PaddysDad

One last point after speaking with my credit card company today: Petshed is telling all the people who bought off them to wait 90 days now before doing anything, and that if it goes 90 days they will refund you. The rep at the CC company confirmed that this was when the dispute window closes, as I suspected and mentioned above in the OP. He called this a definite "red flag" that PS was telling people to wait a full 90 days. My Petsupplies Express order did only take 4 weeks (Advocate/Advantage Multi for the other dog within the same time frame. I did miss the period that they were having a buggy website, so everything went through fine and the shipping only took an extra week and a half (they normally only take 2-2.5 weeks). I will probably check out the PetsMegaStore for the next round. On the plus side, we have been hook free for a year now, so I don't have to buy all that other dewormer and yard spray

That's great to know. Thanks.

I did get my other heart/hookworm meds from petsuppliesexpress (UK) in a reasonable time and they are also overseas. I have also received packages recently from Asia including through Singapore and Hong Kong. Maybe I have just been lucky that the delays on every other package have been reasonable. These guys seem to have taken their entire customer service offline and are unresponsive. Regardless, for whatever reason, they are no longer dependable in my experience and I have recommended them to others for years. Are you still having the long term hook issues, or are these with new dogs? We ended up having to do one more course of prison protocol, but have now been clean for three tests since last year. The older dog has been fine with just the HG+ (now purchased elsewhere).

Hi, just a warning to members about Pet Shed, who I have used and recommended for years, including here on the hookworm threads. They used to be Australia based and shipped to US from the UK. Now they appear to ship from Singapore or Hong Kong (if they in fact do even ship at all). The web has been full of complaints about them for months from customers who have paid for meds and not received them and have been been given the runaround about refunds if they can get a hold of anyone there at all. My experience is over 6 weeks and still processing for shipping according to the tracking email I got back when I ordered. I tried calling what used to be good customer service and just got a dead end recording. No person answers the chat box, and the email and support ticket route just connects you to a page with a broken link to no ticket and no information. Recent customer reviews have said that there are no responses. Older reviews say that PS was telling people to wait up to 90 days, but people were still not getting product or refunds. Hopefully the 90 day thing is not just a stall to put people past their credit card dispute window, or to a point where they just fold up and take your money. Or maybe I am off base and their entire staff quit months ago and they are doing the best they can. I suspect now that they are not the same company and someone else is controlling their web domain since there is no customer contact anymore. This is clearly not the same company that I have dealt with for years. Hopefully I am wrong, but in the absence of a response from them, I have filed with my credit card company. Be warned.

We also did the prison program to the letter and have kept her on the Advocate/Advantage Multi monthly since the negative test. So far all is good. We had a relapse early in the process, which is why we kept her on the Advocate this time. No problem with ticks, so the advocate works fine. The other one is back on generic Heartguard Plus and no issues there either. I would also advise to follow the prison protocol to the letter, although there is really no difference noted between the use of Drontal Plus or Panacur (or whatever brand name for the fenbendazole) if used according to the prison schedule. I think the timing and the Moxidectin are the key on successful treatment.

I think it all depends on how bad the larval leak situation is. The worse it is, the longer it takes to rid the body of all those resident eggs. We seem to have beaten them with the prison protocol, and are now back on just monthly HG+ to keep them in check after running the Advantage Multi/Advocate once a month for an additional few months after we got the all clear. Once the hooks have been identified as being "resistant" to the traditional treatments, I haven't heard of anyone being able to clear them without using the prison protocol. I don't know that Panacur is any less or more effective than Drontal, and have used both, but the schedule and use of the Advantage Multi seems to be a must. So does picking up the poop as soon as it hits the ground to reduce any environmental factor. There have also been some cases where untreated dogs were so full of adult hooks that the dogs hemorrhaged. I have heard about one case locally from a vet, and another from a member here who lost a new greyhound. We are still using the green bag minichunks here for Paddy, but his sister stopped eating it cold one day. I'm not sure if it was due to a recipe change or an association to medication that she was on at the time, but it was still working well for them until then, and stiil good for him now. I hate when they change formulas. Mars is especially bad for this. There are a few pages in this thread that list the links to the protocol and to the medication sources. One of those would make a good sticky for the health section.

The prison protocol is the only thing that worked for us, and after a year, I only wish that we knew about it in the beginning and didn't waste a few months with the standard hook treatment. We have introduced a few vets to it and numerous adopters.

Haven't noticed any irritability or aggression while on any of the meds, but drontal makes her nauseous, and even Advatage Multi kills her appetite for a couple of days. No reaction at all to panacur.

Congrats!!! That is big news after a long battle.

We split the dose, giving each half (buttered) just before feeding each meal. She is queasy the next day, but shows improvement by the day after that. Splitting the dose makes all the difference for her being able to tolerate it.

You are very welcome. I wish I had figured that out two dogs ago. So far so good here. We haven't retested yet, but everything seems ok so far. she is on Advantage Multi monthly now and he is back on HG+. As a side note, she quit eating her food because we think she associated it with the sick feeling from the medication, so we switched her to Iams minichunk, which she loves. Paddy just finished transitioning to it and both are doing extremely well on it. << Obligatory dog owner poop comment. Having it available in a 50lb bag at Sams is an added bonus. May your new year be negative for hooks and positive in all other things.

We had a dog with chronic anal gland issues who would fuss until they were manually expressed. Soft stool can contribute to this, since firm stool will express the glands and keep them from filling up and becoming infected (smelly goo). She may just need her glands emptied, then with no worms and firm stool, things should run smoothly. Hope it is a true negative for you.

or salted water if you don't have peroxide. but, why don't you have peroxide? Pick up some styptic powder while you are picking some peroxide up It is good to have the instructions handy. Your vet may even have a hand out telling what to do and how to do it in case of emergency. I had to write them down in a panic while on the phone with my vet years ago. Great advice and a good reminder, Sobesmom.

I think if the hooks are environmental, meaning ongoing REinfestation rather than ongoing infestation, as from larval leak, then maintenance from a "preventative" and periodic treatment is the traditional approach. If it is larval leak, then the traditional approach doesn't seem to do the job, and may cause the problem to worsen by continuing at a rate that more eggs get laid than adults get killed off. I am not a vet nor do I claim to be one. However, my vet's approach was the same as yours. At first. Now his whole office is following the prison protocol once the traditional methods prove to be ineffective.

Usually the case I think that the Drontal and Panacur (Safeguard) probably work equally well on the hooks when used with the Advantage Multi (Advocate) on the prison program dosing schedule. If your dog tolerates Drontal reasonably well, then why not follow the prison protocol to the letter and just use the drontal, even if you have to break up the daily dose into two or three meals. Couple notes: I am not a big fan of crushing pills. If the dogs do not like the taste, it is hard to hide that in a powdered pill, and the entire meal may get rejected. Plus it is hard to tell how much of the med was ingested and what the additional makeup dose should be. I personally have found that just breaking the pill in half and covering it with butter followed by another blob of butter or a cookie (to encourage them to swallow the buttered pill without chewing/tasting) works well here with both dogs. I see "Advantage" referred to above. I hope this is referring to Advantage Multi (Advocate if from overseas) and not the regular Advantage, both made by Bayer. Good luck to all still fighting the fight. I hope that I am not one of you still. Still haven't got consecutive negatives, but all seems clear so far.