worming

[joanne]

Hi everyone.

Jenna is a little out of sorts today.  The vet gave us some worming powder to add to her meals yesterday and each time she has been sick.  (two sachets twice a day).

I was using the 'four seasons' homeopathic remedy but he told me to stay away from this as it was so gentle it wouldn't work.

Anybody else had this problem  (or rather their dog. )                    

[*Jay*]

Has Jenna vomited up worms? If not and she has just been sick, then the sachets obviously don't agree with her. It's really a case of trial and error as to what her stomach will tolerate. If she kept the sachets down for a few hours then they should have had time to take effect so I wouldn't worry too much. If not, then you should get an alternative treatment if she is suspected of having worms. In future, I would probably use another product. Neither of my dogs are sick on their respective treatments but there have been many who phone the surgery to say that their pet has been sick with whatever worming treatment they have been given - switching products usually does the trick.                    

[joanne]

thanks Gill

I phoned the vets and they gave me a pill for Jenna to take which she hasn't had any reaction to yet.  She must have a sensitive tum!                    

[stueymac]

Hi Joanne, you should find the tablets do the trick. Our two were usually sick with the powders but never have any problems with the tablets.                    

[LouiseH]

You can also get the puppy paste now for the little 'uns which is better on the tums than the powder and you can make sure it ALL goes down  

But for the bigger ones mine are fine on the powder, better taken in beef mince or mashed chicken and gravy  

Hope all is ok now with the little one.                    

[Michele]

Hopefully a prevention rather than a cure, mine all have a garlic capsule in their food once a day. I'm inclined to think it works as I don't have and never really have had a flea problem                    

[shaendix]

Not sure if it's common practice in the UK but - will vets do a check on a stool sample to see if the pup does actually have worms?  I sometimes wonder if we checked this we might find that we are overtreating our dogs with chemicals??
I guess it would be an additional cost and it's easier just to dose them but food for thought?                      

[angelad]

I got some Pancur 'tablets' from the vet for Cooper. The smelt really good and Cooper thought they were a treat and gobbled them down! I was really impressed.                    

[Mike]

will vets do a check on a stool sample to see if the pup does actually have worms?

My vet did, as Daisy had a slight cough plus diarrohea with spots of blood and mucus, and he wanted to eliminate the possibility of lung worm. Panacur was the complimentary worm treatment. All came back negeative, pleased to say (was 4 months ago now)                    

[Jane S]

Not sure if it's common practice in the UK but - will vets do a check on a stool sample to see if the pup does actually have worms?  I sometimes wonder if we checked this we might find that we are overtreating our dogs with chemicals??

Yes vets will do stool samples & also titre tests to check levels of antibodies (prior to booster vaccinations) but these checks cost money & vet fees in the UK are quite high, plus most insurance policies wouldn't cover these costs. I think you have a point - if someone brings a pup into the vet with any kind of tummy upset, then it seems they are automatically given worming treatments even if the pup has been reguarly wormed from an early age. I guess they are covering all angles but it does concern me a little too. It also used to be the case that whatever you took your dog to the vet for, you'd come home with some antibiotics "just in case" - now there is growing knowledge that over-use of antibiotics is causing problems (in human medicine as well as veterinary medicine), antibiotics are not handed out quite so freely, thankfully.                    

[Mike]

Agreed. My springer suffered two bouts of Vaginitis last year. The first was treated with traditional antibiotics, however as it came back relatively soon afterwards we went for a homiopathic remedy the second time. Of course I can't say that this was MORE effective, but we haven't seen anything of this condition since - in over a year.