dog owners--a MUST READ!!!

[Nina51]

as you may know, my female corgi (maggie) has been battling occasional bouts of coccidia. last week, she had a tiny spot of blood on her behind so i got a stool sample and took it to the vet to be tested. since, apparently, this "bug" stays in the system for a very long time and can rear its ugly head occasionally, i didn't want to take any chances. sure 'nuff, there were a couple of oval "cysts" so both corgis took the required one week of medication. i took a sample in this morning for a recheck and she is clear.

however, and this is a HUGE however...her stool sample showed a couple of ROUNDWORM eggs! now, i have used heartguard plus faithfully for years. they have never EVER missed a dose. the "plus" part of this product is supposed to eliminate roundworms, among other things. so, imagine my shock.

since neither corgi has been checked for heartworm for a little bit over one year, my vet wanted to do that. thankfully, both came back negative. BIIIIIIIIIIIG WHEW!!!

dr. bourn explained to me that it is possible (and i already knew this can happen) that the parasites have built up a resistance to the deworming medication and that would be an explanation as to why roundworm eggs are present in her feces.

so, i brought home a dose of panacur for both dogs to take care of the roundworm problem and he switched us to "interceptor" for heartworm prevention.

if you haven't had your dogs checked for internal parasites, i would highly recommend it. it seems that the old stand-bys are not as effective as they used to be and if this product is not taking care of the more common parasites, it's entirely possible it's becoming ineffective against the deadlier ones.

just an f.y.i. because i know all the people who frequent this forum who have dogs want only the best for their buddies. :)

[Ritten]

I didn't know that Nina, thanks for the heads up! How is interceptor different that heartguard?

[Freed]

You sure it wasn't red bugs and not the roundworm eggs and your vet KNEW they were red bugs but didn't want to tell you because your vet didn't think you would know what red bugs were and that's why the vet gave you Interceptor?

[oz]

My dogs are tested routinely, once a year I think, for heartworms. So far no problem.

I don't think my dogs eat any poop. Although sometimes I wonder 'cause they have bad breath at times when we kiss.

[Nina51]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9043957#post9043957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
You sure it wasn't red bugs and not the roundworm eggs and your vet KNEW they were red bugs but didn't want to tell you because your vet didn't think you would know what red bugs were and that's why the vet gave you Interceptor?

i have no clue what you are talking about.

kellie, i haven't had time to look but i intend to do that as soon as i get home from taking gary to the dentist.

eww oz. i love my dogs but i draw the line at face licks. they don't HAVE to eat poop to get internal parasites. they can be picked up from contaminated ground. just simply walking your dogs in an area where infected dogs have pooped can result in your dogs picking up worms.

[csellers]

Hey Nina, yer gonna love this stuff. Not only does it get rid of internal worms it also kill arthropods, aka fleas, ticks, mange mites etc. Since I started my dog on it a year ago I haven't seen one flea. :D

[Freed]

Yeah, and uh red bugs too. Can't believe you subscribe to a reef related web site and you don't know what red bugs are??!!

[crab0000]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9044206#post9044206 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nina51
i have no clue what you are talking about.

Interceptor is used to kill red bugs on SPS.

[dinoman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9044873#post9044873 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
Yeah, and uh red bugs too. Can't believe you subscribe to a reef related web site and you don't know what red bugs are??!!

:lol: This is the lounge, she doesn't have a tank!

That's scary Nina! Fortunately we don't have heartworm here (as told by local vets - in the last 20 years they've only had 11 cases and ALL were in transient animals just moving through). Never can be too careful!

[fishyvet]

Another explanation for roundworm eggs in the feces is larval leak phenomena. Each month when your dog take it's heartworm plus, it kills all the adult worms in the intestine. This also sends a signal to lavae that are laying dormant in the dog's tissue to hatch and migrate to the gut then.... puff! You have a positive fecal in 19-21 days! This will also happen with Interceptor. Usually dogs do not have disease from the low numbers of worms unless they are stressed, immunocompromised, or have a poor level of nutrition.

As for the coccidia... there are many dogs "infected" with coccidia but do not develop clinical signs of disease (diarrhea, abdominal pain). A major problem for breeders as the Puppy Lemon Law says that dogs must be free of coccidia to be sold. Environmental decontamination is key in eliminating coccidia infections (ie pick up poop 2x per week).

Interceptor is effective in dogs against heartworms as well as roundworms (hookworms and ascarids) and whipworms. Sentinel has an insect growth regulator (leufenuron) added to control fleas.

Heartgard plus is effective agianst heartwoms and has pyrantel pamoate added to control roundworms and hookworms. It is not effective against whipworms.

Aren't parasites fun?

[BrianD]

Buster wanted to point out that he doesn't have worms. He only eats the finest rabbit feces.

[kfisc]

Thanks for the info!

[catdoc]

You might even think about having a stool sample sent to a diagnostic lab. I know it's "only" roundworms, but I wonder if it could be a type spread by other species? The dog could ingest the stool and have the eggs pass through unhatched. Got any racoons hiding out in your barn? That's the first thing that comes to mind. Not that it couldn't truly be the canine roundworm, but there are other possibilities.

[icepick96]

What about dogs eating "Horse Apples" ? What kind of parasites can be found in horse feces? I'm sure most horse owners worm their livestock but you never know.

[Nina51]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9046388#post9046388 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BrianD
Buster wanted to point out that he doesn't have worms. He only eats the finest rabbit feces.

and i suppose you cook them for him?

very interesting fishvet, i can see i have more reading to do and yes catdoc, i will talk to my doc about a diagnostic lab. perhaps U of I would do a check.

icepick, my vet did mention the road apples but he seemed to think this was a very remote possibility.