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How Often Do You Deworm?


Guest limbrooke83

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I don't have my two de-wormed. I had them done a couple of times, maybe even just once, I honestly can't remember. They go to playgroup very often, and meet other dogs on a regular basis. But I felt it was unnecessary as the boys take Interceptor every month anyway. Unless I have a reason to believe they may be infested with something, I will not have them dewormed, even though the vet sends me reminders for de-worming once a year or so. I just ignore the reminders, and they haven't pushed me about it.

Edited by MerlinsMum

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Kerry with Lupin in beautiful coastal Maine. Missing Pippin, my best friend and sweet little heart-healer :brokenheart 2013-2023 :brokenheart 
Also missing the best wizard in the world, Merlin, and my sweet 80lb limpet, Sagan, every single day. 

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I totally disagree with your vet! If you have her on a monthly heartworm preventative like Heartguard Plus or Interceptor, that will take care of any minor problems if she's exposed and prevent actual infestations. Deworming should only be necessary when you have an infestation. And yes, fecals can be falsely negative but if your dog has no signs of worms, I see NO reason to deworm. If you wanted to do it prophylactically just to be safe, I would say do it once every year.

 

This was my thought too. I've never had a vet suggest deworming unless the fecal is positive or signs appear. The chemicals used to deworm aren't utterly without risk--obviously worth it if the dog has worms, but every 3 months for no reason seems crazy to me.

Beth, Petey (8 September 2018- ), and Faith (22 March 2019). Godspeed Patrick (28 April 1999 - 5 August 2012), Murphy (23 June 2004 - 27 July 2013), Leo (1 May 2009 - 27 January 2020), and Henry (10 August 2010 - 7 August 2020), you were loved more than you can know.

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I wish I was one of those people who had a dog who never had worms. But in the first few months of Enza, she had two bouts of giarda and one of hookworms and both times left her very, very sick. When she had hookworms, she was down over 10 lbs and wasn't eating.

 

So on the advice of my vet, I keep pancur in my house at all times because the hookworms could flare up again. And I did give her pancur every few months to really ensure they were gone. So yeah - might be evil for giving her chemicals but considering how sick she was, don't really care.

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Guest limbrooke83

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

EnzaFerrari - I don't think anyone here would blame you for giving your dog panacur every few months. My understanding is once hookworms get in your yard, etc, they're almost impossible to get rid of and could re-infest your dog at any time. Sounds like in your case the benefits of monthly de-worming far outweigh the risks. At least that's what I'm picking up from people here. :)

 

Thanks again, everyone, for the help!

 

-Brooke

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So yeah - might be evil for giving her chemicals but considering how sick she was, don't really care.

No one is saying any such thing. If my dogs had worms, I would certainly treat them with dewormer and especially with something like hooks I would do it aggressively b/c I've seen how hard it can be to eradicate them. But the question was about doing it prophylactically (ie. when there's no evidence or even suspicion that the dog has worms).

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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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So on the advice of my vet, I keep pancur in my house at all times because the hookworms could flare up again. And I did give her pancur every few months to really ensure they were gone. So yeah - might be evil for giving her chemicals but considering how sick she was, don't really care.

 

Of course not. We all have to take risks to ensure our dogs' health. I'd prefer not to subject any of my animals to anesthesia, but alas dentals and surgeries do have to be done.

Beth, Petey (8 September 2018- ), and Faith (22 March 2019). Godspeed Patrick (28 April 1999 - 5 August 2012), Murphy (23 June 2004 - 27 July 2013), Leo (1 May 2009 - 27 January 2020), and Henry (10 August 2010 - 7 August 2020), you were loved more than you can know.

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Guest leash

My dog gets de-wormed at every annual exam no matter if they find worms in the stool or not. I would not do it every three months unless your dog really has worms. My poor Magnum had worms so bad when we got him that the vet said we could not have him in our house until we got it under control. We had every type of worms there was. I don't know how he made it. It took 8 long months and are now worm free. We had to de-worm every two weeks. Now that he is on interceptor we have not had any problems. This is what happens when people hoard animals and don't take care of them.

