Love Your Dogs? Read This Post!

Blog reader Kathy submitted this important info about dogs and horse dewormer, as a comment to a previous post. I think it's important enough to have its own heading, so here it is!

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I didn't know where to post this so you would see it, and I do recall a blog about horse people and their dogs, but since this is current I thought I would post it here to let others know it's an extremely 'common problem'

I just went through a terrible experience the last 38 hrs wondering if my beloved border collie Derby would survive.

Sunday I had Derby kenneled up in an empty stall while I did spring vaccinations and de-worming on 6 horses. On the last horse, the old sweet gentle mare, I had let him out of the stall...my mistake...my old girl spit out some of the dewormer and Derby as quick as only a border collie can ran up under us and licked it up before I could say get outta there!

That was about 6:30pm. I didn't think much of it..oh well,he won't have worms...came in the house fed the dogs took a shower, had something to eat, sat down in front of the boob tube and promptly feel asleep, until I was waken by a freaking dog!

This was about 9:30pm. Derby was going crazy, jumping on me (not at all the norm for him) drooling, staggering,crying,and panting. I called a friend and he said it sounds like he got into something....bingo..the horse de wormer.

I rushed him to the emergency vet (no small feat it was a 45 minute drive to town with a freaking dog trying to get in my lap at 65mph)

By 11am he was hypersensitive to light and sound, temporarily blind, had a temp of 106.7 and as the vet tech said "having a bad trip". It was explained to me that he could die from this, and I did good by getting him there right away. Unconciousness, coma, liver and kidney failure can occur if they have ingested enough.I estimated Derby gobbled up appromimately 250lb dose of moxidectin/praziquantel.That was 5X's his weight!

According to the toxicology vets from the ASPCA, it's not the praziquantel that is the problem but the moxidectin which is in the same class as ivermectrin, and anytime a dog gets an avermectrin product, this includes dog heartworm medications one must be extreamly careful.

The toxicology vets at the ASPCA who monitor,research, and advise vets nation wide on poisonings also told me this is so common, it's one of the top 5 problems they see as far as dogs being poisoned. Anything from a puppy playing with an old tube, to a dog jumping into a feed tub with daily de wormer, to ignorant owners thinking it must be good for the horse so they use it on the dog!

apparently there are a few dogs that are very sensitive to drugs and are hypersensitive to these drugs.including Border collies, Australian shepards, Greyhounds, and McNabbs.

I am glad to report after $800 bucks of treatments Derby is home and resting. After panels of blood work he does not appear to have liver, kidney, nerological, or brain damage. He's going to recover!

I had to learn a lesson the hard way...this dog thinks that anything that falls out of the horses mouth is fair game and tastes good, and usually it is..an apple, carrot, horse cookie, grain and with his lightening speed it's hard to deter him. However next time I do the de-wormings I will have him kenneled up and will wipe up anything that is spit out immediately!

I hope others here take heed of my mistake! The ASPCA pet poison control hotline is a wonderful source and they have a vet there 24-7-365 to help you! If it wasn't for them I don't think he would have made it.

While those of us with horses can't imagine a town vet not knowing about horse meds and dogs, it's a sad fact. With the dwindling of large animal vets and most vets limiting their practices to small town type pets they tend to forget about the meds that our 'ranch' dogs can be exposed too.