Long haul hookworms

[Jerilyn]

I know this has been discussed a lot but I’m feeling a bit defeated and looking for any other suggestions.

Wiki just got another positive test. We’ve been treating her for about 16 months. She’s had a couple negative tests but always followed by another positive one. She’s on Advantage Multi monthly and has had multiple courses of Drontal with various timings. She was quite sick when I got her but after a course of Panacur she’s been asymptomatic – perfect poops, no squeaky belly, she’s active and shiny and sassy. 

If you’ve had a long fight, what finally worked for you?

It seems like Moxidectin is the magic ingredient and I’ve heard good things about the ProHeart vaccines. If you use those did they get you a negative result or just keep them negative?

Is it possible for a dog to just be hookworm positive forever without any serious health effects?

Thanks!

[Time4ANap]

With Kate and Petunia it took just about a year to get multiple negative fecals. 

I can tell you that Petunia was so loaded with them that she pooped massive amounts of blood for the first month. We went outside with her every time in case we needed to scoop her up and go to the E-Vet. Then one day the stools were magically normal. 

We modified the Prison Protocol due to their age (each was 11 when they arrived from the farm) and stuck to the schedule. Drontal Plus on the first of each month and Advocate (Advantage Multi) on the 15th.  There were a few courses of Metronidazole for their tummies as well.  Gradually each one went from Loaded With Hooks, to Positive With Eggs, to Positive Antigen and finally Negative. 

Each of them had a point where they were obviously feeling better because they started playing. Kate had never played and at about 6 months in, she would come in and get me out of bed every night at midnight, make me go to the living room, and she would do spins and fling toys. 

Did Wiki come from a farm or off the track? Just curious. Kate and Petunia came from the same farm and were absolutely loaded with hooks. 

EDIT - I neglected to mention that Mark and LaVida are both currently being treated with the same protocol. Even though they each had different owners prior to arriving here, they were both positive on arrival at their first vet visit. Neither has a bad case of them. Mark had been in his prior home since 2015 or so when his owner passed away, and LaVida had been in her home for a year or so when her owner passed away. They were both well cared for, so it just shows that the hooks can crop up anywhere or anytime. Mark has had one clean fecal after two months of our modified protocol. LaVida is still positive for the antigen but had no eggs. We are doing another month before we retest. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Time4ANap
added info

[1Moregrey]

No advice, Journey and I are at a similar spot she just had a positive result after a few negative.  She just finished two doses and we get another fecal next week.  So I will be following this too.  August will be two years for us. 

[Jerilyn]

15 hours ago, Time4ANap said:

Did Wiki come from a farm or off the track? Just curious. Kate and Petunia came from the same farm and were absolutely loaded with hooks. 

Wiki is a broodie off the farm too. And her adoption group didn't even test her for hookworms! Her fosters though her horrible poop was an intolerance to chicken and tried to solve it with benefiber.

I just read an interesting paper about using a topical treatment for cats as an oral treatment for resistant hooks. It's an off label use and scares me a little. Anyone try that?

[Time4ANap]

2 hours ago, Jerilyn said:

Wiki is a broodie off the farm too. And her adoption group didn't even test her for hookworms! Her fosters though her horrible poop was an intolerance to chicken and tried to solve it with benefiber.

I just read an interesting paper about using a topical treatment for cats as an oral treatment for resistant hooks. It's an off label use and scares me a little. Anyone try that?

I haven't seen the treatment you mentioned.  I would be reluctant to try anything like that without a ton of data to back it up and my vet's blessing. 

Broodies...

[palmettobug]

I first read about it on Reddit, it's apparently something vets in Europe were doing? Anyway, there's a study from UGA addressing it, the file is too big to attach here.

[oldrunners]

There is a FB group, Getting Rid of Parasites in Retired Racing Greyhounds. Drs. Ng and Castro post the latest info.  Read the briefs section.  The drug is Profender, and is used topically in cats, orally in greys.  My Pippin just had 2 negs after two years of Advantage Multi, then Drontal 2 weeks later.  I"ll test him again next week, and if he is still neg. I'll stop the Drontal but continue the AM for life.  If he is positive, I'll be doing the Profender.

[greysmom]

{{{hugs}}} 

 

Even if she's gets a negative, she may be reinfecting herself from her own yard without an effective monthly tx.  An advantage of the Proheart I didn't mention.  

