biggest supplier, how long the production process was, etc.
But we've had several stories recently about the shortage of various drugs and hardly a word about why there are shortages.
I will second what you have said. The breeder that I bought my Australian Shepherds from warned me off Ivermectin after a vet prescribed it to treat demodectic mange. Some vets apparently are not aware of the danger, or downplay it. The breeder had one dog die and another go blind before identifying the cause. The Ivermectin is dilute enough in Heartgard that it has not caused my dogs any problem after 6 years (yet).
I used to use Ivermectin also when I had a lot of dogs, however a word of caution. Some herding dogs, especially collies and I think border collies (but maybe some others) may be sensitive to it. Proceed with caution (and as LaRueLaDue said, speak to your Vet).
My migraine med isn’t available either. :(
I know farmers who use pig wormer as a preventive medicine for heartworm. I asked my vet and she said it is the same ingredients and lots cheaper. There is no excuse for having an dog develop heartworm because of cost.
I think government interference is making it unprofitable to manufacture drugs (and a lot of other things) in this country. I do believe it is by design - they want to create a crisis in order to save us with socialized medicine. Connect the dots, people!
I didn’t use it because of money grubbing vets, but because I had multiple dogs and it got quite a few other things in addition. I did it with my vet’s knowledge. I have always loved my vets (and when I didn’t I found a new one). Good vets work hard for their money, they have to know about all sorts of different species, their patients can bite, scratch etc them and the owners are no walk in the park either. Did I mention I love my vets? And most of the time they like me too.
And thank you for mentioning about some of the herding breeds (I see I was late on this). I am always loathe to mention Ivermectin to people, since I’m not a vet. It’s a choice *I* made, but I think people should talk to their own vet, and do their own research. It worked well for me. While I was using it we not only never had heartworm, we never had any internal parasites at all.
My neighbor used it on his dog and gave him too high of a dose. The dog went blind for about a week and almost died.
He has a pit-mix.
You would think some enterprising reporter would be on the story, digging to be the next Woodward and Bernstein. I find that about as interesting as the shortages.
Yeah, it is some bloodlines of Collies... (My sister-in-law has Collies, and they have all sort of issues like that..) We have German Shepherd Dogs, and have never had an issue. A competent (and I stress competent) vet should be aware of these sorts of things...
Yup, just why people need to have a good vet and keep them in the loop. I always hate when I move and have to find a new vet.
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