Heartworm, flea and tick medication , MSDR1 testing suggestions

R

rstedem

Forums Novice
Hi
I have 3 shelties and 2 are new puppies. Whats the affordable treatment? What do you use? My vet has suggested testing for MDR1. My female puppy had a reaction to interceptor. Threw up diarhea and fever. I gave all 3 advantage multi last week and no reactions. But vet wants tick protection. Any suggestions I would greatly apprecite. thanks
 
You can have MDR testing done by Gensol. They send you cheek swabs that you return and then email you a report. It’s a good idea to have that info, especially if your pup is sensitive. I do it on all my dogs.

I’ve heard of numerous problems with Advantage. I’m told the gold star flea/tick repellant is Nexguard but there have recently been reports by Dr Jean Dodds of latent side effects from it. I use Frontline when I have to treat chemically but effectiveness is spotty. I’ve started using Wondercide spot on which is all natural. We also have the yard treated by Tick Ranger which uses a cedar oil solution that’s worked really well. It’s a national franchise so you may have one near you but if not, many landscapers are doing it now too.

I know other Forum members use various products that may be good, so I’m sure you’ll get additional suggestions. Good luck!
 
I get the MDR1 test done on all my dogs as a matter of routine now, it is always handy to know.

I recommend not using the Advantage and Seresto line of flea and tick products om Shelties. The American Shetland Sheepdog Association has found that the active ingredient (Imidicloprid) may cause a nine-fold increase in gall bladder mucoceles. Other than that it's just a trial. It is a pain that most products also carry heartworm or other worming with it. I use Revolution on my girls, incl my MDR1 gir;/
 
Sharon7 said:
I have had great success with Credelio, and no issues. My dogs do not have MDR1 thankfully. Luckily we don't have an issue with heartworm here. I think it's a good idea to get your dog's tested. It can affect other med as well as flea products.
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I use Credelio with my shelties, we live in a tick ingested area and Minnie has had lyme once and anaplasmosis twice. Her symptoms are awful. I keep doxycycline on hand because it could happen again. Since using Credelio we have not had ANY ticks bite our dogs. We haven't seen any side effects, though I would only give a monthly ingestible, not a 3 month if you're trying it for the first time.
 
Interceptor here too. And a PS to my attempt to use Wondercide for something more natural for fleas and ticks. I used it on my seniors, Checkers, Lacey and Ruffles. The other three got Frontline. Our yard was treated for ticks the second time this week. In the last two days, I’ve taken a tick off Checkers and two off Ruffles. None on the Frontline dogs. So much for natural.
 
We have used nextguard for several years (four different dogs) for ticks and fleas we never had good results with Frontline because of all their fur. So far our dogs tolerate Nextguard well. We have used Heartguard in the past and no problems with that altho that is not what the internet says. Some dogs are sensitive to it with the MDR1 mutant. My vet said the studies where Heartguard was shown to be a problem were research studies where the dose was many times above normal levels. However we are now switching to Interceptor and hoping for no adverse reactions.
 
We are also in a tick infested area and they are dreadfully bad this year after having 2 really mild winters. We've used Frontline Plus and Heartguard Plus on our dogs since our first doxie. I've considered switching on/off over the years but never did. Brodie did get Lyme's a few years back. I hate giving meds year round so used to not treat during the winter. But ticks are active year round unless there's an extended really cold spell and they can continue to multiply. Now I give year round but depending on temps, I may extend treatments to 45 days. Don't think snow = no ticks as snow can provide comfy places for them to still be active under. Ice and extended very cold temps are the only thing that MAY affect tick populations.

We remove all leaves from our property every fall. We have removed all underbrush and extensively mulched our property. We professionally treat the perimeter, foundations, plantings where they are more likely to hide 4 times a season. I do have Wondercide spot on treatment which I purchased with the intent to use as a mid-season topical with the Frontline during April, June and November which is when so called experts say the ticks will be the worst in my area. I did not use in April, I just worry about stuff on them, we did stop walking the dogs off property in April as it was bad walking around. They take a few steps on mowed grass right on the side of the road and they'd come off with ticks on their paws; thank goodness for all white feet! I felt bad, so now we walk them after they've gone potty in our yard, I spray feet underbelly and tail with spray on Wondercide and try to limit where they wander.

I did MDR1 testing on both my shelties through WSU https://prime.vetmed.wsu.edu/2022/08/29/mdr1-testing/ but I am sure there are many other options. It isn't just flea and tick meds you need to be aware of. In an emergency, your pupper may need treatment - if they are reactive to something you want to know about it before the emergency arises, imo anyway.
 
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