Andi was hook+ when she came to us.  She'd been well taken care of but was living on her owner's farm in Nebraska, just hanging out rehabbing a shoulder injury.  So she came to us with hooks.  We did 6 months of the prison protocol with only one negative test.  In the meantime, I had put Lilly on ProHeart on the advice of our vet due to her very adverse reaction to oral medications.  It worked fabulously for Lilly, and the vet said to try it with Andi and Felicity as well.  After 2 months, it was like Don said - just a flip of a switch! - and everyone's poops were perfect and we got three negative fecals spaced out over 3 months time (2 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks).  I've had all three on ProHeart ever since.

It is important to clear them.  Lilly had a very difficult time getting rid of them as a puppy, and my vet and I believe that the destruction of her gut lining contributed to the digestive and intolerance issues she had her whole life.  

[JenniferS]

23 hours ago, oldrunners said:

There is a FB group, Getting Rid of Parasites in Retired Racing Greyhounds. Drs. Ng and Castro post the latest info.  Read the briefs section.  The drug is Profender, and is used topically in cats, orally in greys.  My Pippin just had 2 negs after two years of Advantage Multi, then Drontal 2 weeks later.  I"ll test him again next week, and if he is still neg. I'll stop the Drontal but continue the AM for life.  If he is positive, I'll be doing the Profender.

Yes, if you are on Facebook be sure to join the group https://www.facebook.com/groups/829551573866770 for the most up to date protocols

[cleptogrey]

They contacting Carol from God's Greyts. She had posted something on the GIG fb page.she is from Florida and well acquainted with the problem and has both generic meds and info. Carol is a wonderful resource.

[zimsmom]

Following.   I just asked Dr Poling this question via zoom.  What if I opt not to treat.  If I understood him correctly they can have inflammatory bowel, bleed and lots of GI issues.  I have been treating for a year next month.  No blood no worms ever noted which I guess is good reading the above posts. 

[Kestrel]

We had success with the Profender treatment, and found that FB group mentioned above and those two vets to be very helpful sources of info. Lucia came to us in 2020 as a 7-year old brood with hooks. We did the Advantage Multi and Drontal for more than a year before trying the Profender. She got her first dose of Profender in August of 2021, administered by a grey-savvy vet who talked with Dr. Jimenez Castro, calculated the dosage needed, and approved the prescription from Chewy (it is approved here for cats). Her next fecal came back negative. We did another dose in September, and got another negative fecal. Kept her on Advantage Multi only. Waited three months, did another fecal in January, still negative. Planned to wait 6 months for the next one, but in April she started having some appetite/GI issues again, and so we did a test early. It came back positive for the antigen but negative on eggs. So we're going to test again in three months.

We also adopted Henry at the same time and he had them as well. He was not quite 2, and whether it was a shorter duration of prior infection or his different constitution (maybe just that he was younger, or that he hadn't given birth to three litters?), he responded to the AM/Drontal treatment and has been negative for several months. We continue to monitor him.

Hope you find what works for Wiki!

[Jerilyn]

Kestrel, thanks for sharing your experience with Profender. Lucia has a very similar story to Wiki’s. It seems like these brood mamas who spent a lot of time on the farm have the tougher cases.

So Wiki ended up having three fecal tests in a week. First one they just did an antigen test in error and of course that was positive. Second one did see a low number of eggs. My vet had the same article I did from UGA so we opted to do the more extensive test detailed there to determine if we were dealing with an active infestation or larval leak. And no eggs or larva or anything was found. So we are assuming it’s a larval leak situation. We are doing one more round of Drontal just in case and will stick with the Advantage Multi and periodic tests. Wiki is completely asymptomatic so at least that’s good.

[1Moregrey]

Journey hookworm “adventure” sounds like Wiki’s. Was wondering if anyone has noticed a cough like allergy’s at random times.  Have had Journey in to vets nothing of note she takes Benadryl but does not seem to do much for the cough. I have her on ST had a few negative then a positive, added a round of Drontal still positive.

So we had a day of light eating, food left in the dish, a few days of coughing followed by the tummy noises sounds like she has cats in there, eating grass.  Now I am convinced the coughing is her infestation of the larva leak.

Just breaks my heart to hear the cough,  she has a vet check in a few weeks, I am recovering from surgery and getting her in between my treatments.  Want to see if adding the second medication Drontal when she starts to show signs of “leak” if we would have more luck.  Since it is not always 2 weeks after her monthly ST that I think I see signs of leek.  Or do they have to have hatched for a while before the medication can kill them.  
 

Just wondering if this could be something and now I have plenty of time to observe and wonder.

 

 

[Jerilyn]

I have not heard of a cough as a hookworm symptom. But who knows what those horrible creatures can do?  I hope you can figure it out, I know how hard it is to seem them unwell.

[SIGreyLady]

I got Adam last March and he had hooks. Eventually, with lots of meds, he tested neg in Sept.  I thought we were finished with them ! Uh, no - he has them again .  He had 1 week of Panacur with 2 weeks of Metronidazole now on Drontal and another dose in 2 weeks. UGH.....

