Concern about MDR hookworms in GH's

[smt]

I have been reading up on hookworms, as our recently adopted girl is positive.  I have come across some alarming recently published data pointing to multiple drug resistance, including to Moxidectin in some dogs, which is the go to treatment at this point in time for this prevalent issue in GH's.  My vet mentioned this to me earlier in the week when we took her in for her initial appointment to establish care.  I don't meant to set off a panic, but at the same time, this is pretty darn scary.  I am encouraged that there are many testimonials here that point to Advantage Multi coupled with Drontal, which has proven to be effective in clearing hookworms in their dog, so I hope that this will remain true for our girl and all the other hook positive pups out there.  

I wonder if adding Diamataceous Earth as a food supplement while undergoing Dr. Ng's protocol would give a needed boost to the eradication of the parasites.  Thoughts?  Has anyone used DE with their GH's, and if so, what was the outcome?

I have been religiously picking up poop, but I am also going to start sprinkling the poop spots with DE, as well.  

Ever onward in battling this scourge . . . 

[greysmom]

Yes.  The greyhound community has been dealing with treatment resistant hookworm for a while now - maybe going on 8-10 years since we first started seeing it widespread.  It does usually take multiple courses of treatment - no matter what you choose to do - to get rid of the little buggers.  In addition to the Ng Protocol, my vet has offered the recently reformulated ProHeart shot, as that has a hookworm targeter that lasts for many months (either 6 or 12 months depending on the shot).  

There is some controversy about ProHeart, but we have had one of our dogs on it since August (she has a compromised gut and immune system and can't take worming by mouth) and we haven't had a single problem.  

As far as DE, there are many who will say it helps.  My own feeling is that if it's rough enough to kill a worm, it's too rough for the inside of a dog's intestinal tract, and will cause more damage than it solves.  Treating the yard with it should be fine though.

[smt]

6 hours ago, greysmom said:

Yes.  The greyhound community has been dealing with treatment resistant hookworm for a while now - maybe going on 8-10 years since we first started seeing it widespread.  It does usually take multiple courses of treatment - no matter what you choose to do - to get rid of the little buggers. 

In addition to the Ng Protocol, my vet has offered the recently reformulated ProHeart shot, as that has a hookworm targeter that lasts for many months (either 6 or 12 months depending on the shot).  

There is some controversy about ProHeart, but we have had one of our dogs on it since August (she has a compromised gut and immune system and can't take worming by mouth) and we haven't had a single problem.  

As far as DE, there are many who will say it helps.  My own feeling is that if it's rough enough to kill a worm, it's too rough for the inside of a dog's intestinal tract, and will cause more damage than it solves.  Treating the yard with it should be fine though.

Hi Greysmom, I think the most alarming bit from the journal article is the risk that moxidectin is also becoming ineffective with the hooks.  I suppose I was operating under a false sense of security that as long as we kept our pup on Advantage Multi, we would eventually tackle the buggers.  I hope that is still the case, but the possibility that it could be otherwise is disheartening.  I will definitely be looking into the treatment you shared.  Thanks for that.

 

[greysmom]

I think the thing to take away is that single drug treatments are not effective against the current strain of hooks.  You need to use Advantage Multi *along with* an oral medication such as Drontal Plus (not regular strength, but the Plus version). 

We are on round #2 of treating our girl who came home in September.   Last dose is Sunday and I'm hoping this will be the last of it.

[GreytMom]

I've had my chronic hook girl for a year now. Still have hook... been using Advantage Multi monthly and Panacur every 3 weeks. (Of course on occasion the dates coincide... I gave both once and won't don it again. I think the combo poisoned her - and one of my other dogs that has picked up hook from her. Both vomited and my grey (who vomited twice) has never vomited before, my other dog does on occasion but he did also. So although some things say to do Advantage and Panacur/Drontal together, I won't do that again.

Anyway, I tried DE as had heard it worked. I gave it up after a month or so as I didn't see any change and hated to keep giving it to my girl. I don't know if it was rough on her GI tract or not, she didn't show any problems with it, but since she still clearly had hooks in spite of giving it to her daily for a month I gave up. Good luck. It's frustrating.

[djsgreys]

We have a large pack of greyhounds and a lot of other newly arrived greyhounds coming through our place on a regular basis.  I routinely worm all my dogs but every foster gets the full NG treatment along with human grade DE for one full month.  I have never found the DE to create any problems in the GI tract and have pretty good success in getting rid of worms up here. 

 

 

[smt]

On 12/29/2019 at 12:19 PM, djsgreys said:

We have a large pack of greyhounds and a lot of other newly arrived greyhounds coming through our place on a regular basis.  I routinely worm all my dogs but every foster gets the full NG treatment along with human grade DE for one full month.  I have never found the DE to create any problems in the GI tract and have pretty good success in getting rid of worms up here. 

 

 

Do you just sprinkle on top of food?  We feed 1.5 cups of kibble in a little warm water with a topper of yogurt to pumpkin puree.  Will the DE be effective if its added to the slurry?

[NeylasMom]

https://therawfeedingcommunity.com/2017/05/30/de-is-not-an-intestinal-parasite-treatment/

[smt]

22 hours ago, NeylasMom said:

https://therawfeedingcommunity.com/2017/05/30/de-is-not-an-intestinal-parasite-treatment/

Thanks Neyla's mom.  This is very informative.  Looks like the DE will stay in the bag.

[Scoutsmom]

I adopted my girl, Tess, last May.  She is a 7 yr old brood mama.  I started her immediately on Advantage Plus and Panacur.  She had a very bad reaction to the Panacur (bloody diarrhea and bloody vomit requiring trips to the emergency room).  So I switched to Drontal.  She got both at the same time, every four weeks.  After 6 months we finally got 3 months of worm-free fecal samples (YEAH!!!!).  Now she is on monthly Advantage Plus, with fecal tests every 2 months.   I've my fingers crossed that she remains worm-free. 

[djsgreys]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:20 AM, smt said:

Do you just sprinkle on top of food?  We feed 1.5 cups of kibble in a little warm water with a topper of yogurt to pumpkin puree.  Will the DE be effective if its added to the slurry?

I feed raw and just mix the teaspoon into the raw food.   Should be fine mixed in with the yogurt or pumpkin.