[Abby's mom]

I think my dogs need wormed. Both of my dogs have dull coats, they are thin. I wormed them last week with a round worm dewormer, but i think they need soemthing else. What is a good dewormer, that I can order or get over the counter?
Thanks all

 

[RawFedDogs]

What kind of worms does he have? What makes you think he has worms?

 

[Abby's mom]

Because they eat horse crap, and cat crap. Both dogs have dull coats, and I can feel they back bone when I pet them. My Border collie is the one I can feel her back bone, but she runs a alot. I tried upping her food, but she doesn't finish it all. My golden is the one with the dull coat. I suppose Abby's coat could be shinier too.

 

[RawFedDogs]

All those can be caused by other things. Unless you can see worms in their stool or the vet ran tests and tells you they have worms, assume they don't.

My dogs eat dog poop, cat poop, deer poop, rabbit poop, and other unidentified poops plus dead rotton carcasses. In the last 15 years one of my 4 dogs had worms one time and i could see them in her stools. Wormers are poison and you don't want to use them unless you actually need them.

What do you feed your dogs?

 

[Abby's mom]

I was feedign green bag purina, and chicken soup mixed. I just switched them to diamond naturals beef and rice, beacuse my golden is itchy, but as I have been doing research I figured out it is probably the purina, so I may just go back to the CS.

 

[EnglishBullTerriers]

You might want to think about changing your food. Try something with more protien and up the 'recomended' amount. Also look at the bag and see if you are feeding the food that causes high energy or the one that is for high energy dogs. You might be feeding a high energy dog high energy food and causing more problems. Its like giving candy to a diebetic. It will only cause more problems then it will help.
See what else is out there and maybe try adding in your own protien with some raw fish for 1-2 meals a week. Good luck and sorry if none of this helps. I am sure you have heard all of this before. Hope everything works out for you.

 

[Abby's mom]

You might want to think about changing your food. Try something with more protien and up the 'recomended' amount. Also look at the bag and see if you are feeding the food that causes high energy or the one that is for high energy dogs. You might be feeding a high energy dog high energy food and causing more problems. Its like giving candy to a diebetic. It will only cause more problems then it will help.
See what else is out there and maybe try adding in your own protien with some raw fish for 1-2 meals a week. Good luck and sorry if none of this helps. I am sure you have heard all of this before. Hope everything works out for you.

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't know what to do. I bought a bag of Naturla Balance lamb and rice this morning. I had just bought a bag of diamond beef and rice, but the dogs are not reall crazy about it. In fact Nova won't tough it unless I mix in a little canned food, so that tells me somehting right there. I just bought that and got them switched over last week.

 

[Postal]

Well, the Natural Balance leaps and bounds ahead of the Purina. Very good start. Pay attention to the pup. Watch for him to poop. Once he's done, rush over there and check his stool. If he has tapeworms (brian did and he had the same symptoms), it'll be obvious. It'll gross you out to see the parasites in there.. After you verify it, I found some meds at Petco. Not the cheapest, but one pill and they were gone in a day.. He turned around immediately.

But it could very well be the Purina (I wouldn't doubt that it is, really)

 

[ImWithThePyr]

Natural Balance isn't one of my favorite foods, but it sure as heck blows Purina out of the water.

I'd drop off stool samples at the vet's... if you suspect parasites.

As for the coats.. fish oil does wonders for dull coats. Make sure to supplement with vitamin E as well as fish oil causes Vit. E deficiency if taken alone. Fish oil also has other health benefits.

Coconut oil is also wonderful for the coat. Like fish oil, it also has numerous health benefits.

 

[ChattyCathy]

Natural Balance is way better than Purina. I think Ultra Natural Balance in the blue bag is the best of them. As far as the worms... If you don't see them in their stool and are concerned take a sample to your vet for confirmation and since I don't know a good dewormer let the vet recommend something for you. After medicating your dog for them, they will go away quite quickly. (My cats had worms once and you will know it when you look at their stool -- the ones they had looked like little pieces of rice and I've been told if one has it the others could get it too. I think the same is true for dogs.) But, if they don't have worms then I would next consider the food you are giving them and change to a higher quality food. But, be careful when going to a higher quality food which is high protein and no grain. I switched to a high protein no grain food and both of my dogs experienced loose stools -- they weren't active and the food was way too high in protein for them. I have since switched to the Ultra Natural Balance and they are both doing great on it and their coats are healthy and shiny. :biggrin:

 

[Doc]

Tapeworms, hook worms and whipworms are the 3 biggies. Take a fresh stool sample to the vet for conformation. Also check for Giardia and Coccidia. The vet can give the dog a worm med and be done with it. Worms are not too difficult to eliminate. Giardia and Coccidia is a different story. They usually take several days of meds.

Natural Balance is a good Kibble. You will notice a change in the coat in a few weeks. Purina dogs have dry brittle coats.

 

[EnglishBullTerriers]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't know what to do. I bought a bag of Naturla Balance lamb and rice this morning. I had just bought a bag of diamond beef and rice, but the dogs are not reall crazy about it. In fact Nova won't tough it unless I mix in a little canned food, so that tells me somehting right there. I just bought that and got them switched over last week.

