CANINE WORMS
&
Effective and Affordable
Treatments
Below you will find brief information about the most common canine worms. Also Majesty Chows shares how we do some monthly and bi-annual preventative care in all our dogs.
ROUND WORMS - They can get up to 7" in length but average 3-5 inches. Can cause liver, lung and brain damage and lead to death if left untreated. Symptoms are vomiting, colic, poor growth & pot bellied appearance. A mature adult can lay 2,000-80,000 eggs per day.
TAPE WORMS - They are found in the gut of the dog. Their hosts are fleas, sheep, rabbits and raw meat that is infected. These worms travel down the digestive tract and itch the anus. During treatments they expel in stools.
HOOK WORMS - White long, thin (1/4 to 3/4 inch in length). They look like pieces of thread that is enlarged at one end. They have spear like sword mouths that puncture the intestinal wall and feed on released blood and tissue fluids. Can cause death by loss of blood and severe anemia. An adult can lay 50,000 eggs per day. 500 adult worms can rob a 5 lb puppy of 50% of its blood supply.
WHIPWORMS - These worms are 1-3/4 to 3 inches long. They cause symptoms of diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, dehydration, abdominal pain, mucus laden stools streaked with blood.
PINWORMS/THREADWORMS - These worms are thread looking and less than an inch long/ AN adult female will lay 10,000 eggs on the outside of the body and the rectum and then she dies. They are fairly harmless to the health, but cause anal itching, especially at night that can become extremely bothersome.
HEARTWORMS - These worms are considerably more common in the southern states where mosquito populations are high. All dogs in every area should have heart worm prevention which is provided through your veterinarian only.
We hold no liability and we do not claim to be a veterinarian. We are only sharing what we and many other breeders use. If you are more comfortable and find it affordable with owning lesser number of dogs and chose to go to the veterinarian, they use good products and have great success in canine worm treatment & preventative measures.
Some worms/parasites are more common depending on where you live. We give to each of our dogs orally every month Ivomec (3/4 to 1cc) for the average size adult. Ivomec is a great preventative and treatment for gastrointestinal worms and helps prevent and treat mange. Ivomec is not only safe and affective in swine but also dogs. Many wormers contain Ivomectin (such as Heartguard for heartworms), this is a more affordable and affective method. All experienced breeders use this and it is also recommended for dogs through the pet supply companies and is also an ingredient in many canine wormers. Puppies start at about 4 months and give 1/10 cc for every 10 lbs of body weight. You can order a 50ML bottle from www.revivalanimal.com Product number 18-500 for under $30 and will treat the average chow 50 doses or 50 months.
About once or twice per year we use the Equimax that not only rids any roundworms but also is effective on tapeworms, whipworms and hookworms and other gastrointestinal worms. We use the same doses but not on puppies younger than 4 months. Puppies less than 4 months use the Panacur or Safeguard and sometimes Strongid. Dose is about 3/4 inch for puppies between 4 and 8 months. 1/2 inch for younger puppies. Puppies can be treated as young as 2 weeks old.
Praziquantel is a medication in several tapeworm wormers such as D-Worm. You can buy it for about 25% as much or 75% cheaper if purchased for fish. We use Fish Tapes and get the 34 mg strength and look here for the proper dosage. http://www.petrx.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=157
These products for horses, cattle and even swine have the same active ingredients and are safe and affective in the dogs. We are only sharing was to treat your dog(s) in a more affordable way and even easier to administer. Use at your own discretion.
We no longer use Piprazine because it causes thinning of the anal ring which leads to serious health issues that usually require surgery.
We also use Frontline and eliminating fleas helps to also eliminate tapeworms.
Thanks for providing great care!
This link has additional info about Canine Worms
Updated 08/14/2007
© 2003-Present/ Majesty Chows