I'm in West Texas for work and my mom took my dog to the vet today for her normal check up. They talked her into giving my dog a heart worm preventative shot that's supposed to work for 6 months instead of keeping her on the normal monthly pills. She immediately had a horrible reaction with seizures. She had to be intubated and given several drugs. She seemed okay earlier when my mom left and they were going to monitor her. When my mom when back at closing time things are looking worse and they're having to take her to an emergency clinic to see a specialist. Have any of y'all heard about anything like this happening with this shot? I'm freaking out

Prayers for you, your Mom, and your doggie. That's all I can offer.

I've heard of a few reactions to it but not this severe. We have not had any bad reactions at our clinic so far. Knock on wood. Sorry to hear about your dog. Hope he does well.

Wow!! When this product came out many years ago it was pulled from the market by the manufacturer for complications from the injection. It was re-launched a few years ago with "improved safety" after going through new FDA trials (as I understood it) and I had not heard of reactions or issues. I use it occasionally for forgetful or very busy owners and haven't had an issue and don't know anyone that has. I'm sorry to hear you are having to go through this with your pup.

Keep us posted

DVM

I hope your dog pulls through and I'm so sorry to hear this. We just gave our dogs the same shot for the first time Saturday. I don't know if I would have done that knowing its history.

What breed?

jfbdvm said:

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What breed?

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Dogo argentino

Sorry to hear this. I hope the pup is ok.

Sorry to hear. I use it on my own dogs and have never seen a reaction this severe in them nor clients' dogs. Good luck.

I made it to Houston and to the emergency clinic. I talked to the vet and he told me when he got her they weren't sure they could save her but the last couple hours she had made a turn for the better. Still not out of the woods though. I'm sitting with her now. When I came in she picked her head up and wagged her tail a little and the techs said that was the first time she had done anything like that

The emergency vet said he thinks she has an 80-90% chance to recover fully now. We're taking her back to the normal vet this morning so they can monitor her during the day today but he thinks we'll be able to bring her home tonight

Our normal vet just told me after this happened yesterday she's been doing some research and found 3-4 other cases similar to this across the country in the last 6 weeks

What brand is it? Our dog just got her heartworm shot 2 weeks ago. No reactions so she's probably fine but that's so scary.

jenn96 said:

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What brand is it? Our dog just got her heartworm shot 2 weeks ago. No reactions so she's probably fine but that's so scary.

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Proheart. This whole experience has sucked so hard

Collies (and related breeds) often react badly to ivermectin and cannot take it safely.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Collies (and related breeds) often react badly to ivermectin and cannot take it safely.

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I have not heard the Collie and related breeds often have a bad reaction, just more prone than other breeds, and have a lower threshold for overdosing.

Edited to add this info I looked up:

"Collies (including Border Collies, Bearded Collies, and Rough Coated Collies), Shelties, and dogs with pigmented bodies but white feet are prone to a genetic anomaly called the MDR-1 mutation. Dogs with the mutation are susceptible to toxicity from a number of medications. Ivermectin is the most famous and widely used of the medications that can cause toxicity in many Collies and Shelties.

This fact has led many vets to be wary of using Heartgard Plus in Collies and Shelties. However, the dose of ivermectin in Heartgard Plus (6 ug/kg) is only about 1/8 of the dose (50 ug/kg at least) that causes toxicity in individuals with the mutation."

The high-dose uses of Ivermectin (certain mange types, other parasites) is typically a no-go in those same breeds.

We got to bring her home this evening. She's still having some GI issues but it looks like she'll make a full recovery.