This was forwarded to me by a friend who has collies. This will be of 

special interest to anyone who has Collies, Shelties, Border Collies, 

Aussies, or any breed affected by the MDR1 gene and it's relation to the 

drug Ivermectin. If your dog is around livestock at any time, please 

read this!!!



~Jill



OT: Ivermectin - Livestock excrement and transmission to herding dogs

    Posted by: "[log in to unmask]" [log in to unmask] myshel417

    Date: Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:03 am ((PST))



Forwarding.  Interesting post.



Although posted by an aussie group member, this would apply to any breed 

documented with the MDR1 gene. Note that her post also mentions Border 

Collies have now been added to the list.



Lori

OT-Livestock & dogs - Ivermectin risk

For those that have Aussies or BC's.



A mutation of the MDR1 was just found in BC's so this situation with 

livestock could be of great importance.



I suppose it’s just a matter of time before more breeds fall 

susceptible.



More info on the MDR1 gene (& how they are finding its far more complex 

than just Ivermectin) can be found at http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/



Permission to forward or reprint granted.



I was recently contacted by someone asking whether a dog could have an 

MDR1 reaction due to eating feces from Ivermectin-treated livestock. I 

wasn't sure about that, so I checked with Dr. Katrina Mealy at 

Washington State University. Dr. Mealy is the scientist who discovered 

the MDR1 gene.



She told me that Ivermectin and the related drug, selamectin, were shed 

in feces of treated animals in active form. She went on to say that 

.they have had a number of reports on dogs that had ingested enough 

feces to have serious to fatal MDR1 reactions.



If you have Aussies or dogs of any other MDR1 breed who are prone to 

poop eating and may have access to excrement from livestock, it would be 

wise to do whatever you can to prevent them from doing so.



If you do not know the MDR1 status of your Aussies, I *strongly* 

recommend that you get them screened. Fully a third of Aussies have at 

least one copy of the mutation. Test kits are available from WSU: 

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/



Even one copy may cause some level of reaction with some drugs. 

Ivermectin and similar drugs are not the only ones that can cause 

reactions. For an extensive list of MDR1 reactive drugs, including 

alternate brand names, see: http://www.busteralert.org/



CA

________________________________

C.A. Sharp

Pres. Australian Shepherd Health &

Genetics Institute, Inc.

All Aussies All Genes All the Time

http://www.ashgi.org

Editor, Double Helix Network News