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Guest Sweetreba

I am dealing with this issue this week. I have had my hounds on revolution for fleas etc because with all my dogs this was the issue. Never did I have a dog with worms. Both hounds were wormed when I got them and one I had to do twice because she still had a positive reading but then all was well. Recently we started with the pudding stools and then Reba became listless and off her food for a couple days. I took in stool samples to rule that out first. Well both dogs had hook and whip worms. So they were given a dose of drontal plus and Delta Albaplex 3X for five days. Today Petey has firmer stools and Reba is eating great.

 

The vet said it is coming from the coyotes here in Ohio. We only had to use the interceptor and other heartworm meds six months in the summer but now they are going to recommend all year. Also they are noticing a big tick problem because of coyotes. He said getting rid of the worms in the dogs is easy but once it is in your yard or in my case the woods only fire and the freezing cold in Jan. and Feb is what kills them. So they will be on interceptor from now on. Luckily we did not see weight loss or anemia. Petey just had loose stools Reba was not herself. But we had company for three weeks from Ca. so I thought it was stress.

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So yeah - might be evil for giving her chemicals but considering how sick she was, don't really care.

No one is saying any such thing. If my dogs had worms, I would certainly treat them with dewormer and especially with something like hooks I would do it aggressively b/c I've seen how hard it can be to eradicate them. But the question was about doing it prophylactically (ie. when there's no evidence or even suspicion that the dog has worms).

 

:nod I wormed Salem for a few months when she first came home. It was the first time I'd heard about doing panacur for several days in a row instead of doing that gestation period wait for three weeks. Since that first long and hard cycle of deworming she has been current on prevention and has not needed to be dewormed again. We get the need to fix a sick dog with a hard core course of meds.

Colleen with Covey (Admirals Cove) and Rally (greyhound puppy)
Missing my beloved boy INU (CJ Whistlindixie) my sweetest princess SALEM (CJ Little Dixie) and my baby girl ZOE (LR's Tara)

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I have not heard that before (which doesn't mean much). My dogs went through a course of deworming when fresh off the track. Since then they have been on monthly interceptor and regularly given frontline for fleas and ticks. I haven't used a dewormer since they were adopted which is 5 and 4 years.

 

I tend to run conservative on any medication except pain meds so I would only talk about deworming again if I saw symptoms such as weight loss, lethargy, or saw it in their poops. We test for worms during the annual vet visit but that's it for me.

 

jinx Jen :lol

:lol I was actually about to say "what she said" since you said it much more calmly. ;)

 

What she said x3.

 

ETA... I no longer give dewormer to my horse either. My vet recommends a bi-annual fecal check. He only recommends worming if the test comes up positive for worms. Thus far, none have. The tide is shifting (at least in the equine vet community) that giving wormers on a schedule isn't good and actually creates drug-resistant worms. My barn owner does a really good job when it comes to pasture management. Plus, they've had zero turnover in the past 1+ year too.

Edited by winnie

Laura with Celeste (ICU Celeste) and Galgos Beatrix and Encarna
The Horse - Gracie (MD Grace E)
Bridge Angels Faye Oops (Santa Fe Oops), Bonny (
Bonny Drive), Darcy (D's Zipperfoot)

 

 

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Guest Javagirl

The area that I live in has an astounding amount of dogs, there are very likely more dogs than children, and since we live along a series of parks and walking trails on the Potomac, people drive their dogs to our area and walk them and play with them constantly. The area is likely to be infested. My dog eats grass like a goat despite my constant protests and shooing him away. After I came home to an absolutely horrifying bout of diarrhea which covered three rooms of my house and didn't clear up, yeah, I used the panacur and dewormed him. Not something I would do regularly and I very much keep him at the absolute minimum for shots, etc. and prefer the holistic route but its there for a reason and it works.

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I don't deworm on a schedule either. We do a stool sample check at the vet's every once in a while, it works out to probably every couple of years or so. Never had worms yet, except for when we first adopted Mayhem and he came with tapeworms. So we've never had to give the deworming medication, and I'm glad I don't do it as part of a routine because it would all be unnecessary.

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