The Low-down on Worms

OK. here's the breakdown on canine "worms" and what to use to get rid of them. Forgive any spelling errors.

The 7 most common intestinal parasites that dogs get are:

roundworms (Toxocara species), hookworms (Ancylostoma caninum, Ancylostoma braziliense and Uncinaria stenocephala), whipworms (Trichuris vulpis, T. campanula, T. serrata), tapeworms (Diplylidium caninum, Taenia pisiformis), coccidia (a protozoan) and giardia (a protozoan).

Agents that treat them:

Pyrantel Pamoate (also known as Strongid, Nemex) kills roundworms & hookworms only

Fenbendazole (also known as Panacur and Safeguard) kills roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, & giardia. It also kills the Taenia species of tapeworm, but this is NOT the kind of tapeworm commonly seen in dogs. Do not be fooled by this on the labeling.

Praziquantel (also known as Drontal, Droncit, Profender, and the fish tape tabs) kills all species of tapeworms including Diplylidium caninum, which is the most common tapeworm ever seen in dogs. Keep in mind that these tapeworms are caused by your dog eating fleas, so even if you de-worm your dog and don't keep the fleas gone, the tapeworms will keep coming back. Stay flea free.

Sulfadimethoxine (also known as Albon) kills coccidia. This must be given for an entire week with double the dose on the first day in order to get rid of coccidiosis infestation.

So as you can see, there is no single de-wormer that gets rid of everything. You have to know what you are doing and what you are looking at. The only two parasites you can see with the naked eye are roundworms and tapeworms. Hookworms, whipworms, coccidia, and giardia are all microscopic and can only be seen on fecal flotation or similar analysis. Tapeworms are usually NOT seen on fecal flotation because the eggs are too heavy. But you can see them in your dogs stool or on their butt or where they lay. They look like pieces of rice.

Also, not all of these parasites always cause symptoms. Your dog can have normal stool and appetite and still have an infestation of hookworms, roundworms, or whipworms. Whipworms usually cause a dark or tarry and sometimes loose stool, but not always. Coccidia usually causes a lighter colored diarrhea, as does giardia. But not always. Tapeworms generally do not cause any problems other than being gross and taking a small amount of nutrition from your dog. So to truly know what your dog may have, make sure to keep an eye on his stool for what you can see and take a sample to the vet for what you can't see; OR learn to perform your own fecal flotation if you have a microscope, slides, and the right kind of flotation solution.

Also, FYI, if you decide to use a heartworm prevention other than just Ivermectin, use Interceptor because it also kills roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. I avoid Hearguard Plus. It only does rounds and hooks, so you might as well get the Interceptor, which is better product for the same price.

Hope this helps. If I can provide anyone with any additional information, please let me know. If I don't know the answer I will try to find it for you.

 

Good post!

 

yes good post , i agree

 

thanks. hope this helps everyone who likes to do their own de-worming.

 

awesome post! bump

 

You can use fish tapes for tape worms, but don't forget to take care of the flea problem or you will get them again. Panacure and valbazen get some tape worms but not the ones they get from fleas.

i use, equimax. Equimax has prazinquatiel and ivomec You draw the paste out into a 12cc syringe, you should get between 7-8cc. Give a 50 lb dog 1cc of paste. This will get rid of all tape worms. The paste all has a tripple dosage of ivomec, don't worry it wont harm your dog. Just skip your monthly ivomec when you give equimax. I can't think of any other way that is more efficient and cheaper to treat your dog for tape worms. You can keep taking your dog to the vet to get dewormed if you want to get ripped off. Damn near all the meds to treat worms that are by prescription can be purchased with a prescription when labeled for cattle and swine. The only thing i got to the vet for is for rabies shots and emergencies.

for fleas you can use bayer tree and shrub. they sell it in the insecticide and fertilizer sections at home depot and lowes. Put 3cc for every 10lbs down the dogs back. This stuff has the same active ingredients as K9 advantix. One bottle costs $17 dollars and will treat over 50# 50lb dogs.

http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/pro...1&cmkw=equimax <!-- / message -->

 

wonder if we got that in Canada?:confused:

 

As far as the Equimax paste goes, i did some calculations on it. 1cc of that is WAAAAYYY too much to be giving ANY dog, much less a 45 pound one. i would be very cautious if you choose to use this product. The whole tube contains 905 mg of praziquantel and 120 mg of ivermectin. if a tube fills an 8 cc syringe, then 1 cc of the paste contains 113 mg of praziquantel and 15 mg of ivermectin. The praziquantel dosage is actually just right, but the ivermectin in it is WAAY high. that is many many times more than the recommended dose of ivermectin.

