Hookworms

[Will82]

I've read through a lot of the older threads, so please forgive me for starting another one.

We've had our grey for 6 months now.  We knew he had hookworms when we adopted him, and the greyhound adoption program gave us a few months supply of Advantage Multi and Pyrantel to give him.  The instructions were to give him the Advantage Multi on the first of the month, and Pyrantel on the 15th of the month ( similar to Dr. Jennifer Ng's method .)  After two months of testing positive, the vet switched us to Panacur.  First test was negative after Panacur, the second was positive.  So he switched to Interceptor Plus . Two months of that, he's still positive. 

Now the vet tells me to put him back on Advantage Multi.    I feel like I should've researched this more before now, but after taking the last couple of days to research and read the various threads on the subject, I'm going to attack it myself.  Seems like a lot of folks had success with the Prison Protocol, but since the instruction from the adoption program was so similar to Dr. Ng's method, I'm leaning towards going back to that.  

Now a question -  he's had a Seresto flea collar for the last couple of months.  I removed it yesterday.  How soon can I administer the Advantage Multi after removing the collar?

Any other feedback?  There's a lot of information out there to process..  Can be a little overwhelming.  

 

 

[GreyTzu]

Hookworms

[Time4ANap]

The strain of hookworms that is coming with dogs from the track and farms is taking 6 months to a year cases to get rid of in many cases. We are using a modified version of Dr Ng's protocol since our hound is 11 years old and recently was adopted from a racing farm (our timing on the meds is just spaced out a little further at the instruction of our vet) , but the combination of Advantage Multi and Drontal Plus is working.  Her hookworm numbers are dropping significantly with each fecal test.  We are now in month 4 of the modified protocol. The first few months there were obvious signs of hooks, however we no longer see the signs of them and are relying on the egg count in the fecal test to determine if there is still any activity.  You will need several months of clear tests to be sure that you got rid of them. 

Not sure on the Seresto question.  Hopefully someone who uses them regularly will be along to answer this. 

[BrindleBabes]

After discussing it with my vet, I’m following Jennifer Ng’s hookworm protocol with my recently adopted grey. She advised me to use the Seresto collar instead of Nexgard (which I use with my other grey) because the transmission route (topical vs oral) would be safer for her. 

I’m glad Time4aNap is having good results. We’re on month 3 and it’s been brutal - several bouts of bloody/mucousy diarrhea - even saw a live hookworm. 🤮  

I hope this helps.

[palmettobug]

Seresto can be used with the Advantage Multi, as the Advantage does NOT treat ticks.

[Zoomdoggie]

12 hours ago, BrindleBabes said:

 even saw a live hookworm. 🤮  

 

Unless you used a microscope, I don't think hookworms are visible with the human eye.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Zoomdoggie

[Bizeebee]

A word of warning if you're perusing old threads, this drug resistant hookworm is new, just within the last few years, so if you are seeing drugs recommended from longer ago than that, you need to remember they aren't the same worms. The standard drugs used to work, they really don't anymore.

It will help you a lot to start learning the active ingredients in each of these medications/products, as well as what organisms they target. It will help in making sense of what you are using and if anything is double dosing your hound. And you won't be at the blind mercy of whatever your vet thinks is right - because in this situation it's very unlikely they understand the extent of this problem.

When we got our boy (almost a year ago) we did the full on Prison Protocol for six months, and it has seemed to work. Even if you don't use the protocol, give their info a look - http://prisongreyhounds.org/Hookworm 7-2018.pdf

The group/vets that came up with that protocol believe that the Moxidectin is the ingredient that aides with the larval leak, so you definitely want to use a product with that component. If we were starting over today I'd use Coraxis (moxidectin only) instead of the Advantage Multi, so that I could do a trick preventative without double dosing. We also had good luck with Drontal Plus and have, honestly, heard from a lot of people who've tried and failed with Panacur. I would not use it for these buggers.

Your vet very likely doesn't know anything about this problem in greyhounds and really should not have switched you so quickly. These can take 6months or more to get out of their system, and to even test within the early months of that period is kind of useless.

[Jakeoregano]

Quote

Long Post.  For what it's worth, I posted my update to our hookworm travails in two other threads this evening.  To summarize, we had been treating our grey with monthly panacur and Advantage Multi for a full year with no elimination of the hooks.  Definitely were being controlled, but not eliminated.  In April of 2019, at the advise of our vet (our vet office is very knowledgeable about this breed and the challenges with hooks) we doubled up on panacur, administering 2 times a month.  We did NOT double up on Advantage Multi (I am not a chemist, but I understand that after a couple of months of treatment with Advantage it reaches a stable level in the body and adding more does not mean it is more effective.  Seems to me that if it builds up in ithe system it could be come toxic to the dog if you over treat.  I have no scientific evidence to support this unfounded belief).  As of August 2019, our grey had his first negative fecal.  We are hopeful now that the doubling up on the panacur has finally done it, but will need to continue this approach for several more months to confirm .  We didn't try different medications, for numerous reasons, not the least of which was our vet's warning last year when we started treatment, that it could be a that we are never able to completely rid Max of the hooks, but manage them because the meds seem to be getting less and less effective.  We also were reluctant to try additional meds since Max tolerated this protocol verey well.  

Finally, we are in the process of adopting another hound, and he has tested positive for hooks as well.  We are immediately going with panacur and Avantage, and we'll see if the bi-weekly panacur treatment will indeed be effective more quickly and we don't go another 18 months for treatment.

I will post updates on our progress.  Apologies for repeating in several threads.

 

[Time4ANap]

On 9/9/2019 at 6:48 PM, Jakeoregano said:

 

Just remember that one negative fecal means virtually nothing other than that paricular sample was negative.  It;s quite possible to have multiple negative samples and still have hooks. All of the groups / adoption folks we've talked with who have been through this tell us that Panacur no longer works with this strain of hookworms, so be sure to retest regularly.  The Moxidectin is the ingredient that's common to the medications that are known to work reliably in this strain. 

I have given Panacur when I needed to deworm but wanted something that it easier on the stomach as it is effective on other types of worms.  Hopefully it did work for your hound, but be sure to retest at regular intervals. 

We will be running fecals on both of our hounds this week, as one has just finished 6 months of Dr Ng;s modified protocol, and the other hound is new and will be starting it once we have a baseline count on the eggs. The new hound is positive for hooks but the adoption group did not do a count on the eggs. 

Good luck. 

[BrindleBabes]

On 8/2/2019 at 7:51 PM, Zoomdoggie said:

Unless you used a microscope, I don't think hookworms are visible with the human eye.

Sorry for the late post.  A few people have told me that, but I found this on the Companion Animal Parasite Council website:

• Dog hookworms range in size from 10 to 20 mm by 0.4 to 0.5 mm.

20 mm is approximately 3/4”.  Chica tested negative for all other worms.  She is on her 7th month of treatment.  😕