Worming or not worming

[janem_g]

Hello, hoping for a broad spectrum of advice please. I really don't want to worm every 3 months for the rest of my dogs life. I have never seen a worm externally but know he could still have them. I see you can faecal egg count which we do for the horses but do any of you have experience of it or perhaps worming rather less regularly? I feel slightly as if my vet will tell me off if I mention it to them!

 

[splashgirl45]

i worm my adult dogs about twice a year, my puppy is almost 6 months and had had the usual worming and will worm her again in about 3 months and then go the same as my adults. i alsp rarely use flea treatment on them unless i suspect they have picked them up from somewhere..

 

[GSD Woman]

janem_g, where I work we check the fecals every 6-12 months. I don't do it that often and deworm maybe every 2-3 years unless I see tape worms. If your dog is a puppy check a fecal more often since puppies often have worms for several different reasons.

 

[Equi]

A lady i know never wormed. She fed (forgive me if its the wrong spelling) damacus earth? Which is a natural wormer. Dunno if it was good or bad, but her dogs were always in good health.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I only do parasite treatment if I have to travel or if I have a suspicion that they have picked up a parasite.

 

[L&M]

Ditto - I only worm and flea treat the adult dogs when I suspect an issue.

I got persuaded by my vets into joining their practice plan and was shocked at how often they expected me to administer both chemicals, so have a cupboard full of them now, and cancelled the plans.......

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

I only worm/flea if I think there is an issue. I do keep meaning to do a egg count. I worm the cat more regularly just because he does eat his kills.

The woods at the bottom of our garden has deer and is awful for ticks so I got the cat tick and flea treatment from the vets and it did absolutely nothing to the amount he picked up (3-4 a day, every day from May-November) so I stopped.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I was in one country a few years ago where the vet checked dog's passport/vacc record, dates etc, before he stamped it, gave the wormer to me in a packet and said it was crazy how many times animals were expected to be dosed.

 

[Honey08]

I don’t worm mine unless I see evidence (usually it’s the cats that start it off if anything, and it’s about the only time they are friendly with the dogs too!)

 

[windand rain]

We worm annually always have unless growing puppies then done more often we have small grandkids so wouldnt not do it but to be honest have never seen any, have no cat and never had fleas so guess I should do a worm count but didnt know you could. Even my old age I learn something new every day

 

[rara007]

We’re in a lungworm area so I try to remember to make sure he’s covered for that.

 

[Shady]

A lady i know never wormed. She fed (forgive me if its the wrong spelling) damacus earth? Which is a natural wormer. Dunno if it was good or bad, but her dogs were always in good health.

Diatomaceous Earth
It's amazing stuff. I use it and treat the dogs/ cats with it too. I have never had a worm issue with them

 

[Chiffy]

I worm twice a year, my dogs mostly because my dogs are great scavengers when out on the shore or at the farm. I am another who doesn’t understand why the vets recommend every three months. I just ignore their reminder texts. I don’t treat for flees, never seen any but do have to be careful of ticks in the summer.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I only worm very rarely. I did a worm count on the Lancs Heeler at the end of last year after he was very sick with a previous worming tablet. I have to admit it is pleasanter to collect horse poo samples but it is a very similar process. He was tested for both round and tapeworms and had a lungworm screen, all clear. It's more expensive than horse wormcounts but worth doing in my opinion.

 

[janem_g]

Thankyou very much everyone. Seems my inclination to worm less often is quite a common opinion. I think I will send off a sample and see where we are. I don't flea the cats either unless any evidence. It just seems wrong to pump them full of un needed chemicals.

 

[BBP]

I don’t worm regularly either after wormer made my collie violently sick. But I did get a shock when he threw up roundworms last year, so I’m more vigilant now, and make sure I do it at least once a year. I e also changed vets to one that doesn’t insist milbemax is suitable for a collie and is willing to give me something else which doesn’t make him ill.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

I have one dog who is wormed every three months. The reason being, she's like clock work, if I don't worm her, by month four she will get an upset tummy, diarreah, vomiting etc. Once wormed it resolves.

The others are perhaps once a year.

