Hi,
One poorly dog and I only have Imodium Plus in the house, not just Imodium...does anyone know if thats okay or not? I would go and get some plain Imodium but I cant go out alone yet due to my own health issues..have been giving Pro Kolin but hes still having regular trips out and very miserable as he hates going in the garden and doesnt usually need to as has his morning, lunch and evening walks to do what he needs to ..so.. its needed for physical and emotional wellbeing!! Poor boy! Anyone know please?

Diarrhoea is generally the bodies way of getting rid of something that is upsetting or dangerous to the body.  Imodium may have it's uses for a journey for instance but I don't think I would consider it otherwise.  I am not sure it is even safe for dogs.  I cannot find it in Noah.
If you really can't get to see the vet perhaps you could phone them for advise.  

The problem with Imodium both with dogs and people it will stop the evacuation of infective material and if your dogs problem is long standing this may well be some form of enteritis. What does your vet advise, I would say light diet and plenty of fluids.

Also for anyone else reading this immodium is very dangerous to any breed of dog that may have the MDR1 defective gene, this includes collies, shelties, many other herding breeds and dogs of mixed heritage that may have these breeds in their makeup. Sometimes it's not obvious looking at the dog as Silken Windhounds can also carry the gene.

I keep prokolin in the fridge for just such an emergency, safe for everyone and pretty effective too. I also have metronidazole in my first aid kit as this helps the old boy when his tummy is dodgy.

It's fine with most dogs, the retriever in your avatar - but not with herding breeds as they may be sensitive to the ivermectin in immodium - so don't give to shelties, border collies, rough/smooth collies, german shepherds, aussie shepherds, lancashire heelers, tollers, or other herding or related herding breeds unless you've tested and your dog doesn't have the gene sensitive to ivermectin.

Thank you, I know about diarhoea, the reasons for it etc, I just need to know if the 'PLUS' bit is ok if anyone has used it before please. Imodium is fine for my dog and there are times and reasons he needs it, today is one of them...I just need to know if he can have Imodium PLUS as thats all I have for now.
I also always have Pro kolin in my kit which he has had as previousl stated.
Thank you.

Then ask your vet, we do not know your dogs reason for needing it.

Whenever I have taken Immodium (which I will never do again) the day AFTER it has given me the most terrible stomach ache. I really would not use it on a dog. If you have either potatoes or white rice at home, use that. Either boil a small amount of rice until very soft and give the water off it once cool, or boil a potato for 15 mins and give that water.

Could you not order some Canikur tablets online and ask for next day delivery ? I always have these in my medical cupboard they work a treat when any of my dogs have a dodgy tummy.

> Then ask your vet, we do not know your dogs reason for needing it.

I would have if I could have so asked here in the meantime..you didnt need to know why he needed it and neither did I ask if anyone knew why he might...my question was if anyone knew if the 'plus' version was okay if they had used it..nothing else thank you.

Thank you, all sorted here now.

Do you mind me asking what conclusion you came to?  On the advice of my vet, there have been times when I've given my dogs immodium with no problems at all.  It'd be useful to know of the 'plus' would be ok if I was ever in the same situation as you.  I hope your boy is better soon :-)

> Do you mind me asking what conclusion you came to? On the advice of my vet, there have been times when I've given my dogs immodium with no problems at all. It'd be useful to know of the 'plus' would be ok if I was ever in the same situation as you. I hope your boy is better soon :-)

Of course I dont, it seems the 'plus' ingredient is fine, its commonly used for flatulence and bloat in dogs,..and as, like you, I know my dog is fine with Imodium and it has previously been okayed with vets advice, its good to know theres something else that could also ease his discomfort :) Thank you, he seems to be feeling a bit more comfortable already :)

you didnt need to know why he needed it and neither did I ask if anyone knew why he might.

Think you misunderstood the advice that we took time to offer, we, as I pointed out do not know the dog nor its condition and are not in a position to offer advice about the sort of medication you should give him. We did however offer general advice about the condition which on the information we had was all we could do. Had you said the vet was already treating your dog with Immodium but you only had the Plus version the answer would have been the same because we don't know the full situation and it is illegal for anyone to prescribe medication for a dog they have not seen.

There really is no need to be so defensive when people are doing there best to help you.

> it seems the 'plus' ingredient is fine

What is the 'plus' element?  Is it a higher dosage?

No.  Another active ingredient Simethicone.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">No.  Another active ingredient Simethicone.