If you have a petsmart around, they should all have the BlueBuffalo brand and that was one of my favorites when I was feeding kibble. It isn't the 'top' best food but it did the job. If you notice at petsmart, they actually have the foods in order of quality. The food in the front of the store is the best quality they have and the further back you go in the store, the closer to Alpo you get and that is where you do NOT want to go. If you are able to, get some BlueBuffalo chicken, or lamb. I think they might even have a fish, or my favorite was the shiny blue bag with a wolf on it, the name will come to me one day. If they have the fish, get that one, but if that isn't available, try the one with the wolf on it. Otherwise you will have to go to specialty stores and find the other good foods that the others have listed.
When I fed kibble, I fed the blue bag (still can't think of the name) and would add the canned with an egg for a meal or two a week.
You could also just add a raw fish to 1-2 meals a week and see if that helps at all. RFD will say that getting canned mackrel or salmon or even some sardines in oil/water would be good enough. I don't see where that would be a bad idea either if they will eat it.

To summerize,
1) try changing food
2) add fish and maybe an egg to 1-2 meals a week
3) add canned to kibble to at least 1 meal a day.
Let us know if anything works and how your dogs are doing

Oh, and I would suggest saving money if your dogs do have worms (after confirming with vet) and getting the hores paste of panacure if your dog(s) over 50#. It will last a long while and you don't have to give large doses like the dog version. If he/she is under 50# then go for the dog paste, not the powder, I haven't had any luck with that. You should be able to ask your vet for the dog dose, or you can get the horse paste at TSC or somewhere that sells horse supplies around you.
Good luck!!

 

[Abby's mom]

If you have a petsmart around, they should all have the BlueBuffalo brand and that was one of my favorites when I was feeding kibble. It isn't the 'top' best food but it did the job. If you notice at petsmart, they actually have the foods in order of quality. The food in the front of the store is the best quality they have and the further back you go in the store, the closer to Alpo you get and that is where you do NOT want to go. If you are able to, get some BlueBuffalo chicken, or lamb. I think they might even have a fish, or my favorite was the shiny blue bag with a wolf on it, the name will come to me one day. If they have the fish, get that one, but if that isn't available, try the one with the wolf on it. Otherwise you will have to go to specialty stores and find the other good foods that the others have listed.
When I fed kibble, I fed the blue bag (still can't think of the name) and would add the canned with an egg for a meal or two a week.
You could also just add a raw fish to 1-2 meals a week and see if that helps at all. RFD will say that getting canned mackrel or salmon or even some sardines in oil/water would be good enough. I don't see where that would be a bad idea either if they will eat it.

To summerize,
1) try changing food
2) add fish and maybe an egg to 1-2 meals a week
3) add canned to kibble to at least 1 meal a day.
Let us know if anything works and how your dogs are doing

Oh, and I would suggest saving money if your dogs do have worms (after confirming with vet) and getting the hores paste of panacure if your dog(s) over 50#. It will last a long while and you don't have to give large doses like the dog version. If he/she is under 50# then go for the dog paste, not the powder, I haven't had any luck with that. You should be able to ask your vet for the dog dose, or you can get the horse paste at TSC or somewhere that sells horse supplies around you.
Good luck!!

Thanks, we don't have a Petsmart or a Petco around here. Just Murdoch's which is like TSC. I bought a bag of Natural Balance Lamb, and I'm going to try that. It seems to be the best we have around here.

 

[ChattyCathy]

You know I just thought of something that actually has worked for my dogs when they become bored of kibble. I add water to the kibble and give it to the dogs once the kibble has absorbed the food. They seem to like that more than the plain kibble. Just a thought...

 

[kellfrank2010]

Does sardines get rid of dog/puppy worms?

 

[Dude and Bucks Mamma]

Does sardines get rid of dog/puppy worms?

Not that I know of...

I use food grade diatomaceous earth as a dewormer. You might be better of starting a new thread to ask your specific question.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

How do you get yours to eat it? I am about to start ours on a series of it for tapes, but I'm trying to think of the best way to go about getting them to eat it. Could I put it in meatballs maybe? This will be my first time to use d earth. I have decided it's time to go chemical free all the way.

 

[sozzle]

I just beat one Tablespoon of it into an egg and pour over his food or mix into any blood from meat.
I don't know if it works or if it is an urban myth yet, I'm still sitting on the fence with this one for worms. Mind you I haven't had them before.
It didn't work for fleas for him which he's had once when used topically but because he has very little coat (bald patches) it made his skin come off in big flakes. I think I would be more inclined to use it for that although there is no guarantee that the fleas will actually 'walk' through the DE thus ensuring they dry up.
I think other people on this forum have had good results though.

 

[1605]

Good article on low cost & effective deworming: Dog Worms - Canine Intestinal Worms and Inexpensive Treatment

 

[lab mom]

My Mom and Dad have raised show dogs for over thirty years. They have always told me - "Spend your money on the best dog food you can get, or pay the money you save to the vet!" It is so true!