 

[Bellasophia]

In Italy we use. cardotek plus for six months of the year for heart worm cover( cardotek plus covers intestinal worms)....in the following six months ,I give drontal , one time ,in the three month interval after we’ve stopped cardotek.

if you dont follow an anti worming regime( heartworm or lung worm),I’d suggest doing a faecal
check every three months....just take a poo sample to the vets and ask for a worm check....

 

[Odyssey]

Diatomaceous Earth
It's amazing stuff. I use it and treat the dogs/ cats with it too. I have never had a worm issue with them

I've read that this is a good dewormer, and have thought about trying it, but don't know anyone who has. I hate using chemical treatments on a regular basis. Do you need to give it regularly, or just at intervals? Do the dogs eat it ok?

 

[Odyssey]

I think there's lungworm in my area, so give mine Milbemax sometimes. I know that you're supposed to give it monthly to cover lungworm, but can't bring myself to use it nearly that often. Shady's post has reminded me about diatomaceous earth, which I'm about to Google to see if it's effective against lungworm. I hate feeling that I'm a bad dog owner because I don't use the chemical flea treatments (I use a herbal one, CSJ Billy No Mates) or worm often, but I've read enough stuff that convinces me how bad they are for animals health. I think they're at least partially responsible for all the long term health conditions that pets have nowadays. When I was young, our dogs were healthy until old age.

I think the same about annual boosters, and that vaccinations are only necessary for puppies/young dogs. They don't need them every year for 10+ years of their lives. People don't get vaccinated after their initial childhood jabs, why should animals be any different? I believe It's just a money spinner for vets and pharmaceutical companies.

 

[Clodagh]

I don't use DE as the thought of putting something that abrasive through a dogs guts worries me. I worm twice a year.

 

[GSD Woman]

I'm with Clodagh. DE works against fleas because its sharp edges cut into the exoskeleton and kill that way.

Warning, a bit of a rant coming:

As far as "chemical free" that is a bunch of hoo haw. It is all made of chemicals. Some people are against the use of synthetic chemicals used in their gardens, pets, whatever. The thing with the synthetics, at least in the USA, is that they go through extensive testing. If released onto the market if there are enough reported side effects the product is either pulled, or more testing is done and/or labeling is changed.

Personally I would rather carefully use something that has been extensively tested on my animals.

 

[skinnydipper]

I've never bought into the idea of feeding a dog animal ears with fur as a natural wormer.

"The fur offer dietary fibre and clean through the dog's stomach almost like a broom as it passes through, sweeping up worms and larvae and depositing them as faeces"

Its never worked for the cat.

 

[rabatsa]

I regularly worm my dogs as they use the fields that I graze my sheep on. Dog worms can cause nasties in sheep.

 

[Clodagh]

I've never bought into the idea of feeding a dog animal ears with fur as a natural wormer.

"The fur offer dietary fibre and clean through the dog's stomach almost like a broom as it passes through, sweeping up worms and larvae and depositing them as faeces"

Its never worked for the cat.

It sounds a bit like the story of the fox who holds moss in his mouth and submerges himself in water so all the fleas climb onto the moss and float away. I wonder how long a fox would have to soak for, for that to work? The labs never get wet down to the skin with just swimming.

 

[brightmount]

I definitely think we are encouraged to over-worm our dogs. My elderly Yorkie (who is a terrible scavenger) has kidney disease so I’m not keen to give him any unnecessary medication. Hence I get worm counts for him, which have been consistently negative. I have also started worm counting my Springer Spaniel, again negative. I have no reason to doubt the results. I use Worm Counts For Dogs.

 

[janem_g]

Just an update for anyone interested. I bought a faecal sample kit for the princely sum of £18. Sent off the sample for my dog and he has no worms. Good news and no need to pump full of chemicals.

I did mess up and forget to do the lungworm test so will do that separately but will definitely continue to send samples and worm when required. I feel much better this way and think it's safe for my dog.

 

[planete]

I think there's lungworm in my area, so give mine Milbemax sometimes. I know that you're supposed to give it monthly to cover lungworm, but can't bring myself to use it nearly that often.

A vet told me i could use Milbemax every other month for lungworm which is what I do. Worm count is good but would have to be done quite often to ensure lungworm does not have time to damage the dog before being found and treated.