The same is what is in babies colic medicine.  Suppose that would make sense with what the vet said re aiding discomfort and bloating.

but not with herding breeds as they may be sensitive to the ivermectin in immodium

There is NO ivermectin in Immodium.   The drug is Loperamide which is NOT an antiparasytic.  

I am not disputing that it may be contraindicated in herding breeds.

It's also contraindicated in situations where infection from campylobacter, salmonella  etc are suspected.

Loperamide is one of the drugs that dogs with the mutant MDR1 gene cannot pump out of the brain. Penny may have got a ittle mixed up but the basic message is good - not for use for any dog whose MDR1 status is unknown :-)

Wouldn't like to think of anyone dosing Immodium thinking it was a handy substitute for  Ivermectin ;)  

lol, make the parasites constipated - it may kill them?

It's actually quite worrying this - I have border collies and, on one occasion, was given Imodium from my vet. Luckily, I didn't give it and stuck with the antibiotics and light diet as I am of the mindset that it's better out than in and diarrhoea is the bodies defence mechanism. Very annoyed at my vet though - surely they should be aware of such contra-indications.

Colliecrew there are several sites on the net with lists of drugs that MDR1 positive dogs may be sensitive too, these are the main ones.

IVERMECTINS
DIGOXIN
VINCRISTINE
DOXORUBICIN
CYCLOSPORIN A
GREPAFLOXACIN
DEXAMETHASONE
LOPERAMIDE

It's very easy to test your dogs to be on the safe side, These people will send you swab kits, roll one around in your dogs mouth and send it back (with the fee) and they'll let you know if your dog is clear, carrier of affected.

Thanks very much for this chaumsong :) I was aware of the Ivermectin but didn't realise there were additional medications not suitable for herding breeds. The swab is a brill suggestion but I have 7 dogs and it may be a wee bit too expensive at this time of year lol I will certainly do a bit more reading on this! That said, I am a vets worst nightmare...I come home and research any medication and have often called back and said "I'm not giving this to my dog"!!

Honestly though, I have always really trusted my vet and I am left feeling extremely uneasy that she wasn't aware of this. Grrrrr

There is no need to test all your dogs CC, just avoid these drugs to be on the safe side, if you treat them all as MDR1 affected you can't go wrong :-)

I do wish everyone would test their breeding stock though, then new owners would be aware of these things.

In Silken Windhounds every single dog is tested (unless hereditary clear), usually as a pup by the breeder. The gene pool is not extensive enough to allow only clears to be bred but carriers are at least only mated to clears so no pup will be affected. However even dogs that are only carriers (not affected) may still be sensitive to these drugs.

>Think you misunderstood the advice that we took time to offer, we, as I pointed out do not know the dog nor its condition and are not in a position to offer advice about the sort of medication you should give him.

No, not at all, I simply wanted to know if anyone had used the plus version before and knew it to be ok for dogs...I think that was clear from my posts, I certainly was not asking about general medication for him or advice. I see these sorts of posts without problems, not sure why this was?!

'We did however offer general advice about the condition which on the information we had was all we could do. Had you said the vet was already treating your dog with Immodium but you only had the Plus version the answer would have been the same because we don't know the full situation and it is illegal for anyone to prescribe medication for a dog they have not seen.'

The heading was 'Imodium Plus' rather than a general plea for help and I think I politely explained the situation in my 2nd post including the fact that he has imodium and I certainly would not either ask or expect anyone here to prescribe anything for my dog, I simply wanted to know if anyone knew if the plus part was okay for dogs or had used it. I believe the search button can be used for information on common topics if advice is required?

>
> There really is no need to be so defensive when people are doing there best to help you.

I wasnt being defensive, I was just pointing out that it wasnt anyones problem and wasnt my question,..the same with dietary advice etc...this thread could have been 30 plus posts long by tonight with well meaning people offering advice on such a common topic as a bad stomach...it was not the advice I needed or had the time to wade through when my topic was clear however well meant. The aim was to offer a dog some needed comfort at that time rather than waiting for my vet to be available for what could be a simple answer and what in fact was. Peoples lives are busy and I am unwell, I appealed I hoped only to those that had used the product or had a link they could copy and paste.
No worries, its sorted now, I only wanted to avoid people being involved who didnt need to be and avoid lots of posts but by doing so it seems to have caused upset :(
My boy is settled and thats the important thing and was the aim. I hope any misunderstandings are now no longer misunderstood :)