Worming advice please

[MerseyGrey]

This wasn’t the post I was supposed to put on tonight since we were celebrating Buddy’s 9th birthday yesterday but he’s had a bit of an upset tummy for a couple of days. 

Does anyone here use Milbemax for worming? We have Buddy on a treatment plan whereby he takes Bravecto for flea and tick treatment and Milbemax for worms every three months but I’m never certain if the worming treatment doesn’t quite clear his infection, or if he becomes re-infected quite quickly in the cycle. I’m also not certain exactly what he poops out. A few days after his tablets he has creamy white objects in his poo that are similar in appearance and feel to butternut squash seeds. Usually about 4-6 weeks after treatment he goes on a grass eating frenzy and he will poop out something similar. I am guessing that these things are tapeworm segments, which I have seen described as being like rice grains. I’ve never seen any worms at his bottom, but we did find a tapeworm in the garden last October with something that looked like vomited meaty food (we feed kibble, so we could have been looking at rehydrated kibble). I didn’t think tapeworms lived in the upper GI tract but maybe someone could put me straight? It’s never happened since.

Buddy’s worming treatment is part of a health plan whereby we pay monthly and get quarterly flea, tick and worming treatment as well as his annual boosters. He has a choice of worming treatments so I’ve stuck with Milbemax as it seems to cover more (it’s milbemycin and praziquantel), or a monthly treatment. The monthly wormer which was available would treat lungworm but not other types of worm, and since Buddy doesn’t play with slugs and snails I didn’t think it was worth it. The vet practice doesn’t seem keen on treating for worms between scheduled treatments (even though I paid for the tablets separately when I did persuade them).

So. Tuesday morning-happy birthday Buddy! We woke up to a present that he gifted to us on the kitchen floor. And again this morning. However this happened two months ago and on both occasions we put it down to a bit of a disruption in his normal routine (husband working late and going to bed very late, disturbing Buddy’s beauty sleep). But this time it was messy and diarrhoea-like, and his poops on this evening’s walk were the same. I don't think it’s anything he’s eaten especially since he seems generally well (and also he sticks to me like glue when he’s sick) which makes me think it might be worms. He is very partial to eating poop - any kind will do, but the fresher the better, apparently (including his own). We supplement his kibble with Olewo carrots and this is the first time in months that his poo has been less than solid (he’s usually a 3 or 2 on the Bristol stool chart).

Sorry the post is so long. What I would like to know is:

would giving Buddy extra de-worming tablets between scheduled treatment be detrimental to his health?

does what I have described in his poop look like anything that anyone has seen before?

is there a more effective worming treatment available than the one I’ve been offered by my vet?

looking forward to hearing your advice!

[BatterseaBrindl]

I'd start by taking a poo sample in to the Vet.

[HeyRunDog]

He's probably re-infecting himself by eating poop and the grass but it doesn't take much to upset a greyhounds digestive system but as BatterseaBrindl says take a sample to the vet

[MerseyGrey]

16 hours ago, BatterseaBrindl said:

I'd start by taking a poo sample in to the Vet.

 

11 hours ago, HeyRunDog said:

He's probably re-infecting himself by eating poop and the grass but it doesn't take much to upset a greyhounds digestive system but as BatterseaBrindl says take a sample to the vet

Thank you both. I don’t know why I didn’t think of the stool sample...I work in a pathology lab and it’s one of the first things that’s required with an upset tummy! On the plus side, his poops seem back to normal size and consistency and there were no deposits on the kitchen floor this morning . He is actually due for a worm in the next couple of weeks so I will speak to the vets in advance of that and make some arrangements 

[Bizeebee]

From my read of this, it looks like tapeworms should be relatively easy to treat, since this doesn't seem to be working I think I'd consider changing up his medicine regimen. I can appreciate liking to treat every three months, but this might need the consistency of an every month treatment for a while. That's if the real problem is really tapeworm, which as others have suggested, it's hard to know without some stool tests.

[MerseyGrey]

I’m going to take him to the vet next week as he’s pooped in the house again this morning, although it was a formed stool. I can ask them about stool samples when I make the appointment. DH discussed this morning if this might be down to the clocks changing recently which may have screwed with his system. Whatever it is I would like to get to the bottom of it before this becomes an established habit!

[MerseyGrey]

12 hours ago, Bizeebee said:

From my read of this, it looks like tapeworms should be relatively easy to treat, since this doesn't seem to be working I think I'd consider changing up his medicine regimen. I can appreciate liking to treat every three months, but this might need the consistency of an every month treatment for a while. That's if the real problem is really tapeworm, which as others have suggested, it's hard to know without some stool tests.

Thanks for this BTW. It’s an informative link

[MerseyGrey]

Just a little update...I worked out what had caused Buddy’s upset tummy shortly after these posts but took him to the vet as I wanted to ask about worming and his teeth, which aren’t the best. I’m pretty certain his bout of diarrhoea was down to him ‘helping’ me in the garden on Sunday by chewing on the fig tree branches I had trimmed as well as shredding the giant leaves (he loves to shred things but normally sticks to paper and cardboard). I googled whether or not fig tree wood could be burnt in a log burner (it can) but the sap is an irritant so I’m guessing that while Buddy didn’t eat any of the leaves, he would have ingested enough of the sap while assisting me to upset his tummy, resulting inTuesday morning’s poop party in my kitchen. Most people on Greytalk would probably already know this but if there are any other green newbies like me they might not. Now you do!

Re: worming - the health plan is moving over to a monthly joint worming and flea treatment which covers most worms including lungworm - which he wasn’t covered for before - except tapeworm. But his vet thinks that the description of the seed-like objects in his poo are most likely tapeworm segments so she has given him some tablets for that, and we can treat him again in six months if we still see evidence of infection. I’m looking forward to finding some in the next few days.

The other good news is that he has lost some weight (2.5kg) so we are going in the right direction with diet and exercise.