[dante2zoe]

I don't even bother to test anymore, to be honest.  Zeke gets 5 days of SafeGuard with a dose of pyrantel palomate (however it is spelled), followed by AM.  For two weeks, his stool is great.  Then, it deteriorates and we are back to mush.  Literally, it is wash, rinse, repeat.  My vet just wants him on hypoallergenic food, so I know the Profender treatment will never fly with her.  When we first got him, I treated him for an active case for 8 months and everything was clear.  Then, it came back 8 months later and we have been battling it again since last September.  So frustrating.  And, I know it cannot be comfortable.  At least with monthly treatment, the horrendous gas is gone and he is no longer biting at his sides, which apparently can be a symptom, too.

Angus had quite the case, too, when he landed here and he had been receiving aggressive treatment at his last home.  It looks like he is now in the clear, but I do not take that for granted.  

I loathe hookworms!    

[ramonaghan]

Welp, now I know what I am in for. Doolin had his first check-up at our vet last week and he has hooks (3+). His poop has been so perfect I'd hoped we'd escaped.  

[Remolacha]

I don’t think you can escape, but if he still has good poops at least he may not have a bad case 

[Jerilyn]

Welcome to the club! We're not very exclusive, everyone who adopted a greyhound in the past few years is a member.

Wiki is due for a recheck next week. I had a real struggle getting the Drontal into her this time around. She has proven to be one of those dogs that can eat a pill pocket and still spit out the pill.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Jerilyn

[Remolacha]

I will have had Val for 7 years in October, but when she went off her Heartgard last year she came up positive for hooks . Fortunately a mild case and she seems negative again as long as she stays on the Advantage Multi, which is good because the Drontal really did a number on her. But that is what I mean, you can’t escape!

[Time4ANap]

30 minutes ago, Jerilyn said:

Welcome to the club! We're not very exclusive, everyone who adopted a greyhound in the past few years is a member.

Wiki is due for a recheck next week. I had a real struggle getting the Drontal into her this time around. She has proven to be one of those dogs that can eat a pill pocket and still spit out the pill.

We use Velveeta slices. For those larger pills like Drontal or the pills where they seem to be able to detect the flavor, we wrap it twice and make them a nice big cheese ball.  Petunia was the master of spitting out the pill so we learned quickly that we had to watch her and make sure she didn't deposit it under a bed. 

Squirty cheese in the can is also good but a little messy to deal with. 

Fingers crossed here. We dropped off fecal samples yesterday for Mark and LaVida. Mark had his first negative at the last vet visit so we treated for another few months to be sure that we got them. LaVida had a mild case with no real symptoms. Hoping for 2 negative reports on Monday. 

[ramonaghan]

  for negative results for Mark, LaVida, and Wiki next week!

I'm picking up the dewormer on Monday; I didn't ask what it would be. Grassmere is usually up to speed on the latest with as many greyhounds as they see, but I got the impression we're going to start simple and go from there. Doolin had the ProHeart 6 shot in May when he came off the track, so I wonder what, if any, effect that will have on his treatment.

[FiveRoooooers]

1 hour ago, Time4ANap said:

We use Velveeta slices. For those larger pills like Drontal or the pills where they seem to be able to detect the flavor, we wrap it twice and make them a nice big cheese ball.  Petunia was the master of spitting out the pill so we learned quickly that we had to watch her and make sure she didn't deposit it under a bed. 

Squirty cheese in the can is also good but a little messy to deal with. 

Fingers crossed here. We dropped off fecal samples yesterday for Mark and LaVida. Mark had his first negative at the last vet visit so we treated for another few months to be sure that we got them. LaVida had a mild case with no real symptoms. Hoping for 2 negative reports on Monday. 

The campers just discovered spray cheese - it was offered this week at the clinic  But srsly, while messy it seems a good vehicle for pill dispensing.

[Time4ANap]

2 minutes ago, FiveRoooooers said:

The campers just discovered spray cheese - it was offered this week at the clinic  But srsly, while messy it seems a good vehicle for pill dispensing.

My experience with spray cheese was with Rocket. We had gone to the vet clinic at the university and for whatever was going on, the vet wanted a round of panacur just in case there was something lurking. They only had liquid panacur available. There was no way he was going to let me squirt a syringe full into his mouth without losing a finger or two.  Each day I made him a "Squirty Cheese Sammich" by injecting the panacur into a hawaiian roll, and using squirty cheese as the filling for the sandwich. Once the panacur dose was over with, he badgered me for weeks at the same time every day because he wanted his sandwich.