 

i am going to repost some ivermectin dosage info courtesy of Mtnman2003's post in another de-worming thread.

"ok lots will disagree but heart gaurd is 272 mcg per tab for the big dog tab. OK listen to me 1 ml of ivomec has 10 mg per ml of ivermectin which is equal to 10000 mcg about 20 times the dose of the big dog tab. Trust my calculations I literally do this for a living. I know many give 1 cc per month for 10 generations but I dont want to hurt a dog and why not save a buck. I empty my ivomec and put it in a quart sized container. Then I fill the empty ivomec container 9 times with PG dumping it each time into the container. now I got 1000 mcg per cc or ml same thing. I give 1/2 a cc to a dog which is still almost 2 times what a heart gaurd tab is and 1/4 cc to pups. I am a very anal about this stuff cause I m a nurse in real life. You can do your yard for 5 yrs or till it expires on 1 bottle."

 

Can you add correct dosages?

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. There are numerous dog men out there who are safely using equimax with no issue. I stated in my above post that 1 cc of equimax paste contains a tripple dose of ivomec for a 50 lb dog based on the dosage of what most dog men use which is 0.1 ml per 10lbs. This increased dose will not harm your dog and i can tell you first hand. There is no more efficient way for treating tape worms then equimax. I even talked to super kennels and they use zimectrin gold which would require you to give an even higher dose of ivomec to achieve the desired dose of praziquantel. You can run the numbers any way you want, a tripple dose of ivomec will not harm your bulldog. As far as the correct dose for ivomec, the standard is 0.1 ml per 10 lbs, this is so that you get other worms besides just heart worms. This is knowledge coming from real dogmen, not just pet bull owners.

 

ElJayBee: Your original post on here was correct and informative.

But as far as the Ivomec goes VENA is telling you the truth, where I am from they have been doing this 30 years that easliy equates to a FDA approval. Their studies don't cover that long a period of time.

 

if heart guard plus has ivomectrin in it then how does it not get rid of heart worms

 

Thank you for your opinions on the Equimax product. There are many opinions on correct ivermectin dosages. I personally go by the amount of ivermectin used in heartworm tablets to make my dosage calculations (IMO why give more than is necessary?). But I know many other folks including good dogmen have used higher dosages of ivermectin than I would personally use for many years with no problems. I'm not saying not to use Equimax. I'm just saying be aware that the ivermectin it contains is a heck of a lot more than you find in your standard heartworm prevention tablet.

And I think with fact being understood, using Equimax is by far a much better deal money-wise than anything else I've been able to come across, especially for tapeworm treatment. If it has worked for you in the past, by all means continue to use it if you like. I'm just providing information based on my personal experiences, medical knowledge, and calculations. You may take it for what you feel it is worth. To each their own. I do respect you guys opinions and knowledge. Thank you for your words. I hope that you all can understand where I'm coming from on this. :dogtongue:

 

i think you may have misunderstood my post, which i can see where that would be easy to do. i was not very clear on that part. i apologize.

heartguard plus does prevent heartworm infestation. it also treats and prevents roundworm and hookworm infestations. it does not, however, have any effects against whipworms. this is why i recommended interceptor instead of heartguard plus because it prevents all 4 types of parasites for the same price, if you choose to use vet heartworm tablets for prevention.

 

ivaheart is a better product as opposed to any other topical or predosed oral canine prevent.

 

Thanks, I haven't looked at Iverheart products since they have come out with the Iverheart Max. The Max seems to be a pretty good product since it controls tapeworms, too. Still doesn't do whipworms like the Interceptor does, but I bet you could alternate the two products every month and stay virtually parasite free. Iverheart Plus is just the same as Heartguard Plus, but the Max looks like some good stuff. Thank you for mentioning it.

 

Very good info here. As for Albon, is it usually given for a week, cause I was told 10 days? I just don't want to over medicate, thanks for the info :dogkiss:

 

Yes, you can give it for 10 days with no problem. Coccidia can be a bitch to gid rid of sometimes, so a few extra days can be beneficial and are safe to do.

 

i'm workin on it for ya.