Hookworm!

[NewGrey2017]

Advantage Multi with Drontal is the only way our boy got rid of the hookworm plight. We've kept up with the Advantage Multi monthly since.

[cgs]

Just got Percy's fecal results. Neg for giardia, pos for hooks--exactly the same level: "moderate" 11-30 per whatever.

 

He had 2 rounds of panacur 3 weeks apart. At the same time he's had 3 rounds of drontal plus and advantage multi together every 2 weeks.

 

I discussed the whole resistant hook thing with the vet. She's going to call the lab and see if they have ideas for treatment. Meantime I'll dose again with drontal and advantage multi probably. This Friday will be 2 weeks again.

 

Newgrey, once you started on the drontal/advantage regimen, how long did it take to get rid of them?

Can anyone point me to this drontal powder? Getting Percy to take the pill has been challenging.

[cgs]

Someone suggested food grade diatomaceous earth. Anyone ever try this? Apparently it works mechanically, so it actually cuts the worms and larvae so they die. Takes a few months. Seems like it might be worth trying. I'd still continue advantage multi, which is supposed to break the larva leak (whatever that is). Maybe the two together would speed things up. Though with Percy's results not even any lower than before, it doesn't seem like any med has done anything at all. Maybe it just takes more time? But I'd still expect to seem some reduction of the worms.

[LaFlaca]

Someone suggested food grade diatomaceous earth. Anyone ever try this? Apparently it works mechanically, so it actually cuts the worms and larvae so they die. Takes a few months. Seems like it might be worth trying. I'd still continue advantage multi, which is supposed to break the larva leak (whatever that is). Maybe the two together would speed things up. Though with Percy's results not even any lower than before, it doesn't seem like any med has done anything at all. Maybe it just takes more time? But I'd still expect to seem some reduction of the worms.

 

Yes, I've heard of this. My son uses it at work. It is not fed to the animals but spread in and around their enclosures.

Edited April 24, 2018 by LaFlaca

[cgs]

The vet just called back after talking to an internist at the lab. She said they said that the larval leak in greyhounds is really difficult and all you can do is ride it out. She said to keep giving Advantage Multi--just monthly is fine, I've been giving every two weeks--and eventually he'll be negative, but it might take 6 months to a year.

 

The Advantage Multi covers heartworm and fleas, but apparently not tics so I still need to give nextgard or something like that for tics. I thought it covered tics, but didn't read carefully, so he hasn't been treated for tics in 3 months. Great. We're a high tic area here, but at least it's been cold.

 

I'm going to try to research more and decide whether to follow the vets advice to the letter, or whether to give Advantage Multi more often or add something else.

 

She said no to the diatomaceous earth, but that's probably just because she's a vet and only believes in "real" medicine.

Heargard and Advantage Multi have completely different ingredients, so I might give Heartgard too. I don't know....

[NewGrey2017]

Just got Percy's fecal results. Neg for giardia, pos for hooks--exactly the same level: "moderate" 11-30 per whatever.

 

He had 2 rounds of panacur 3 weeks apart. At the same time he's had 3 rounds of drontal plus and advantage multi together every 2 weeks.

 

I discussed the whole resistant hook thing with the vet. She's going to call the lab and see if they have ideas for treatment. Meantime I'll dose again with drontal and advantage multi probably. This Friday will be 2 weeks again.

 

Newgrey, once you started on the drontal/advantage regimen, how long did it take to get rid of them?

Can anyone point me to this drontal powder? Getting Percy to take the pill has been challenging.

Two rounds about 21 days apart. And that was with him barfing up the Drontal the first time. The 2nd time, we did Advantage on Friday evening and broke up Drontal into three 1/2 pills given Saturday AM, midday and with dinner. Had to put it in ham to get him to eat it. i'll probably get another check in a month or so.

[cgs]

Percy's already had 3 rounds of drontal. :/

[amalexia]

The vet just called back after talking to an internist at the lab. She said they said that the larval leak in greyhounds is really difficult and all you can do is ride it out. She said to keep giving Advantage Multi--just monthly is fine, I've been giving every two weeks--and eventually he'll be negative, but it might take 6 months to a year.

