Just wondering if you worm your dog regularly and how often please ? Drontal upset Sams tummy so last time he had milbermax , it was about three months ago, havent seen any in his poo, or the terrorist, but they both have digusting habits at times :
Re: Worming We worm ours every 3 ish months with Drontal plus even if there is no evidence of worms. Disgusting habits here too : Helen x
Re: Worming I do mine every 6 weeks with drontal plus or milbemax. I use the milbemax occasionally as it covers lungworm. Mostly they are fine, but every year or two I have a few dogs throw up after being dosed with drontal plus. It seems a bit random and isn't an allergy as they are usually fine next time. I haven't figured out what the trigger is, but the last time they threw up on it (last week), I had fed them shortly after worming. So next time I will probably worm last thing at night. The reason I worm so frequently is because I feed raw rabbit (tapeworm) Pippa
Re: Worming Right then, total opposite here, my lot haven't been wormed for two years (I think), but then I don't vaccinate regularly either, heresy I know. I stay as far away from pharmaceuticals as I can for people as well as animals. Having said that, any indications and the drugs are dispensed quick sharp. Their basic diet is kibble but they do get raw meat and fish (more fish than meat) but butchered not whole and no guts, plus vast quantities of veggies, both raw and cooked and they sometimes get inadvertently wormed by eating sheep poo at certain times of year - it's the one habit I've not managed to break any of them of in 20-something odd years.
Re: Worming Kerryn , I havent ever given annual boosters either , so shame on me too When you say about eating sheep poo, is that because the sheep have been wormed ? Interested as Sam will eat it, given the chance :
Re: Worming I worm once a year BUT yesterday, one dog had one enormous worm in his/her faeces in the garden and yet I had taken them out that morning and picked up the 'poo' and no sign of worms at all! Or any sign over the last months as I do clean up after them. I wasn't sure which dog had the worm so wormed all three, cost £35.00, I couldn't believe it :-[ Must do them more regularly but haven't believed in doing it as often as vet recommends. I do, however, vaccinate as I used to be a veterinary nurse and have seen deaths from Parvovirus, Distemper and Leptospirosis - nasty. Stacia
Re: Worming Yes, when the sheep have been drenched (wormed) it's so strong that a fair bit comes through in the poo, works on fluke too which canine wormers don't. We've not had any lungworms up here yet, that might make me change my mind. We've had too many adverse reactions to over vaccinating, I'll (knowingly) take the risk but be on my guard for any infections.
Re: Worming Thanks for explaining that . Our Vet advised us to vaccinate for lepto every year and kennel cough , but that vacs for the others were ok every three years, obviously if we heard of an outbreak in the area, we would re think . One of my old dogs had a nasty reaction to vacs , she began to have seizures so it scared me to bits . I dont treat for fleas either , we use a herbal treatment and dont seem to have a problem .
Re: Worming As I understand it the lepto only works for nine months but can only be administered annually and usually in combination with the others. So I'm not quite sure why we bother at all. We do go for about the three to four year interval meaning my girls get about four rounds throughout their lives. Although like you I do top up if there's an outbreak. I've only once treated for fleas and that was when a Wolfie pup arrived with them, other than that we've been fine. Maybe we've just been lucky, or maybe it's the second hand sheep drench!
Re: Worming I vaccinate (the foxes sometimes carry rabies here ), worm every three months (she will eat ANYTHING she finds), and use Exspot from around April to October, as ticks are prevalent here and can carry Lyme Disease and meningitis. I would rather not do all this, but I'm afraid it's really necessary where we live.
Re: Worming I have Hattie and Charlie vaccinated every year, although I must confess I don't know exactly what it is but a booster from when they had jabs as pups, worm every 3 ish months and flea treat for ticks as they are a nightmare here but never had fleas. Kate interested in the herbal flea treatment just incase, as Frontline his sooo expensive now. So it's not necessary to worm quite so often as they are fed kibble/veg and just chicken wings etc. for teeth cleaning? interesting how everyone treats differently. Helen x
Re: Worming Hello, sorry just seen this thread. I too would be interested Kate as to the herbal flea remedy you use. My dog has had a very serious reaction to advocate so I need to find an alternative to treat for fleas and ticks, preferably avoiding nasty chemicals. I have looked at the bada UK website Pippa posted yesterday, has anyone tried the natural remedies offered here? Thanks.
Re: Worming Sharon, if you don't have any cats, would you consider a permethrin-based product? Permethrin is very effective against ticks and fleas and it has a lasting effect. It is derived from naturally-occuring pyrethroids (e.g. such as those extracted from the pyrethrum daisy). Permethrin is a synthetic version though. You can get it in a spray (or a concentrate that you make up into a spray) to put on your dog e.g. http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/Products/NC2673/canovel-long-acting-flea-tick-spray. That product that I linked to doesn't list the ingredients but since it says 'not for use on cats' I'd say that it does contain Permethrin (you could check on that though, if you were interested). As for worming, we use Milbemax every 3 months and an annual heartworm injection.
Re: Worming We use Drontal Plus without any side effects. Once every 6 months or so. Lots of sheep around here so there is a tape worm cycle available if she gets any dietary ideas when we are out.
Re: Worming Sharon, in 30 years of owning dogs I have only ever seen one flea on one of them! i do not use flea preventatives or garlic or anything! So do you need to use anything? Stacia
Re: Worming Thanks for your replies. I am not concerned about fleas but am concerned about lungworm (always munching grass) and Lymes disease (love the water). My dog favours horse over sheep pooh! Lovely.
Re: Worming Hi Sharon, have you talked to your vet about alternatives to advocate? I don't normally use 'spot on' treatments for my dogs. Lungworm is covered by Milbemax which you can get on prescription from your vet or without prescription online from Australia. It is also covered by Panacur which you can buy online without prescription here in the UK. If you remove ticks promptly, depending on where you live, the risk of Lymes may be quite low. And fleas can be treated as and if they occur. Pippa
Re: Worming Hello Pippa, Thank you. I will talk to the vet again but it was the vet who prescribed advocate as they felt it was necessary due to the risk of lungworm. They said they would recommend it to all dogs in my area. I'll pop along in the next couple of weeks and let you know how I get on. Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. Generally I have found that different vets say different things, even in the same area and practice, so it is very difficult to know what to do for the best We have found ticks previously and have promptly removed them with the O'Tom tick twister, which I can thoroughly recommend. I am worried that even if I remove the ticks immediately after a walk, an infected tick could have aready transmitted the disease. For me it is a worry :-\
