Quote Originally Posted by RHC View Post
The Equimax horse wormer is 14.03% Praziquantel and 1.87% Ivomec which at a gram would be the correct dosage of 140mg for my dogs as most of them are the same size. My question is at the same amount the dosage for Ivomec is 18.7mg, is that too much Ivomec? I don't want to overdose my dogs. If it is then I'll go another route and use them separately.
I really need to finish my article on worming, as it shows the errors of using a product like Equimax.

I don't know why you'd waste your money on this product, if you've read the worming section of my book. No wormer gets rid of every worm. This is a fallacy. Equimax, Drontal wormers (and their equivalents) are essentially a colossal waste of money. They are, essentially, a combination of several different wormers in one ... and yet you can buy each of these wormers, separately, for a whole lot cheaper than you can buying them all together.

Worse, the most expensive wormer in the "mix" (praziquantel) is rarely ever necessary. The only thing it does is treat tapeworm, so if you don't have tapes you don't need the praziquantel. Why worm your dogs for $1.33 (or $3.50), to treat tapeworms your dogs don't have, when you can worm them for $0.07 (seven cents)! There is absolutely no reason to use praziquantel (Droncit, Drontal, Equimax, etc.) on a monthly basis. If your dogs repeatedly have tapeworm, you are being lax in your flea control! Control the fleas, get rid of the tapes ONCE, and then go back to standard, less expensive wormers for your monthly worm prevention.

Worse, Equimax does nothing for whipworm ...

People who actually know what they're doing do NOT use these catch-all wormers for precisely these reasons: they're too expensive and they're improperly-dosed for hooks. Instead, they buy various different wormers and ROTATE THEM. Even with Drontal, you'd have to triple your dose for hooks--and multiply it x6 for whips! And, again, the most expensive ingredient is for tapes, and (if you're on top of fleas) your dogs won't even have tapes. So why waste your time with catch-all wormers?

Instead, treat your dogs for what they need. Buy Panacur/Sentinel for whips, pyrantel pamoate for rounds and hooks, and only use praziquantel (Droncit) for a confirmed case of tapes. You will be able to tailor your dosages correctly and you will ONLY spend what you need to spend to get the job done ... rather than mis-dosing on half the worms you're trying to get, all the while pouring your money down the drain treating for tapes your dogs probably don't even have.

Education is everything ...

Jack

PS: Wormers like ivermectin, and especially the related and more toxic moxidectin, are both fantastic wormers ... but should NOT be used on pups under 4 months of age. If you understood HOW THEY WORK ... by killing worms' central brain system (while not being able to do so against higher mammals due to the blood-brain barrier that mammals have) ... and if you further understood that pups do not have a fully-formed blood-brain barrier yet ... you would realize WHY all label indications for avermectins recommend against using these drugs on pups younger than 4 months. Their brains and resistances to certain drugs are not fully-developed yet.

In fact, this same reason is why some herding dog breeds (e.g., collies) are susceptible, precisely because they have a mutation to their MDR1 gene which allows higher levels of these drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier into the animal’s central nervous system. This is why one must be cautious while using ivermectins on collies too.