I buy my heartworm prevenative from my vet for my 7 but it is getting very expensive! I understand I can but it at the farm supply store and then get on line and try to figure out the dosage. Why is this a prescritption in the dosage for dogs? If dosing pigs or cattle I could just buy it and do it myself?

I imagine that its RX for dogs because Merck can make money on it. No different than many human medicines. Pet care industry is a multi billion $$ industry. Its just people trying to get a piece of the pie. They do have generic now, but it is still pricy relative to the cost of the injectable form for farm animals.

If you read the posts further down called " Ivomec for puppies" S. Allets kindly offered to email the Revival med sheets ( directions) to anyone who would like them. It is easy to make & you can purchase the ingredients on the Revival website.

I got it at Tractor Supply (the cattle/swine injectible). The dosage on the packaging says for ever 110lb of weight for the cow/swine = 1cc. That matches with what I found online and from breeders I trust, which is .1cc/10lb of body weight, and I ALSO compared it to the amount in Heartgard, which is also roughly .1cc/10lb of body weight.

I was told and now found a couple sources online that state (one from a veterinary university site.

Dose is 0.0015 to 0.003 mg per pound OR 0.003 to 0.006 kg per pound

There is some discrepancy by just fractions but on average for a 70lb dog that comes to .1 cc total.
Not .1 per 5lb, or 10lb, etc.
Kim Brown

Yes, that is more like it! Mine get .10cc per adult dog over 50 pounds. I've checked this with my vet who says this dosage is actually more than enough, yet completely safe.

.10 per 10 pounds is way too much. This discrepancy in dosages always comes up and, quite frankly, it's pretty scary! I don't know why anyone would give so much more than is necessary.

The reason that it is still a prescription for dogs is that giving Ivomec to a heartworm positive dog can potentially kill that dog. Merck couldn't afford the lawsuits it would face if there weren't some veterinary restrictions. Unfortunately, the general population is not as knowledgeable as most of us breeders. And yes, it IS very safe when given correctly.....

Ivomec is easily available without a prescription.

I have used Ivomec as a heartworm preventive for many years. The doseage was given to me by the NC State School of Veterinary Medicine as .3 cc per adult dog monthly. This has worked well for me.

I get generic ivermectin mail order from a pet supply company in Australia. I test my dogs annually for HW and so far we've tested clean after about 3 years of using this preventative. It's like $25 for a 6 month supply for one dog.