I think we should do what we feel comfortable with, and fits into our "normality". I would not feel comfortable not deworming Gaston, it would make me worry, as over vaccination has now got me thinking too. I am considering getting an appointment with a holistic vet, and see if what comes out from that abides with traditional veterinarian recommendations, I am sure I could find a way in which one could complement the other, and then try and put that to good use, without going overboard so that I don't feel overwhelmed in doing so.
Saw my vet yesterday and she said she thought worming once a year was sufficient in UK unless of course lung worm is about and then I would worm as directed.
I'm so thankful for this thread! I thought I was crazy. We dosed our little pup with Panacur and he went absolutely crazy. He was off the walls, heart racing, panting, whining, barking, pacing, biting and itching. He is a very active puppy, but this was above and beyond his normal behavior. I finally had to give him Benadryl after 4 hours to calm him down. I called my vet and he had never heard of any dog having this type of reaction to Panacur. He wants to try our pup on Pyrantel - anyone have an experience with this med?
You don't say how old your pup is, but often reactions like these don't continue throughout the dog's life - at some point in the future he may be fine again with the wormer. Pyrantel pamoate is not as effective as fenbendazole at treating worms. It does 'ok' with roundworms, but it won't treat tapeworms or other types of worm. Take a look at the active ingredients in wormers - you can purchase them online from pet pharmacies - and try to find one your pup doesn't react to. I would actually suggest you use a service like Wormcount, which enables you to post off a little sample of your dog's poop to be analysed and you are told whether you need to worm the dog on the basis of what is found: https://wormcount.com That way you only need to worm when there is something there to be treated and you can reduce the meds you dog gets...
He was 3 months old at the time. He was not dewormed at birth. He was diagnosed by our vet with round worms only. Our vet suggested the pyratel pamoate and he did well on it and we have continued to dose on that. We are doing another fecal test in about a month for him to make sure he is cleared.
The pyrantel pamoate is not effective against tapeworms, whipworms, hookworms and many other worms dogs can get - only roundworms. Whilst it might be a solution now for his roundworms, it's not a long-term solution for you through his life, as a wormer - it would be best to find another, since otherwise he remains at risk from all those...
My puppy had an extremely hard reaction during his first round of Panacur. We got 2 hours of sleep that night... he was manic and unlike anything I’d seen before. Took him to the vet the next day. She said she’d never heard of this but prescribed a new med. Since that experience I’ve used diatomaceous earth (food grade) and he’s been completely worn free. So glad to have found something that’s both effective and safe!
I’m finding out the hard way what Drontral can do a puppy!! I’m pissed! Our puppy is going crazy! I can’t believe my Vet gave that to us no warning. The poor little girl is going nuts running all around the house. I knew this wasn’t normal so I googled it and found this forum. Thank you for posting. I’ll never give that to her again. I feel terrible.
It is definitely not fun to deal with and I couldn't believe that my vet had never heard of this happening before. Maybe it doesn't happen that often...but I will definitely never give it to my dog again.
