Hookworms - Semi Monthly Treatment?

[Guest Trentsmom]

We have 5 dogs total of which one is 14 months and found with hookworms. He was taking heartguard, but still had the hooks. Vet gave me another treatment to give and repeat in 2 weeks (in addition to continuing heartguard).

Upon recheck there were still a couple hooks and vet is now suggesting that we continue the Heartguard and add Nemex mid month to the routine, saying Greys are prone to worms.

 

Anyone else have this problem? I'm concerned about giving so much medecine for long term.

[kudzu]

Can't comment on the treatment protocol but...

 

Greys are prone to worms? Really? That's a new one on me.

[tbhounds]

I have found once a week for 6 weeks (strongid) a great protocol.

[Guest TheDoggfather]

3 days of panacur ... 1cc per 10lbs of body weight.

[Hubcitypam]

Dontrol Plus. Expensive but worth it.

[sobesmom]

"Greys are prone to hooks" is just silly. Greys are no more "prone" to hooks than any other dog. Worms attack ALL dogs equally. I've had 15 greys through this house, a couple had different worms when they got here, but only 1 came with hooks.

 

I will tell you hoooks are a beast to get rid of. It does take repeated treatment, and watch your other dogs.....for a long time. Hooks get into the ground and can reinfest another dog months later.

 

I did a pretty aggressive treatment on my foster with hooks, and also for my resident dogs. I scooped poop like crazy for weeks. And thought we were clean. 4 months later - another dog came up with hook. Started all over - total med assault on all dogs. Then we were clean.

 

The dang things live in the soil ... and wait.

[JJNg]

You know, from what I've read here, greyhounds do seem more prone to persistent hookworm infections than other dogs. We rarely see hooks at all in adult dogs on heartworm preventative, and in most dogs, they are fairly easy to clear.

[Batmom]

Doesn't really matter which med you use. Nemex is fine. For hooks, you have to keep worming every @2 weeks until they're gone.

 

I wouldn't rely on the Heartgard alone as one of the "every two weeks" treatments -- I'd use the Nemex along with it. The amount of medication in Heartgard is negligible.

 

IMHO greys aren't more prone to persistent hooks. Many greys come with hooks, and once they're in your environment they're hard to get rid of.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Batmom

[krissn333]

Btw the Panacur dosage is 1cc per FIVE lbs of body weight, not per 10 lbs.

 

We are fighting hooks again. It is in the soil in my yard, it has to be. Fritz had a horrible time with them a year or so ago. The dogs are obsessed with eating the dirt in a specific part of the yard too-the dirt smells icky and they dig at it and eat it. It is so frustrating but I can't fence the area off because of where it is. So, mine get Panacur once a month and right now they're on a 5 day course.

[Guest TheDoggfather]

...

Edited July 28, 2012 by Trudy
must be pretty difficult to carry that heavy chip around all the time

[JJNg]

I wouldn't rely on the Heartgard alone as one of the "every two weeks" treatments -- I'd use the Nemex along with it. The amount of medication in Heartgard is negligible.

 

Actually, the dose of pyrantel in Heartgard is the same or higher than Nemex used at the label instructions. Most vets use the stronger large animal formula (Strongid-T or various generics) and dose higher than Nemex. Here's a comparison.

 

Strongid-T contains 50 mg/ml pyrantel. Most vets use it at 1 ml per 10 lbs, which gives you a dose of 5 mg/lb.

 

Nemex 2 contains 4.54 mg/ml pyrantel. Label instructions say to give 5 ml (1 tsp) per 10 lbs, which gives a dose of 2.27 mg/lb.

 

Heartgard Plus 51-100 lbs contains 227 mg of pyrantel per chewable tablet. Depending on where your dog falls in that weight range, you'd be giving 2.27-4.54 mg/lb (ie. a 50 lb dog would be getting 4.54 mg/lb while a 100 lb dog would only get 2.27 mg/lb).

[Batmom]

Heartgard Plus, yes. Regular Heartgard is just ivermectin. Guess I should have asked which was being used .

[JJNg]

Ah, ok. I see what you meant about the "medication in Heartgard is negligible" if you were referring to the ivermectin. Ivermectin, even at higher doses, isn't really considered an effective dewormer against intestinal parasites in dogs, so I don't think of it as such. I would hope any vet that's including Heartgard as part of a deworming protocol would be using Heartgard Plus. Heartgard Plus is so prevalent these days that most people just refer to it as "Heartgard" and I sometimes forget there's a regular Heartgard without the pyrantel. I'd also thought that Merial had pretty much phased out Frontline Topspot and it was all Frontline Plus now, but just found out from our rep this week that Topspot is still out there and still being manufactured.

[tbhounds]

I also want to clarify that when I reccomended our protocol I am referring to strongid t (1ml/10lbs). We have been very successful with a once a week for 6 weeks protocol (and yes, with greyhounds).

 

Edited July 28, 2012 by tbhounds

[omyability]

Recently, I started doing the Strongid T every week too. It is working. I was using Drontal Plus followed by Panacur. So many of the newbies have had long-term hooks and they get into the tissues and it takes quite a while to get rid of these nasty things. I do Heartgard Plus every three weeks on the newbies. Seemed like the Panacur wasn't doing its job and the price is $320/pound now! I remember paying $150/pound.

[Guest Trentsmom]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I said 'prone' to hooks, but resistant is probably what the vet said and I used 'prone' , which isn't the same. Sounds like 'resistant' is a more common issue and I feel more comfortable about taking on a longer treatment. And yes, it sounds like I better be treating all of them.

 

I wonder if there is something to put in the yard to kill the hiding pest. We hose everything very well, but that may not be enough.

[krissn333]

Our vet told me the only way to get rid of it in my yard would be to dig up and haul away the top 6 inches of my yard and replace it

[Batmom]

Our vet told me the only way to get rid of it in my yard would be to dig up and haul away the top 6 inches of my yard and replace it

 

Freezing kills the most common type of hookworm egg.

 

They're hard to get rid of but it isn't impossible. You do have to keep after them -- worming once or twice isn't going to do it.

[tbhounds]

Agreed-the winter months should rid the ova in your yard. I think there's some confusion between hooks and whipworms.

[krissn333]

Unfortunately we didn't really have a winter here so things didn't freeze like they normally do.

 

In any case, hookworms suck and they seem to love to torture Fritz the most