Interceptor Dosing Question (willow)

Interceptor is dosed abundantly -- it's better tolerated by more breeds than ivermectin is, so it's dosed not just to kill heartworm microfilaria BUT also to kill things like hooks and whips.  (If you ever look at the Pill Book Guide for Medication for your Dog and Cat it will tell you the "dose per pound" to kill all the various parasites and you'll see what I mean - it takes a higher dose to kill the more complicated parasites like hooks/whips).

So, you're safe to do it at a lower dose (I do it about at half).  But periodically (maybe every 3-4 months) I give the higher dose just in case there are any other nasties around like hooks/whips.

The vet is giving you the 'party line' of the company -- in case you are wanting to be positive so that you can shanghai the company for the cost of treatment you have to give the higher dose.  You're not -- you're wanting to simply be cautious about chemicals. 

That's a great idea to give the higher dose every so often.  Callie, YOU ROCK!!!

Thank you.

Edited--Callie, my husband was wondering if the bigger dose every three to four months was too much of a "jolt" to her system all of a sudden? 

 I ran into this with Z last week myself and my vet specifically said the lower dose would be fine for heartworms but we'd be cutting it close with the intestinal worms.  Since Z is considered high risk due to her SAR activities she recommended the higher dose.

Thank you Erin!  I did give her the lower dose last night.   I'm still second guessing myself as far as the intestinal worms.  She's a known cat poop snatcher outside and I'm a little worried. 

That's why I do the 'full' dose every few months.  But not necessary all the time I don't think, at least for us.

what if you stuck with the low dose - and just had a fecal run every few months to double check?

I could do that too, Erin.  I guess I have a few months to decide to do full dose every so often or just test instead.  I'm not sure if our vet would be agreeable to letting us have both the lower and higher dose. 

Or, you could also just do a dose of panacur (safeguard) every few months, and forgo the testing. It's relitivley inexpensive - much cheaper than buying two heartworm preventitives, IME.

yup, that's definately another option.  She's had that twice before so I don't have to worry that it's new and something might happen.

Callie...I have the same issue with Rivers, who's now 54-56#, they switched his Interceptor to the 51-100# box. Is it possible I could literally cut his pill in half every month and still be safe against heartworms?

Perhaps I can do this in the winter time; probably not a good idea in the summer? We do live amongst deer, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, rackoons, etc.

Careful with Panacur, I have a chihuahua that literally had a deadly reaction to it 2-3yrs ago. Thankfully he's still here with me today, but it was bad!

panacur is one of the safest, most gental dewormers - you can give it to 2 week old puppies and kittens. I've never had an animal react to it -and I've used it on hundreds.

I'm not saying yours didn't have a problem - but I would think it was something else that caused it....JMO.

It's the only thing he had that day.

Likewise, I'm not doubting it's safety either. Just saying it can occur, nothing, regarding drugs/chemicals and even food is 100% safe.

I myself have eatin Avocado's my entire life, just a few months back I had a very deadly reaction, ending up in the hospital with hives, welts, swollen throat, thick tongue, etc all within a few minutes of eating an Avocado...strangest thing that's ever happened to me.

stanton

Callie...I have the same issue with Rivers, who's now 54-56#, they switched his Interceptor to the 51-100# box. Is it possible I could literally cut his pill in half every month and still be safe against heartworms?

Yes you should -- it's like I said, they won't "guarantee" the product if you're after that, but I like to be minimal with drugs and it's definitely ok to do half because Interceptor is pretty liberally dosed.