Hello, I know this post is old (and I don't have a Labrador) but I had this same issue with Drontal when my Mastiff was a puppy. He had roundworms really bad. After the Drontal reaction we switched to Panacur with no issues. He is now 8 years old and has a tapeworm (caught it from ingesting a flea while eating grass in the yard). The ingredient praziquantel is the only medicine that will treat this tapeworm (Dipylidium caninum). I cannot use Panacur, it only treats the tapeworm Taenia solium. I have heard stories of switching to Milbemax and no issue but how is this possible if it still has the same active ingredient (praziquantel). Can I assume the dogs ok on Milbemax are reacting to the other ingredients (pyrantel pamoate and febantel). I am pretty sure febantel is the same thing as fenbendazole which is in Panacur. I have heard stories of dogs reacting this same way with Panacur. So my thought process is that it is possible that dogs are reacting to the Febantel that is in both Drontal and Panacur. And the ones that try Mibemax are ok because neither of these ingredients are in it. I cannot find any stories on bad reactions with Milbemax. BUT my dog was ok on Panacur so how can he react to the febantel? Doesn't it make sense he reacted to the praziquantel? I also heard of Droncit pills which I think they only ingredient is praziquantel but I can't find much information about it. I am actually scared to give this to him at 8 yrs old because he is much bigger with a worse temperament than when he was a puppy. His reaction this time can be aggressive instead of just scared. I almost consider leaving the tapeworm verses something awful happening. The praziquantel is the ONLY medicine to get rid of this tapeworm and I don't know what to do. My vet gave me Trazadone (anti-anxiety pill) to give him but it doesn't help me feel better. What if it doesn't do anything? I know there's a chance he may not react at all to the Drontal now that he's older (most stories are of puppies) but I don't want to risk it. Just looking for some thoughts. Do you think he will be ok on the Milbemax or Droncit even though it's the same active ingredient? Has anyone heard of Pumpkin seeds ridding dogs of tapeworms? Sorry this post is so long. I just don't know what to do. Thank you for any help
Difficult situation. I wish I could help. My dog went crazy on endogard which is the same as drontal, which is why I switched to regular wormcounts rather than using unnecessary chemicals. I'm dubious about herbal wormers but I have heard people having success with grape seed extract and some people swear by furry rabbit ears or other chews like deer hide to push tape worms out. I guess you could try this then do a worm count and see how you get on. If you do have to use chemicals, it seems sensible to try and source praziquantel without other active ingredients if that's all you need. Droncit looks like praziquantel only- pet hate of mine is the way veterinary meds are prescribed and sold by brand name rather than active ingredients, so much potential for confusion. A big powerful dog with a poor temperament is a scary thing to be living with, have you had help from a behaviourist?
I had a text yesterday from my vets telling me my next 3 months of wormer/tick flea medication was ready to collect. Having had a bit of a heated exchange on here a few weeks ago regarding me contributing to Toby’s cancer by giving him these meds I have decided to question what he is having. He seems absolutely fine on Milbemax as a wormer and because his immune system is still low I will continue with that for the time being. I hadn’t realised he was on Bravecto which gets some very bad press. I forwarded a report to the vets and said I wasn’t going to be giving it to him again. They are going to discuss it on Monday in a meeting apparently. I’ll let you know the response.
The thing about wormers is that they aren't prophylactic so I see no point giving them unless you've done a wormcount and know you have something to treat. It does work out more expensive but I'd much rather spend the money than give unnecessary or ineffective medication.
I am open to all suggestions. How often are you testing and how many samples do you send in? When Toby had Campylobacter and then Giardia recently I had to give 3 separate samples as the worms/parasites/bacteria don’t always show in a single sample.
For lungworm you send samples from 3 consecutive days. We're a low risk area for lungworm and the endogard he had been on wouldn't have treated it anyway so I don't do this test. The standard test is just one sample and I believe is pretty accurate. I do it every 3 months but I might drop down to 6 months if I continue to get clear results.
This all makes sense for the average dog and I looked up the price of testing which isn’t prohibitive. Something to consider in the future when Toby is back to full strength. At the moment I couldn’t risk worms taking hold for 3 months before he was treated.Thanks for the advice.
Thank you for the replies. I appreciate it. I found a dewormer with NO praziquantel. It's called Cestex (epsiprantel). It treats ONLY tapeworms. Both Dipylidium caninum - from fleas. And Taenia pisiformis - from rodents. It is minimally absorbed and stays in the gut so it's very unlikely to cause any adverse reactions. My vet had never heard of it and doesn't carry it but I found it on chewy.com. Hopefully they continue to carry it for those that don't want to give drontal for tapeworms. I haven't received it yet so I'm not sure if it's effectiveness. Fingers crossed. Thank you again!
Apologies for resurrecting an old thread. And heartfelt thanks! We adopted a 15 wk old chocolate lab Mix last week. Found worms in his poop at 2:30 am (can’t believe it’s the same day). Vet gave us Drontal. He’s been nuts ever since. So glad to finally have some idea what’s going on. And that there should be an end in sight. He jumped over one of our other dogs, has been trying to jump onto the counter to get to more food, won’t stop crying and barking. Entire household is exhausted Posted from the floor of my daughter's bedroom, lying next to the puppy crate, because that’s the only way he’ll settle down. We adopted him last week. The we found out he’d been exposed to parvo and ringworm. And now that he has tapeworm. Sigh. Poor little guy.
