Advocate and border collies

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I read on doglost today about a lost lurcher who had just been treated with Advocate - it warned that it would be dangerous if it came into contact with border collies and some other breed I have forgotten because apparently they can have an adverse reaction to Advocate. I never heard of this before and my collie cross had Advocate every month for about 9 years. Has anyone further info on this?

[Whitney168]

The issue is with Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR1) in Collies and other shepherding breeds:

www.animalgenetics.us/Canine/Genetic_Disease/MDR1.asp

[MammaAgata]

I’ve heard about this - only because a friend had a rescue dog which undoubtedly is a lot of collie. She gave her advocate prescribed by vets and dog has some sort of seizure and weird reaction to it. I don’t know what she gives her now instead but apparently it’s a well known ‘thing’. Bad explanation I know..

[ShouldHAVEcouldHAVE]

I got that DogLost notification too as it’s not far from me and I never knew about Advocate and herding breeds either.
Every day is a school day.

[tabulahrasa]

They need 2 mutated genes to be MRD1 affected, as in one from each parent, so it’s not every collie (or other affected breed) and is unlikely to happen in crosses.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Thanks all for the info. Well, lucky mine was a collie cross then - she had enough other things wrong with her as life went on so we didn't need that too!

[Whitney168]

Actually they are not entirely sure about the effect of a single mutated gene on the dog - there seems to be a train of thought now that even a single gene causes some effect.

However, the whole premise of another dog having been treated and brushing against a mutant/mutant dog causing an issue is bunkum anyway. It would only affect the dog that was treated.

(The exception to the above would be in the case of e.g. horse and cow wormers - MDR1 affected dogs have died many times from eating the droppings of freshly wormed animals, but obviously they are still actually ingesting the medication in this case.)

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Ha, yes Whitney, I did think it would be pretty difficult to "catch" from passing dog.

[Piffyonarockbun]

I hadnt heard of this. I always used advantage with my collies and never had an issue. One of my cats used to react badly to frontline when we used that years ago. She would have 'fits'. Almost like absence seizures, she would drool and stare. Was fine after but i changed to advantage straight away. She was a pedigree cat too.

[TiredPony]

Just bumping this thread having come across it after my gorgeous collie girl had a reaction to Advocate. I never knew it was a thing. I think she's ok and sleeping it off but I'm worried sick about her!

[Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten]

You can get your dog tested for the MRD1 to see if it will be affected.


TiredPony have you washed off the advocate and spoken to a vet?

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

It’s not true - advocate is safe in mdr1 dogs as long as it’s used in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions. The gene mutation is only rarely seen in border collies - rough and smooth collies and Australian shepherds are much more likely to be affected. We have a smooth collie so our vet is very careful. This is a useful fact sheet

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

Our Toller has a reaction to Advocate but it’s a reaction to the liquid carrying the dose rather than the medication itself (and nothing to do with MDR1). We use nexgard for him with no problems