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  Discussion on Ivomec for horses is cheaper but is it safe?
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2001 - 4:40 pm:

Recently a horse farm that has been in business for over 30 years told me they use liquid ivomec to worm their horses. These horses appear to be very healthy with shiny coats. I did some surfing for information and found a discussion board that recommends the injectable bovine Ivomec for horses using a 1CC per 110 pounds of horse. The cost would be about 5 bucks a horse if this is true. Is this safe for horses ? Is it given orally?

Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2001 - 10:34 pm:

We use the liquid form of worm medicine, Eqvalan, for our horses. We worm 14 head and it works out to be a bit cheaper for us. I find it a lot easier to give then the paste, less mess and seems quicker. We just measure horse for weight, give by syringe down the throat. We give by recomendation from our vet, 1cc for every 100lbs.

Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2001 - 10:59 pm:

I also use Eqvalen, but I follow the pkg directions and use 1cc per 110 lbs. I know people who do use the Ivomec. The reason I don't is because the Eqvalen concentration of Ivermectrin per cc is 1.84%, while the Ivermectrin concentration of the cow stuff is only 1% per cc. I think that's significant, but the people who do use Ivomec think it's the same thing as. . . . We had different math teachers, I presume.

I think that you need to assure yourself that whatever you're giving your horse is pure Ivermectrin and doesn't have additives for other species.

I pay about $6 a dose--better than $12.50, no matter who your math teacher was.

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2001 - 7:25 am:

Hello Linda,
Eva is right, not all ivermectin products are the same concentration and it gets worse: not all Ivomec's are ivermectin based. Ivomec is MSD AgVets name for its line of food animal dewormers. Some do contain ivermectin. I confronted this very problem this Fall when somenone was giving a cow pour-on Ivomec product that used some other drug than ivermectin. On top of that the pour-ons are denatured with methyl and isopropyl alcohol making oral administration safety uncertain.

I suspect the cattle injectable form of ivermectin would be safe to give orally but I still am uncertain if your dose is right without knowing the concentration on the particular solution you are using. You should only use the product with the approval of your veterinarian.

The correct dose for horses given ivermectin orally is 1 mg / 11 lbs of bodyweight. Eva, all of the Eqvalan liquid I have is a 1% (10mg/ml) solution and I think you have that confused with the paste which is a 1.87% concentration. At 1% you get to a correct dose at 10 cc per 110lbs.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2001 - 12:34 pm:

I may be confused about many things, and life in general, but I was gonna argue with you about the percentages. But--I only have the bottle in the frig, having thrown away the box and insert. See, housework is dangerous!!

Regardless, I get a prescription from the vet, mail it to KV vet & can order the stuff for a calendar year. I also got one of their "dosers." This makes the application about two nano-seconds, so I'm done before they realize they've undergone the dreaded worming.

Happy New Year.

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2001 - 5:04 pm:

Dr O, I remember my vet telling me that the injectible use to be labeled for horses but due to fatal reactions the FDA pulled the equine approval and went to only bovine. He too said it worked great, till a horse died. I wonder how the reaction rate of the injectible compares to the paste.
-Emily

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2001 - 6:26 pm:

It was the local injection reactions Emily that caused the most frequent problems with the injectable form and not that any of the chemicals (propylene glycol?) were more poisonous than say the oral form. There may also have been some inadvertant intra-vascular injections, though I do not remember those. I would not expect any more reactions when the injectable form is used orally than with a oral paste.
DrO
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