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Larval Leak Syndrome - Hookworms


Guest OurGreytLife

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Guest OurGreytLife

About a week ago I posted about my greyhound Kylee asking about dogs who groan when they lay down. To make a long story short, Kylee was displaying symptoms of irritated bowel disease and we were also treating her for hookworms she had from the track.

 

After several treatments of Panacur & Drontal the hookworms got WORSE! My vet did research and discovered what's called "Larval Leak Syndrome"

 

In case any of you have a dog with hookworms - have your vet check this out especially if after several treatments and it's not working. Hookworms are hard to get rid of but after this last treatment and the hooks were worse my vet spent her day off researching why.

 

We are positive now that this is what's going on with Kylee and will start a different regiment of medication over a 2 month period. My Kylee should be completely free of hookworms after that.

 

I thank God for giving me the best vet anyone could have!

 

 

 

 

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Yep, you should do 3-5 day courses of Panacur initially and then 21 days later, and possibly 3 months from the first day of treatment as well to be thorough. You will also want to keep her on a Heartworm prevtative that has a dewormer in it moving on, either interceptor or Heartguard Plus. Hookworms in particular can migrate to other tissue in the body, primarily the lungs and encyst, then release larvae later that develop into adults in the gut. There isn't a medication currently to kill the cysts so you have to rely on the preventatives to kill the adults before they get out of control and make the dog sick again. Nasty nasty buggers hookworms are.

Edited by NeylasMom

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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  • 4 months later...
Guest Stormysmom

Hello, my greyhound, Croix, has been having issues with hookworms on and off since I adopted her in January. Today my vet mentioned the possibility of larval leak syndrome. Can you tell me what your vet gave you to get rid of the hookworms? And have you finally gotten rid of them? Thanks for any assistance you can offer.

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For a suspected hookworm larval leak case, I would use a pyrantel product every 2 weeks for 2-3 months. If you're using a heartworm preventative that contains pyrantel (Heartgard or equivalent), you could just deworm in the middle of the month between heartworm preventative doses.

 

The Panacur protocol where you repeat in 3 weeks and 3 months is what is typically recommend for whipworms.

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Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

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Guest OurGreytLife

We gave Kylee Interceptor 2x monthly and Strongid every other week until the hookworms were gone per our vet. The other dewormers did not help. Took about 3 months until she was hookworm free. Since she's been feeling better her personality really came out. She's playful, happy, no more diarrhea and we couldn't be happier, too! Hope this helps.

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Guest Stormysmom

Thank you for the information. I'll talk to my vet about Strongid. My vet has me giving her Heartgard every 2 weeks plus 14 days of Panacur. And this is after getting Drontal Plus every 14 days for 3 doses in August. However, this all started back in February. I adopted her in January and she was quite thin due to a severe case of hookworm. At that time besides having hookworm, she was diagnosed with Clostridum. So, at that time, she was given Panacur, then Drontal Plus, Tylan for the bacteria and FortiFlora. I don't think her hookworms were ever totally irradicated. I did recently read that with some pups, they need a dewormer every few months, which I would assume is in addition to the monthly Heartgard. Her weight is good but her stool is loose with occasional blood. I've not had to deal with this hookworm issue in any of my other greyhounds. They are quite the buggers to get rid of, so any ideas are welcomed. My vet is surprised and this.

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You mean Heartguard Plus, right?

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Gilly is displaying many of the symptoms mentioned here. He was checked for bugs and slugs and came up clean. Had anyone noticed the diarrhea being cyclical in nature? He can go for several weeks with well-formed poops and then for about a week they are pudding-like in consistency or even liquid. There has also been a show of blood in his stool during those times. Do hookworms show up in all samples or, again, is it cyclical?

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The only thing we have ever used for hook worm is Heartgard Plus. For initial treatment we just switched from an oral heartworm med to Heartgard Plus, and then kept him on it. We have since had all of our dogs on HG Plus (or a generic) and never had a problem with them again.

