Zeke -- Hookworms And Big D

[RaineysMom]

so Mr. Zekie has had pretty lousy poops since he got here on 1/4. This past week, he was only getting cooked brown rice, cooked oatmeal, pumpkin and cooked defatted ground beef. and his D just got worse.

 

we took him in to the vet on Friday along with a stool sample, and he tested positive for hookworms.

 

would that explain the big D? He was put on Flagyl on Friday.

 

the vet prescribed Panacur (not sure of the dose, picking it up in about an hour) -- but I'm waiting to hear back from the vet about doing Drontal Plus first, then Panacur. Dr. Jennifer Barker, who works with our groups here in WI and Chicago, used to be the vet at Dairyland when it was around and now takes care of the pups that come up from the Sunburst Kennels (the Greyhound Alliance works with The Sunburst Project, both groups have saved SO many hounds!!!! -- info on Sunburst here: http://greyhoundalliance.org/wordpress/sunburst-project/)

 

This is Dr. Barker's protocol: http://greyhoundalliance.org/wordpress/about-the-dogs/greyhound-health/

 

any thoughts? does one work better than the other? do they work better if both are used instead of just one? Also, both boys were got Trifexis for their next doses since the shortage of other heartworm meds currently and I see that it can cause diarrhea, so I hope that doesn't make things worse (Zeke gets it on 1/29).

 

we are going to treat Larry as well, his poops just got somewhat softer than usual starting today. I don't think worming hurts and is fairly safe and we don't want to take any chances...

 

ETA about Flagyl and Trifexis...

 

 

update 1/27 6:20pm

he (and Larry) just got their first dose of Panacur. Larry's 8 lbs heavier so he got a bit higher dose. There's only 3 doses, once a day for 3 days. That seems kind of low to me, and nothing was said about retreating again. Zeke's D is even worse tonite (and it's a freaking ice rink on our patio and yard, have gone through 2.5 jugs of pet-safe ice melt, ARGH).

 

I've read that Panacur can cause vomiting, I sure hope not here. Zeke's already thrown up 2 times in the 3 weeks we've had him (and for us, throwing up has = Bloat 2 out of 3 dogs so far so we're a little nervous when a hound here does it). Hopefully they'll be ok.

 

thanks to everyone for the advice!

Edited January 28, 2013 by RaineysMom

[Batmom]

Panacur is effective against hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms. You don't need Drontal unless you also have tapeworms. The most important thing with hookworms is to worm several times, at 2-3 week intervals.

[Time4ANap]

If his diarrhea is really bad, you might want to ask about metronidazole as well to help with that. We usually end up using both when we suspect worms here. We have numerous owners here who think it's okay to not pick up after their dogs, so we end up going through this same fiasco several times a year.

[OwnedBySummer]

From everything I've heard, Drontal Plus is better than Panacur. I've only ever used Drontal Plus and have 100% perfect success with it. Panacur seems to be less effective.

[RaineysMom]

If his diarrhea is really bad, you might want to ask about metronidazole as well to help with that. We usually end up using both when we suspect worms here. We have numerous owners here who think it's okay to not pick up after their dogs, so we end up going through this same fiasco several times a year.

 

I forgot to mention that, he was put on that too and got his first dose Friday. We didn't get the results of the fecal sample until late yesterday (vet called a few minutes before closing time and we're 1/2 hour away, so couldn't get the Panacur any sooner). He threw up on Friday night (not long after eating/getting the metronidazle) so we gave him another 1/2 pill.

[Time4ANap]

Just a heads up about the Panacur, it is also available at retailers under the brand name SafeGuard. It is made by the same company as Panacur, and even comes off of the same production line. The only difference in the two is the retail box that it's in instead of the Veterinary packaging.

 

We've had a couple times where we realized we needed to de-worm Rocket (based on lots of experience at this point) and it was either a weekend or a holiday weekend. Instead of a $100 office visit and $90 bottle of Panacur at the E-Vet, the SafeGuard Panacur is about 12.99 a pack at our local farm supply. It is packaged in a concentration for dogs and you need to get the correct package and quantity based on the dog's weight. Follow the weight guidelines on the packaging to determine which you need and the dosing. For Rocket, we buy 2 boxes of the 4 gram packages to accomplish a 3 day dose.

 

You do not need a prescription for Panacur. While I always think it's good to check with the vet, after being through this so many times with Rocket, we now keep Panacur and Metronidazole on hand with the Vet's okay.

 

As far as the cooked diet, we have been keeping canned Evanger's Organic Cooked Chicken and their Chicken and Rice canned food on hand. He seems to digest that much better than home cooked when his stomach is feeling the effects of worms.

 

Hope this helps.

[AEB]

We have used both. Kevin had a bad case of hooks and we didn't know for months. We had never delt with worms. He had some D, but more gas, wretching and coughing. (We now know what to look for). By then the soil was infected. So he keeps re-infecting himself occasionally. We have found Drontal knocked them out better. It's a single dose. And it's more expensive. Like 5 or 6 times as much ($16 v. $65). Kevin hates it and we can't get it into him anymore (it's chewable). It also made him sicker. So now we do Panacur (powder) worming once a month or every other month during the times when it's warm. This is under the direction of our vet. We do occasional stool samples but there can be false negatives. So if he tests negative we go every other month and retest in a few months. The panacur is very well tolerated by Kevin (except the first time when he had a lot more worms- he seemed to NEED to get outside very early in the morning and his poops were gross). We alternated at first. But now use only Panacur. Good luck with your new boy Kim!

[krissn333]

Hookworms are very stubborn. It took several 5 day cycles of Panacur to knock them out for poor Fritz.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Our vet likes Drontal Plus.

Thankfully, none of ours have had any parasite issues.

 

And...YES... I would treat both dogs.

[galgrey]

The hookworms could definitely explain the big D. Princess had them (altho two fecals were negative) when I adopted her and I tried lots of different foods thinking she had a sensitive stomach. When we got rid of the hooks the big D went too.