Worming for yard dogs

[michelledud]

Well, not quite yard dogs per se, but I do take my dogs to the stables a lot, they eat poo whenever they think they can get away with it. They are also regularly walked on the beach with all its delights to smell, eat and roll in, mmmmmm, and in woodland.

Should I be treating them with any specific wormers, and should this differ throughout the seasons?

Plus I've noticed loads of big black slugs on the track to our fields. I've never seen the dogs take an interest in them but you never know 😝

My horses are on a program, I feel like I'm neglecting my dogs because I just use a regular wormer if/when I remember, which isn't often enough!!!
Guilty Mummy Syndrome eeeeek!!!🙀

 

[wren123]

With regard to the horse poo normal wormers from your vet should be fine, mine recommends three monthly as my dog regards the deer, horse and rabbit poo as her personal buffet!
With regard to the slugs if there is lungworm in your area you will need something from the vet which covers it, it will also cover the other worms. Dogs can get lungworm from eating grass slugs have been on.

 

[satinbaze]

There are only 2 wormers (as far as I am aware) that prevent lung worm which is spread by slugs. These are advocate and milbamax. Both of these are prescription only meds so need to be prescribed by a vet.
Mine are on milbamax as advocate gave Tiva horrific diarrhoea. On vet advice we changed to milbamax and no further problems.
The slugs have been very prolific this year.

 

[Dry Rot]

Most worms are host specific so, no, it will do your dog no harm to eat horse poo. In fact, horse poo is rich in vitamins! Mine eat some every day and I don't discourage it.

Personally, I would not bother worming my dogs unless I was aware of a specific local risk (lung worm?) or my dogs were mixing with many others or had access to ground contaminated by other dogs (e.g. parkland). Dogs (and other animals) do gain resistance to worms.

The one worm I am aware of is tape worm and the intermediate host is rabbits and, I think, rats and mice. Dogs pick them up by eating raw rabbit meat and the symptoms of an infestation will be white segments in poo like melon seeds. Tape worm are not particularly dangerous to dogs and are easily dealt with by dosing.

 

[chillipup]

There are only 2 wormers (as far as I am aware) that prevent lung worm which is spread by slugs. These are advocate and milbamax. Both of these are prescription only meds so need to be prescribed by a vet.
Mine are on milbamax as advocate gave Tiva horrific diarrhoea. On vet advice we changed to milbamax and no further problems.
The slugs have been very prolific this year.

My dog is on Advocate spot on solution, once a month and reading the blurb, noted it prevented and treated Lungworm (Angiostrongylus Vasorum) amongst many others, which was pleasing due the amount of slugs we have around here. Checking the details again on the internet, it states that Advocate is the only treatment available for Lungworm in dogs and Milbemax treats Roundworm, Hookworm, Whipworm, Tapeworm and Heartworm but doesn't mention Lungworm.

My girl was given a one off double dose of Milbemax by the vet, to be given once, 2 weeks either side of the Advocate for Tapeworm as I asked about it, not that she showed any signs of having it, but more of a precaution and because the Advocate doesn't treat it.

So am I wrong to think that Milbemax doesn't treat Lungworm? or am I merely confusing myself?

PS I thought tapeworm was spread by a dog ingesting a flea whilst grooming? and that fleas are a host for the tapeworm. I am getting very confused now (not difficult) but confused none the less.

 

[satinbaze]

Milbamax was granted a license in 2014 for the treatment and prevention of lungworm.

 

[AmyMay]

Yes, my dog has Milbamax too, and I specifically asked if it covered Lungworm - to which the answer was yes from my vet.

 

[chillipup]

Milbamax was granted a license in 2014 for the treatment and prevention of lungworm.

Yes, my dog has Milbamax too, and I specifically asked if it covered Lungworm - to which the answer was yes from my vet.

Thank you both.

 

[Equi]

I can buy milbemax from the vet but the receptionist gives it to me.

 

[gunnergundog]

Just saying, but the most my dogs have ever been wormed is three times in their entire lives and some only once. (These are dogs bought in as 8-9 week old pups.) Why not faecal test and then treat accordingly as opposed to worming just in case? My dogs work, live in the country and are not opposed to self-snacking on whatever crap they can find. Giardia has been the prime cause over the years of my dogs needing medication. I think we tend to over-medicate - just in case.

 

[Moobli]

My dogs (we live and work on a sheep farm) get wormed every three months. I alternate between Drontal and Panacur (or Droncit). I may add in Advocate once a year if lungworm becomes an issue in my area.

Grazing sheep can be infected by tapeworm eggs in dogs faeces and will subsequently develop cysts in their body causing illlness and condemnation of carcasses.

 

[Dry Rot]

My dogs (we live and work on a sheep farm) get wormed every three months. I alternate between Drontal and Panacur (or Droncit). I may add in Advocate once a year if lungworm becomes an issue in my area.

Grazing sheep can be infected by tapeworm eggs in dogs faeces and will subsequently develop cysts in their body causing illlness and condemnation of carcasses.

Would that be the hydatid tape worm? The thought of that used to scare me half to death when I lived in the islands as it was a hot spot! So when I got back to the mainland I got myself tested. The doctor announced, "You've got antibodies for the lot!". I didn't dare enquire further.....but at 76.... so far, so good!

I once read that there are over 30,000 different species of round worms so if you are a worrier, the world is your oyster. Personally, I only medicate when there are definite symptoms of a problem. Worms and dogs have been living together for a very long time, but it mkes sense to worm if there are children involved. But then, it is I suppose possible that I have a hydatid cyst in the brain and my reasoning is flawed...

 

[Moobli]

Would that be the hydatid tape worm? The thought of that used to scare me half to death when I lived in the islands as it was a hot spot! So when I got back to the mainland I got myself tested. The doctor announced, "You've got antibodies for the lot!". I didn't dare enquire further.....but at 76.... so far, so good!

I once read that there are over 30,000 different species of round worms so if you are a worrier, the world is your oyster. Personally, I only medicate when there are definite symptoms of a problem. Worms and dogs have been living together for a very long time, but it mkes sense to worm if there are children involved. But then, it is I suppose possible that I have a hydatid cyst in the brain and my reasoning is flawed...

The hydatid tapeworm does also occur in dogs, with the intermediate stage affecting sheep and sometimes humans. However sheep are also the intermediate host to four species of tapeworm (Taenia hydatigena - the thin necked bladder worm, Taenia ovis - the sheep bladder worm,, Taenia multiceps - the tapeworm that causes gid and Echinococcus granulosus - the tapeworm that causes hydatidosis), all of which have the domestic dog as the final host.