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MORE INFORMATION ON IVERMECTIN BELOW

It works by interfering with the nervous system of parasites to ultimately paralyze and kill them. Ivermectin is a dewormer used to treat many types of intestinal, lung, and external parasites. It can also be used in heartworm-prevention medications for dogs.

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BACKGROUND

In the mid-1980's, ivermectin was introduced as probably the most broad-spectrum anti-parasite medication ever. Its release represented an absolute revolution in parasite control for livestock and horses and, for dogs, it forever changed heartworm prevention from a daily pill to a monthly one.Ivermectin is effective against most common intestinal worms. It is not effective against fleas, ticks, flies, or flukes. It is effective in killing larval heartworms (the "microfilariae" that circulate in the blood) but does not kill adult heartworms (that live in the heart and pulmonary arteries), though technically it can shorten their lifespan.

HOW THIS MEDICATION IS USED

The most common uses in small animal practice for ivermectin would include:

• Monthly prevention of heartworm infection

• Treatment of ear mite situations

• Clearing heartworm larvae in active heartworm infection

• Treatment of sarcoptic, notoedric or demodectic mange       

It should be noted that doses of ivermectin used for prevention and treatment of heartworm disease are approximately 50 times lower than doses used for other parasites, a fact that has allowed for FDA approval of ivermectin products for the prevention of heartworm but not necessarily for other small animal anti-parasite uses. (Acarexx® for ear mite treatment is FDA approved and assorted heartworm preventives are FDA approved but other small animal uses of ivermectin are "off label.")Ivermectin is given monthly for heartworm prevention, daily or every other day for demodectic mange treatment, and every week or couple of weeks for most mites.

If a dose of heartworm preventive is accidentally forgotten, it is important to give it as soon as it is remembered. If the dose is more than 2 weeks late, heartworm protection has been compromised.If a dose is accidentally skipped in one of the other parasite protocols, simply pick up with the next dose. Do not double up.