How often do you deworm your cat/dog?

Question

My new vet gave us a panflect* that has a guide for dogs. It read that dog's are to be dewormed 4 times a year, the same exact guide for cats. Now the vet who gave me this guide told me to bring her back next year for her shots, she comes yearly for shots now. This is what my old vet told me too, yearly. So? wth? How many times do you deworm your pet?

I just got a dog.. and im not to sure about the details of the shots.. I just get them all for the sake of the health I don't ask questions

Thanks wendy :) that really helps

Answer 1

Dogs who are not on monthly flea preventative (they SHOULD be, but if they're not) should be dewormed for tapeworms 3-4 times per year with praziquantel. Both dogs and cats get tapeworm infections from ingesting fleas (they chew their skin where it itches, and will ingest the occasional flea). Cats also get tapeworms from chewing on or eating mice, and dogs will get tapeworm from eating an infected cat's feces. So, deworming 3-4 times a year for tapeworm specifically for outdoor dogs and cats is a good idea.

Also, when you take your dog to the vet annually for exam and vaccines you should always take a fecal sample to check for other parasites such as roundworm, coccidia, hookworm, and whipworm. These parasites, if caught early, will cause your dog minimal distress. However, severe infections cause weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of muscle/condition, and eventually death if left untreated.

Answer 2

My dog who is four years old now gets dewormed monthly from May until November. That is because he is on heartworm prevention medication. And it is normal dewormer also. But as the others have stated if they ingest fleas or all they eat is table scraps then they will needed to be dewormed more oftern. I know someone who only feeds their dogs table scraps and they have to deworm every month because they see the signs of worms. Hope this helps. For the person that made that comment about the vaccines having horrible side effects we are all entitled to our opions but dogs do need them. I mean if you do not get the rabies on in my state it is against the law you have ot have it and the distemper on they can get really sick from the diease this one prevents. Shots are a good thing espically for mulitipet homes. At least that is my two cents. I had a cat once and one day he stopped using his back legs and they said it was because of no shots he got a sickness that could have been prevented by a yearly shot. I had to have him put to sleep because he was suffering.

Answer 3

1) I de-worm my horses every 8 weeks. 2) I use Equimax every March and September. In between i use normal ivemectrin and pyrantal pamoate, rotating each de-worming. Generic brands of these work just as well as the expensive stuff. If I suspect a horse has a heavy worm load (long shaggy coat, thin, difficulty holding condition) I will de-worm with a Panacur Power Pac, which is a 5 day heavy dose wormer that will knock out any worms the horse may have. 3) I have fecals taken twice a year. Spring and fall at the same time we do vaccines. The general results are negative, but I will occassionally have a horse that I have recently acquired have some worms. Also, my yearlings occassionally will have some worms. Any horse with a positive fecal result is treated with a Power Pac. 4) I de-worm this way because I sell and show horses and require them all to have show-quality hair coats at all time. Also, having worms means I have to feed my horses more grain to keep weight on them, and the additional feed is far more expensive than an aggressive de-worming schedule.

Answer 4

First you need to find a new Vet because they are essentially reccommeding poisoning your dog for something they may or may not have. They can test to see if your animals has worms and then you might use something to get rid of the worms.

This is the same with Heartworm people use poison on their animals monthly for something the animal may or may not have. Read the lables of what they are prescribing, and read the warnings.

Also if you change to a Raw Diet your animals will have virtually no problems, dogs and cats usually have a weak immune system and are suseptable to worms, fleas, illness's only when their immune systems are in bad shape and this is often cause by the poor nutrients in dog food, regardless of the brand or quality of course the cheaper the brand the worse their health will be, as the saying goes you get what you pay for.

Also do your research on Vaccines for animals, keeping in mind the only way pets make money on a healthy animal is from you returning yearly to shoot your animal up with vaccines that have horrific side effects.

If you don't believe me join the yahoogroup called Truthaboutvaccines it is a site dedicated to animals.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Dogs and cats both need booster shots once a year. When they are young they will get a series of shots every few weeks, depending on your vets protocol.. usually there is about 4 sets, then it goes to once a year. When animals are young, they are much more susceptible to worms, although they can get them at any time. If your dog spends a lot of time outdoors, you will most likely need heartworm preventative from your vet.. other than that you should be able to only worm as needed unless your dog is outside alot and is contact with other animals such as dog parks or wild animals where they can get worms. Most worms are not a big issue and are easily rid of with one or two treatments if you find them.. and regular worm meds can be bought over the counter.

Answer 6

My vet does not deworm dogs on a schedule - only when there is indication of worms. But we live in an area where worms are not prevalent and if fleas are controlled, tapeworm is not an issue. Puppies should be wormed on a set schedule when they are young. Also, vaccinations are typically done on 3-year schedules, though I heard from a vet I know today that there is a newer, more deadly strain of parvo (parvo 2C) making the rounds and vaccination for parvo only should happen every 2 years.

Answer 7

Deworming dogs is interesting. If your dog is on the heartworm prevention Heartgard he is basically dewormed once a month with the heartworm prevention (for roundworms, hookworms).

SENTINEL is an oral tablet for the prevention and control of flea populations, the prevention of heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) disease and the treatment and control of roundworms (Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina), hookworms (Ancylostoma caninum) and whipworms (Trichuris vulpis) in dogs.

Its really is important to deworm pets (dogs and cats) because hookworms and roundworms can be transmitted to humans. Do a google search, thousands of young children loose eyesite yearly because of roundworm infection.

Your vet will do a yearly fecal check along with hw testing. And the reason is that nothing is 100% except death and taxes.

But I must say that dogs won't get tapeworms by eating cat feces infected with the segments........Tapeworm needs the intermediate host of flea or mouse in order to become infective to dogs and cats. The little segment that you see in the stool is an egg packet full of lots of tapeworm eggs. They dry and fall into the animal's environment. The flea larva/pupua eats bits of this and presto....flea can transmit the tapeworm when it molts to the adult stage. Very interesting lifecycle.

Answer 8

Different strokes for different folks....different types of worms...hookworms...tapeworms...they need different medicines to effectively treat them. Some worming medications are pretty rough on the dog/cat so unless you know which type, you could give the wrong medicine and cause your pet unnecessary trauma.
Preferably your vet can do fecal exam to determine which kind(s) of worms your pet has, if any. Then it can be given the specific medicine it needs, and not an OTC generic cure-all that probably won't work anyway

Answer 9

Hey mate!
Worm it at:
2weeks old, 4 weeks old, 6 weeks old, 8 weeks old at 12 weeks and every month after that. im not sure what your vet was saying, but if in doubt read the packet how you did or call a different vet and get advice on the phone.

Answer 10

I have mine on a holistic wormer called DE for short.

As for the vaccinations, they are NOT needed every year and should not be given every year. Read Dr. Ron Schultz of Wisconsin University
http://svmweb.vetmed.wisc.edu/articles/68/5/39

You should also take a look at Dr. Bob Rogers' site. He's a regular vet in Texas
http://www.critteradvocacy. org
Over vaccination has been found to be the cause of several problems in dogs and cats including cancer.