 

Hookworms can be picked up repeatedly just from walking your dog through the "garden" patch in front of the pet store, or at a dog park. I haven't had any problems using pyrantel (in the HG Plus) on a regular basis. Heartgard (not plus) and some generics do not have the pyrantel, so you have to make sure it is there for hookworm.

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Guest Stormysmom

Unfortunately, stool sample may show no hookworms but the larvae can be there. I think this is partly why I'm having such a difficult time getting rid of them. Croix has blood in her stool occasionally as well. Sometimes her stool is quite loose, other times formed but soft. She eats well, is very playful, acts absolutely fine. When I first adopted her, she was quite under weight which was attributed to (1) being off the track and (2) the hookworms. Once I got rid of (or thought I'd gotten rid of) the first "batch" of worms, she gained her weight and is not loosing any weight now.

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Zachary, you can definitely get false negatives on worms. Repeated fecals are more likely to turn up a positive result or you can always treat up prophylactically. Violet had intermittent stool issues, loose, sometimes bloody, the big one was they would be super mucousy and she was a really hard keeper. Fecal was negative, but I finally decided to just do multiple rounds of Panacur and we haven't had a problem since. FWIW.

 

The only thing we have ever used for hook worm is Heartgard Plus. For initial treatment we just switched from an oral heartworm med to Heartgard Plus, and then kept him on it. We have since had all of our dogs on HG Plus (or a generic) and never had a problem with them again.

 

Hookworms can be picked up repeatedly just from walking your dog through the "garden" patch in front of the pet store, or at a dog park. I haven't had any problems using pyrantel (in the HG Plus) on a regular basis. Heartgard (not plus) and some generics do not have the pyrantel, so you have to make sure it is there for hookworm.

Heartguard Plus isn't likely to be sufficient to treat a hookworm infestation. It will prevent new adults from attaching in the intestine so a dog in theory doesn't become infected and I think any dog that had had hookworms should be on HG plus or similar because of the potential issues with cysts in other organs, but if a dog tests positive for hookworm they need a dewormer like Panacur or something similar to clear out the b infestation. Edited by NeylasMom

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Zachary, you can definitely get false negatives on worms. Repeated fecals are more likely to turn up a positive result or you can always treat up prophylactically. Violet had intermittent stool issues, loose, sometimes bloody, the big one was they would be super mucousy and she was a really hard keeper. Fecal was negative, but I finally decided to just do multiple rounds of Panacur and we haven't had a problem since. FWIW.

 

Heartguard Plus isn't likely to be sufficient to treat a hookworm infestation. It will prevent new adults from attaching in the intestine so a dog in theory doesn't become infected and I think any dog that had had hookworms should be on HG plus or similar because of the potential issues with cysts in other organs, but if a dog tests positive for hookworm they need a dewormer like Panacur or something similar to clear out the b infestation.

 

NeylasMom,

 

Thank you so much. You have described Gilly's stool exactly. Did Violet also have a really rumble and gurgley stomach? I swear sometimes he must wake up the neighbors with his tummy noises. His vet thinks IBS or colitis, but when I first adopted him there were no stool issues. Now I am afraid to allow him any variety in his meals or treats. I have had some little success with adding more bone to his diet and it helps with the loose stool.

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NeylasMom,

 

Thank you so much. You have described Gilly's stool exactly. Did Violet also have a really rumble and gurgley stomach? I swear sometimes he must wake up the neighbors with his tummy noises. His vet thinks IBS or colitis, but when I first adopted him there were no stool issues. Now I am afraid to allow him any variety in his meals or treats. I have had some little success with adding more bone to his diet and it helps with the loose stool.

Yes, and grass eating, though none of it was constant. I will add that she also had bad poop issues as a foster when she was kibble fed and raw addressed a lot of those, but it sounds like you've already switched to raw?

 

It's easy enough to dose with Panacur and see if there is improvement, but I would check with your vet to make sure he doesn't think it's a bad idea for the supposed IBS. Panacur is sold online more inexpensively as Safeguard. I dosed initially, then at 3 weeks (from start of first dose) and again at 3 months.

