Concerned with heart worm protection and flea

H

Henry’s Dad

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Hi everyone, I have a major concern for my Henry . He is just coming up on 1 yr old . His liver enzymes are off the chart . We had him tested in January then again in February. The Vet insists is could be any number of things and we have started him on milk thistle. My thought is this , once it dawned on me I stopped his flea and Heartworm prevention medicine.
In the tests while both horribly high the second test was lower that the first after stopping the medication. Is it possible, I / the vet have been poisoning him with this?

He was on Revolution. I went back to the vet this week and asked about Heartworm without flea prevention. They gave me a different product , I paid , then I asked the vet tech . “In the warnings disclaimer flyer from the revolution, it says collies and Shelties are more likely to have a problem with it . When I open this box will it say the same ?”
She came back all apologetic, it will... and interceptor is the one that’s recommended for Shelties . Which they don’t have.
I couldn’t be more pissed that they were willing to poison my pup for their convenience.
Doing some googling, Interceptor is the only one recommended for collies and Shelties. White feet don’t treat is something they are supposed to go by.
So my bigger questions are , could this be causing his liver enzyme problems , and what are my other options for flea control?

Any reply’s on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much
Dent
 
Collie breeds are more likely to carry the genetic mutation for multi-drug resistance, known as MDR1. Those dogs with the MDR1 mutation are more sensitive to a range of drugs, including ivermectin. Milbemyacin, the active ingredient in Interceptor, is related to ivermectin so there's very little difference between giving the two drugs to a dog with MDR1. However, the amount of ivermectins in heartworm medications is considered low enough not to be an issue for MDR1 dogs. You can test for MDR1 very easily and I highly recommend doing it. Here's some info on MDR1
https://www.banfield.com/pet-health...ary/veterinary-services/mdr1-genetic-mutation

In addition, recent research found higher levels of the disease gallbladder mucoceles in Shelties on products which contain imidacloprid - the Advantage/Seresto products. The ASSA recommended Sheltie owners avoid products with imidacloprid.

Now with all that, some dogs react differently to different ingredients. Currently my Tully has developed issues with several flea treatments making her ill, after developing IBD. I'm only giving it if I see a flea - and avoiding paralysis tick areas. Maybe your dog is sensitive to particular drugs?

I'm really sorry you're going through this, esp when he is so young. Hopefully you'll find out what is causing It.
 
Henry’s Dad said:
Hi everyone, I have a major concern for my Henry . He is just coming up on 1 yr old . His liver enzymes are off the chart . We had him tested in January then again in February. The Vet insists is could be any number of things and we have started him on milk thistle. My thought is this , once it dawned on me I stopped his flea and Heartworm prevention medicine.
In the tests while both horribly high the second test was lower that the first after stopping the medication. Is it possible, I / the vet have been poisoning him with this?

He was on Revolution. I went back to the vet this week and asked about Heartworm without flea prevention. They gave me a different product , I paid , then I asked the vet tech . “In the warnings disclaimer flyer from the revolution, it says collies and Shelties are more likely to have a problem with it . When I open this box will it say the same ?”
She came back all apologetic, it will... and interceptor is the one that’s recommended for Shelties . Which they don’t have.
I couldn’t be more pissed that they were willing to poison my pup for their convenience.
Doing some googling, Interceptor is the only one recommended for collies and Shelties. White feet don’t treat is something they are supposed to go by.
So my bigger questions are , could this be causing his liver enzyme problems , and what are my other options for flea control?

Any reply’s on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much
Dent
Click to expand...

I am also so sorry you and your pup are going through this at such a young age!

I know Caro is an expert in these matters and I defer to her long time knowledge of the breed!

I am so glad you were proactive enough to read the documentation! Good for you!

My thought is if you could contact Henry’s breeder to discuss this high liver enzymes readings!
Maybe they have encountered it before. I have no idea if it could be hereditary or environmental as you suspect.

Please keep us posted and sending good thoughts and virtual hugs to you and Henry that he can make it out If this health scare!
 
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Thanks Gloria but no expert, it's my health background over-researching things when my dogs are ill.

However I know there are some people on SF who use alternatives to flea treatment.
 
I do not know much about alternative treatments.

But our 1st Sheltie had a gallbladder mucocele which did cause her liver enzymes to be through the roof. Have they checked his gallbladder?

We also had a vet that recommended medications that were not appropriate for our Sheltie (just so he could make $$). For one he had us give her Advantix (which has been known to cause mucocele, and we were not aware at the time) and ironically Hollie developed one years later. Needless to say we no longer use that vet. And because of this I always do my own research and I do not hesitate to tell my vet if I do not agree with something.

I hope Henry is feeling better and you can get to the bottom of this soon.
 
It's great that you caught this, Dent, since Henry apparently is sensitive to something and heartworm or flea/tick meds could be the culprit. It's true that vets tell us that meds such as Heartwork are OK because of the low level of Ivermectin but some dogs still react to it, depending on their level of the MDR gene. And many of these meds have been implicated in gallbladder mucoceles, as Caro said. Three of my six have that, and two of them have had to have their gallbladders removed, so you can't be too careful. He's very young, so it's not likely he has gallbladder problems, but his liver issues could have been caused by the heartworm meds.

I agree with Caro. I would test Henry for the MDR gene which will tell you whether he's normal/normal, mutant/normal or mutant/mutant which is where you will see problems. I get my tests from Gensol. It's a simple cheek swab that you can do at home. Here's a link to their MDR test.

It's great that you have him on milk thistle. That will really help his liver. Interceptor is good too for heartworm preventative. I use Sentinel, which is in the same family, and also prevents fleas as well as heartworm so that may be an option for you. Our problem is tick prevention, since we live in a heavy tick area. I use a variety of natural and homemade repellents for that which seem to do the job as well as the chemicals.

Please keep us posted on how Henry does. Good for you working to find a cause and remedy!
 
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