 

The Advantage Multi covers heartworm and fleas, but apparently not tics so I still need to give nextgard or something like that for tics. I thought it covered tics, but didn't read carefully, so he hasn't been treated for tics in 3 months. Great. We're a high tic area here, but at least it's been cold.

 

I'm going to try to research more and decide whether to follow the vets advice to the letter, or whether to give Advantage Multi more often or add something else.

 

She said no to the diatomaceous earth, but that's probably just because she's a vet and only believes in "real" medicine.

Heargard and Advantage Multi have completely different ingredients, so I might give Heartgard too. I don't know....

 

Heartguard doesn't protect against ticks so you will still need something for that (we use Nexguard).

[NewGrey2017]

Percy's already had 3 rounds of drontal. :/

 

We had multiple (5?) rounds of Drontal. I only did 2 rounds where I did the Advantage Multi followed within 24 hours by the Drontal.

 

In the end, that was the combo that did the trick, but I can't say for certain if the hookworms had been weakened by all the previous rounds of Panacur, Ivermectin, etc. He stayed 3+ the whole time until we did the Advantage / Drontal

[cgs]

He had two rounds of panacur and 3 rounds of drontal/advantage multi. I'm just not sure what to do now. Advantage multi and nextgard for sure, but advantage every 2 weeks or just monthly? And are those two drugs enough?

[LaFlaca]

Can anyone explain what the numbers mean...3+, etc?

[NewGrey2017]

Can anyone explain what the numbers mean...3+, etc?

 

This is from my dog's online records, when he was positive.

 

-------------- Ova & Parasite Reporting Scheme --------------------- The number of eggs or parasites is the number on the entire slide (not per field) for each parasite reported... 1 seen = 1 egg or parasite seen on entire slide 1+ = 2-to-4 eggs or parasites (few) 2+ = 5-to-10 eggs or parasites (small) 3+ = 11-to-50 eggs or parasites (moderate) 4+ = >50 eggs or parasites (many) -------------------------------------------------------------------:::

 

Hookworm (Ancylostoma) Eggs 3+

[NewGrey2017]

He had two rounds of panacur and 3 rounds of drontal/advantage multi. I'm just not sure what to do now. Advantage multi and nextgard for sure, but advantage every 2 weeks or just monthly? And are those two drugs enough?

 

Unfortunately it is a process, and there is no panacea. You need to keep hammering away. I was definitely over 4 months in getting rid of them. Our vet recommended a blood work check for liver issues while we were giving him so many meds. Also checked for tick borne disease. That was a bit pricey ($80 or more?)

[cgs]

I made a spreadsheet of all the medicines I'm hearing about so I don't give two of the same thing and cause an overdose. Ivermectin seems to be the main heartworm thing and that's not in Advantage Multi or Nextgard, but supposedly Advantage Multi will prevent heartworm too. But it seems I could safely give Advantage Multi, Nextgard, and Heartgard or Iverheart. Iverheart has 2 of the 3 ingredients in Drontal. Heartgard only has 1. The third ingredient--Febantel--doesn't seem to do anything for larva. Just kills off adults. So I'm not sure adding that to the other stuff is really necessary because I think they're all supposed to kill off adults, though they work through different mechanisms. So confusing.

[NeylasMom]

I would not be combining these meds without a discussion with your vet. These are all chemicals and ideally you use the minimum amount to accomplish what you need to. Honestly if I were going through what you are and werent in an area where heartworm is common, I probably wouldn't worry about that except in the few months when mosquitos are really prevalent. You could also ask about a Seresto collar for ticks rather than another oral med.

 

Also, milk whistle would be a nice idea to support the liver while they are taking these meds.

[cgs]

I've never heard of any dog anywhere getting heartworm, but figured it's because all dogs are always on heartgard or the ingredient in it. I would ask the vet before combining, but she was really going with what the box says it treats--that was just quick on the phone. The Advantage Multi box said heartworm and other worms as well as fleas, but not ticks, so she said to add nextgard. She wasn't considering the individual ingredients.

[NeylasMom]

Heartguard+ dogs turns up constantly at rural shelters where a group I work with pulls dogs from - TN, NC, KY, etc. I think it's more common in warmer/more humid areas and of course, these people who are "breeding" these dogs in those areas surely aren't giving preventatives. I would be a lot more cautious if I lived in any of those areas because if there are a lot of dogs with it, there are probably a lot of mosquitoes carrying it. My very unscientific explanation.