 

ETA: I just want to add that I think it's much better to get a dx if you can for a?couples of reasons. One, much better to know what you're dealing with. Two, these are chemicals we're putting into their bodies. For a long time I used only regular Heartguard because I try to limit them getting this kind of stuff, but with my suspicions and what I know about hooks now, I switched the girls to Heartguard Plus. You can always try a 3 day fecal to see if you can find any parasites that way first.

Edited by NeylasMom

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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The vet was feeling Cookies abdomen area during her exam and commented that it seemed like she was tender in this area (or the vet said she it was just a reflex). She asked me if cookie had diarrhea but at the time, no. She does get soft stools off and on but her fecals are good. I did take her to the vet last fall for a bad 3 day episode of diarrhea and he they gave her some kind antibiotic.

She will groan while she is laying down but she's always done that.

It makes me wonder if it's IBD or this? She eats 4Health lamb and rice. It's pretty much the only food that agrees with everyone and I've tried a lot. She did have a bad reaction different dog treats at times.

Edited by September

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Yes, and grass eating, though none of it was constant. I will add that she also had bad poop issues as a foster when she was kibble fed and raw addressed a lot of those, but it sounds like you've already switched to raw?

 

It's easy enough to dose with Panacur and see if there is improvement, but I would check with your vet to make sure he doesn't think it's a bad idea for the supposed IBS. Panacur is sold online more inexpensively as Safeguard. I dosed initially, then at 3 weeks (from start of first dose) and again at 3 months.

 

ETA: I just want to add that I think it's much better to get a dx if you can for a?couples of reasons. One, much better to know what you're dealing with. Two, these are chemicals we're putting into their bodies. For a long time I used only regular Heartguard because I try to limit them getting this kind of stuff, but with my suspicions and what I know about hooks now, I switched the girls to Heartguard Plus. You can always try a 3 day fecal to see if you can find any parasites that way first.

 

Yes to the intermittent grass eating and gas. The groaning is something relatively new and is what got me interested and involved in this thread. He has been fed raw since I adopted him in January. He was fine initially and then the bowel issues started. I thought it might be the mix of the food so I switched to another butcher, I also tried him on straight human-grade beef, then raw chicken and vegetables, and now beef and vegetables mixed with ground lamb with bone. He weighed 62 pounds when I adopted him and should have been getting 10 to 12 ounces of food twice a day. He is getting about 1 1/3 pounds twice a day or (2 2/3 pounds daily) and has not gained an appreciable amount of weight. He eats more than Zachary who weighed 77 pounds!

 

I will have another chat with his vet and see if this is a reasonable option. Like you, I am loathe to pump any chemicals into him unnecessarily, but if it is bugs . . . they have to go.

 

Thank you for your help and guidance. I really appreciated your input.

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Yeah, that was our biggest symptom. I was feeding her more than my 70 lb male (she's about 60 lbs) and she wouldn't gain weight. When we did the 2 rounds of Panacur that stopped and I now have no problems keeping her at a good weight. I should add that she has had some anxiety issues, which can also increase metabolism and lead to a dog being a hard keeper so this is by no means definitive. Just reporting what I observed. In the end, I don't think I did her any great harm doing the Panacur and I might have helped. Hooks are nasty. :(

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Yeah, that was our biggest symptom. I was feeding her more than my 70 lb male (she's about 60 lbs) and she wouldn't gain weight. When we did the 2 rounds of Panacur that stopped and I now have no problems keeping her at a good weight. I should add that she has had some anxiety issues, which can also increase metabolism and lead to a dog being a hard keeper so this is by no means definitive. Just reporting what I observed. In the end, I don't think I did her any great harm doing the Panacur and I might have helped. Hooks are nasty. :(

 

Gilly is the poster child for separation anxiety! We are pretty much always together. Always and generally everywhere! The couple of times I left him with a friend he displayed anxious behavior.

 

Again, thank you.

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