Jakeoregano

Our male grey had the same thing happen to him - after about 6 months with us he started losing his hair on his butt. after a year and a half, he has a babboon butt! our vets say it is somewhat common, that it probably won't grow back ever. He is healthy otherwise, and is a blood donor so we're comfortable he's not ill. Vet did suggest we could switch up his diet to see if it could be a food alergy. But we didn't want to risk changing his diet when he eats well, has regular firm stools and is doing well. Chalk it up to greyhound-pattern-butt-baldness - I just coined that! Cheers.

Wanted to update in this post (and I posted on the Hooks thread too) - Since we've doubled up on the panacur giving it every two weeks, we finally got our first negative fecal test back in late August. We are going to continue with the bi-weekly appliication of panacur for at least 2 more months for 2 reasons: 1) we want to get two more clean fecal tests 2) we just brought another grey into our home this weekend and confimed he is positive for hooks as well - he will start the advantage multi and bi-weekly panacur protocol and hopefully we won't have to go 17 months for results. For these reasons we'll continue to treat our first grey - he continues to tolerate the treatment very well and we want to ensure he does not get re-infested. I'll post again on progress in the future.

It has been quite a while since I've posted an update on our hookworm experiences. After over a year on once a month panacur and once a month advantage multi, back in march or so of this year we were advised to administer panacur 2 times a month (1st and 15th). after 5-6 months doubling up, Max finally came back with a negative fecal for hooks for the first time this past August 2019. However, we are still treating him in order to get at least 2 more months of clear fecal. Through all of this, he has tolerated the panacur very well. He is a little lethargic right after application of AM, but has suffered no ill effects that we can tell. Strong appetite, and solid bowel movements. Now, to complicate matters, we have just welcomed another hound to the house this past weekend named Compton. We got him from the foster family that was looking after him after he was rescued. Although he was on an antiparasite regimen for about a month (I have the notes, but don't have them handy), we had his fecal test today and he is positive for hooks. SO....we are going to try to avoid what we went through with Max and we are going to treat him bi-weekly with panacur starting immediately. This is another reason why Max will continue on panacur for the near future until we get both hounds cleared. We'll have to monitor how Compton handles the panacur; I'm hoping he does ok. It just seems to be a fact of life now, rescuing these beauties comes with the enormous challenge of ridding them of these parasites without making them sick! Will post in several months on our progres. Cheers

Here is our experience with Hooks - We have had our Max since Jan 2018. He was given a course of panacur prior to our adoption, but in March 2018 discovered he was still infested with hooks. At that time, his stools were like pudding and he had a noisy stomach but at least a good appetite. We started on the monthly Advantage Multi, with Panacur given mid-month, in March 2018...and we still have hooks as of yesterday. We have never missed a treatment in 13 months. Our vet now has increased the frequency of the panacur to every 2 weeks in hopes of finally getting rid of them. It makes sense to do every 2 weeks, since I read somewhere the lifecyle of the worm is every 14 days. But we were warned last year that treatment could take more than a year, and that we may never be able to get rid of them, only control them. The good news is that Max is healthy otherwise, and is a blood donor. He doesn't show any adverse signs from the hooks, so at least we feel like they are being controlled. For additional information, we feed him Science Diet Advanced Fitness - a bit more than 2 cups in the morning with probiotic powder, and about 2 cups in the evening with both a tablespoon of pumpkin and probiotic powder. On this diet his stools are firm enough to easily pick up and he always finishes his bowl. He weighs 73 lbs, and our vet wants him to gain a couple more pounds. He gets a couple of small milk bone treats a day. We find the greenies and any of the dental treats loosen his stool, so we don't give him those often. Although we have read about other treatment protocols, I trust our vets - we are fotunate here in Central Ohio that there are folks in the field that are very familiar with our breed. If we ever do get rid of the hooks, I'll let you know

I want to offer my experience to this topic. We rescued our grey Max back in Feb 2018. The rescue we got him from uses a prison program as well. We are in the Central Ohio area. We were unaware of any hook issues when we adopted, and based on Max's history and the fact that he was fostered around other greys we didn't think there would be any issues. When we decided to enroll him into a blood donation program associated with the vet clinic we use, we were made aware that his bloodwork indicated he could have a possible infestation. So, we had a fecal test, and sure enough he was positive for hooks. The recommended course of treatment is: first of month - Advantage Multi 15th of month - Panacur + nexgard for ticks repeat until clear at least 2 months (with fecal tests). We were warned that it may take anywhere from a year or longer to rid him of hooks completely, but hopefully after the 3rd round he will be healthy enough to begin donating blood. We will be getting another blood work up Mid June to confirm. As far as administering the treatment - I hate the Advantage Multi, but after 3 times I've gotten good at applying. We mix the panacur powder in with wet food and he tolerates it well. We follow up with the nexgard as a treat a couple hours later. We have just completed the third full round of treatment (mar, apr, may). After the Advantage Multi, his stools get looser than usual for a few days, but after the third round of Advantage Multi, Max had very soupy/splashy stools about 2 days later. Concerned, we took another stool sample in to rule out anything else. He was still showing 100+ eggs in his stool but the vet didn't think anything else was going on since his appetite and activity were normal. We treated the loose stool with cooked quick oats mixed in with his kibble, and have switched to pumpkin. His stools have returned to 'normal' oatmeal consistency and his appetite continues to be fine. He eats 2 times a day of dry kibble, with some pumpkin puree and probiotic mixed in for dinner. His weight dropped a litte from 72 to 69, eventhough he gets the reccommended servings, so the vet recommended slight overfeeding - and he was back up to 71 1/2 as of March-end. He does look like he has gained a bit more as his whole rib case no longer shows. He looks healthy! One other thing to note - I contacted our rescue and advised them of the situation with the hooks, and they are aware that most of the dogs they get now are turning out to be infested with hooks. They are considering beginning the above protocal on all new rescues, but I don't know when they will finalize that decision. They are genuinely concerned about the situation, so I believe they will do the right thing for the animals. I will post updates on Max's progress through this. I am hopeful that he will be cleared in the next few months.