 

ETA: And I just looked again and see you're in MD. I don't worry as much here but I still give preventatives in the warmers months. I'll start my girls on it soon. Mostly because heartworm is not fun to treat and completely preventable. I worry a lot more about TBDs having said that.

Edited April 25, 2018 by NeylasMom

[cgs]

Thanks. I think I'll stick with Advantage Multi for the hooks and also assume that really is preventing heartworm, and add nextgard for the ticks. I bought Heartgard for him when we got him, but thankfully only got 3 months worth. I'll save that for some other time. I really hate the Advantage Multi because I hate topicals. It's hard to get on them and it's icky on their fur. My little dog has long fur, so it's easier to part it and get the topicals on, but I switched to nextgard with her too. The stuff I was using smelled like maple syrup. At least Advantage Multi doesn't seem to have much odor.

[NewGrey2017]

Since getting the clean hookworm report, I've been doing Advantage on the first of the month and Frontline on the 15th. Because both were topical, I was worried I was going to irritate his skin. Vet said this was fine.

[PaddysDad]

We switched over to Advantage Multi from HG+ for the new hook protocol, but b0oth dogs ended up with some serious runs after the Advantage Multi treatment, which was the day after the third Panacur dose. Is this from the AdMulti? They were soft already due to the hook, but a couple of days after the Advantage I had to start picking up their poop buy cutting out the sod underneath with a shovel.

[LaFlaca]

We switched over to Advantage Multi from HG+ for the new hook protocol, but b0oth dogs ended up with some serious runs after the Advantage Multi treatment, which was the day after the third Panacur dose. Is this from the AdMulti? They were soft already due to the hook, but a couple of days after the Advantage I had to start picking up their poop buy cutting out the sod underneath with a shovel.

 

Don't know if Advantage can cause soft-serve poo but hooks certainly can.

[PaddysDad]

picked up new 4 1/2 yo male from Derby as a foster. September 2017 Was given a "hook:" deworming . Went to vetting within 2 weeks. Dental, neuter blood work... the works. After the food change soopy poop started. Fecal showed 4+ hooks. 1.2 ml Ivermectin, Advantage Multi topical and 5 days of Drontal powder on food. Repeat after 2 weeks. Still pos for hooks. Start another round and poop looking firmer. 3rd month still pos and 1 more round but following month test shows clear. Next month test shows clear. So after 5 months poop runny again and test is 5+. Group has 3 fosters in same shape. I know this is costing the rescue group a bunch of money and holding up adopters who are very patient. UF Vets are calling this a drug resistant hookworm infestation and looking into new drugs.

Hi Buddy, are you in contact with the UF vets through your group, your group's vet, or is it your vet?

 

After 2 months of clears, do you think it might be a reinfection?

 

Someone here posted earlier about avoiding meet and greets and other GH events due to this hook issue. I imagine that the rest area out in front of Petco must be a hookworm breeding ground.

 

Don't know if Advantage can cause soft-serve poo but hooks certainly can.

they were soft up to the panacur, during the panacur and then the AdMulti, but about three days after the AdMulti, they went liquid. Since the topicals take three to 4 days to fully absorb, I was just wondering if this was common to the AdMulti.

[LaFlaca]

buddibear, on 23 Apr 2018 - 3:55 PM, said:

 

 

UF Vets are calling this a drug resistant hookworm infestation and looking into new drugs.

 

buddibear, do you have any links/articles to what the vets at UF are saying? I visited the UF website but couldn't find anything to show my vet.

[GreytXpctations]

Due to a recent issue with food, and the somewhat less recent issue with the hooks, I brought in samples from all three dogs to rule out hooks. Both boys are clear and the female was a weak positive that they said could just be from even one adult hook laying eggs. Discussion with the vet lead to the suggestion of running a schedule of Advantage Multi, followed by three days of Panacur, repeated in three weeks, then tested again after another two to see if a third course is warranted.

 

He specifically asked if she was a prison dog (she isn't). He has three dogs from the same area prison program that can't shake the hooks.

[GreytXpctations]

Just found this about using albendazole to treat hookworms in humans.

 

After rereading this post, I feel like I might want to talk with my doctor about that stuff. Yeeesh!