Hookworms treatment for life?

[2greysdad]

We have a 5 year old female greyhound that we adopted back in May that tested positive for hookworms in June. She has been on Drontal plus every month and we also treat her with Advantage multi two weeks after the Drontal. Our vet (who has been the local greyhound adoption group vet for years) feels that the dog should continue to be treated indefinitely. She also mentioned she went to a conference that discussed the drug resistant strains of hookworms in greyhounds & that was the expert's recommendation. I trust our vet but I don't understand why we should just assume that we are dealing with a drug resistant case of hookworms. The drontal is tough on the dog - it often makes her vomit and she eats poorly for a day or two after. We have started giving her anti nausea medication that seems to help but I feel she shouldn't be treated monthly unless she needs it. This is our third greyhound but we have never had to deal with hookworms before. If you have dealt with hookworms, please share your experience.

[LaFlaca]

My Lola came to me with hooks. She had them for for 18 months.  Panacur did nothing.  We used Drontal and Advantage Multi and finally got rid of the hooks.  Unfortunately, I think this combo led to Lola’s death. Her organs were fried.  Please be careful. 

[cleptogrey]

10 minutes ago, LaFlaca said:

My Lola came to me with hooks. She had them for for 18 months.  Panacur did nothing.  We used Drontal and Advantage Multi and finally got rid of the hooks.  Unfortunately, I think this combo led to Lola’s death. Her organs were fried.  Please be careful. 

Agreed. Lettuce had a horrible reaction to drontal plus. The ER vet and Bayer said no way. I saw increased adverse reaction the second time I administered it. $2500 later and almost loosing her i kick myself fot not listening to my gut instinct. 

Look for a new vet and discuss your concerns.

[1Moregrey]

I am new to the hookworms too, have had greyhounds since 1990.  So far have done three rounds of Panacur and went from a 3+ to a 1+ then changed vets (she has greyhounds) and did Advantage Multi twice.  Will get a fecal check around the 17th.  I picked up my dog end of September.

The hookworms no only live in the intestine/colon but do a larva leak into the muscle sometimes then they can become active hatch and reinfect the dog.  So it can take a long time to get over them.  I was told that once they get to a low level almost gone then the heartworm combo meds can be used with good results just have to get them under control.

Hope this helps there is a lot of good info on GT.
 

 

[Time4ANap]

We adopted two senior broodies who came from the farm loaded with hooks. In one, the hooks were so bad that her stools were bloody.  Each one took a year to eliminate the hookworms using the treatment that you are doing with similar timing on the treatments. 

You should start to see a clean fecal or reduced antigen and eggs as treatment continues.  For us the numbers got lower at 9 months but there was also marked improvement in each dog as far as appetite, energy and interaction with us. For those first 9 months they just didn't feel good.  At 12 months they were clean and a follow up fecal 3 months later was also clean.  Basically with hooks we feel you need 3 clean fecals before you are out of the woods. 

We have since switched both girls to a monthly heartworm treatment that also includes parasite protection and they are doing great. 

[phall]

I went through the same with hooks with just about all my greyhounds over the past several years.  After we got 4 clear fecals, we went to just the Advantage Multi.  That has worked for us.  They will continue on the Advantage Multi for life.

[MP_the4pack]

Panacur and Advantage Multi took care of my girl's hooks in 6 months. But if I recall.  I think we threw a Strongid in there too immediately after the panacur. We followed the protocol I found through GT. 

I did use one drontal somewhere in the middle of the process instead of panacur. 

[greysmom]

Yes.  Unfortunately.  Because hooks don't just live in the dog.  They also live in the dog's environment - bedding, rugs, other soft goods in the house, and, of course, in the yard where they have been eliminating.  So lifelong treatment is going to be in her future - as it is for a lot of parasites like heartworm and ticks.

Our vet is now recommending the use of the ProHeart 6 or ProHeart 12 injections.  These automatically deliver a dose of the same oral treatments into the bloodstream for 6 or 12 months without a human having to be involved.  That way your don't have to worry about timing larval leak, or about missing a dose.  There's also no stomach upset.  This was an off label use of this injection, but our vet called and spoke to the company vets and they agreed it could be used for treatment of drug resistant hooks.  I believe the injections are now labelled for this use.

It has worked like a charm for us with absolutely no issues at all.

[LaFlaca]

I’m thrilled to hear that Proheart worked for you.  I started Jenny on Proheart 6 a month ago after a course of Panacur.  She’ll also be on Bravecto every 3 months. I’ll be taking a fecal to the vet on Monday with my fingers crossed for a negative result. It’s been over a year-long battle with Satan’s pet parasites.   🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[ahicks51]

We're fortunate in that in Arizona, it's generally too dry (and for much of the year, too hot) for the eggs to hatch and the larvae are generally unable to survive in the ground.

Provided any stool in the yard is picked up before the eggs have a chance to hatch (1-2 days under warm, moist conditions), the number of larvae in the soil can be controlled.

We frequently get in fosters, so provided we pick up after every dog every day, it's possible to prevent spread. Given enough time, worms will "age out," and die within a year or two. This is a reasonable way to treat low-level infestation, as well as control the spread from new dogs.