Bloody buggering wormers. Help me out here

[HoneyDragon]

Right. I've been paying £20 every three months for Milebax. I paid this as I believed it prevented lungworms.

I've been told it doesn't, that he can still get lungworms.

Now I live in the SE, and previous Lab never caught lungworms and was on Milebax.

I also wonder about the effectiveness of Milebax on Hully as she ALWAYS voms the next day

So

Can I now save myself £15 and use Drontal or similar? Or at least find a non vomity one?

Or is Milebax worth £20 friffing pounds?

She not he

£20
we just get one from the Vets - £3 or £4 I think. Sorry can't remember the name.

Yes. Twenty bloody quid. And if I want it online they charge £8 for a bloody prescription!

Advocate for mine ...

we don't have a prescription for them , I can just walk into the Vets and request one and they get a tablet for me. Dsil goes to the same vets and I often pick one up for her as well. Def no prescription required.

DH has just got the receipt for me, they are Milbemax Charged £4.63. one tablet every 3 months.

I need 3 tablets according to vet as dog is 28k and that comes to just under £19

Both vets accessible to us charge this. I'm being robbed aren't I?

Um, yep you're being robbed...it's £15 odds for monster puppy and both cats to get Milbemax monster puppy is 39kg.

Right. So am I a terrible dog owner if I use Drontal? Anyone know about wormers effective for lungworms

milbemax is effective against lungworms but only if you use it monthly. The tablet covers 5-25kg body weight so it seems v unlikely you need 3 unless you have a Gt Dane.
Advocate probably more cost effective as it also does fleas, most worms (including lungworm but not tapeworm) we recommend a tape wormer every 6m if using regular advocate.

I have a 28k Lab. Depending on which receptionist I see I am told its 2 tablets or 3, but usually take 2. Which is the £19

So basically if it was to be effective against lungworms, than the every 3 months they state is wrong, and I should be paying £240 pa on wormers

Yet my prev lab managed 10 years without getting lungworms

Drontal has no action against lungworm. It covers roundworm, tapeworm, hookworm and whipworm, so good for all the intestinal parasites, but not lungworm.
Drontal is NFA-VPS which means available without prescription from vet or pharmacy. Vet can supply it over the counter to any member of the public.
Milbemax and Advocate are POMV (prescription only) which means they can only be prescribed by a vet for their own clients and animals under their care ( normally means they have examined the animal in the last year) If your own vet supplies them no piece of paper involved - the prescription is on the animal's computer record. You can request a written prescription to take to a pharmacy for which the vet will charge, we charge £11 for one item and £5 for a second and the prescription can cover up to 6 months of treatment, so six doses of milbemax if that's what you wanted or a six-pack of advocate.
The vet has to check the animal's record and make sure the medication is suitable, fill in the prescription form by hand, sign it (it counts as a veterinary certificate, you can be struck off for filling it in fraudulently or incompetently) it's recommended that you complete the RCVS issued labels (for which they charge handsomely) to prevent it being counterfeited or photocopied, and then keep records of prescriptions issued. I'd charge double if it were up to me, it's a complete ball-ache.

If you want milbemax for a 28 kg dog you need one adult 5-25kg tablet, and one puppy/small dog 0.5-5kg one.

The dose with Milbemax large dog tablets is one per dog weighing 5-25kg and small dog tablets are one per dog weighing 1-5 kg body weight. If a dog weighs between 25 and 50 kg you can give two large dog tablets,but giving a small and a large tablet together would treat for up to 30kg body wt and work out much cheaper for a 28kg dog.

With regard to lungworm I've looked into this recently when our lab pup ate a snail!
Milbemax isn't licenced to prevent lungworm but will treat it. Strictly speaking you need to give milbemycin weekly for 4 weeks to treat though in trials I believe there were good results with using Milbemax monthly.
Advocate spot on is licenced to prevent lungworm used monthly and also treats for roundworm but you still need to give a tapeworm treatment also.
You could discuss your options with your vet.
Another point is that though you have to pay a prescription charge to get a script to buy online, you can request it to be made out for a larger number of tablets, not just one dose, so you wouldn't pay the 8 pounds each time.

sorry for repeating advice given , crossed posts, slow typer and got distracted by kids and puppy half way through!

I may query what they are giving then. Could it be they are giving her too much, hence the vomiting?

Year supply of advocate for your dog for £70 online first site I looked at. Even plus 2 prescription charges that's a lot cheaper and covers a much broader range of parasites. You'd need to factor in Drontal twice a year (3 Drontal+ tablets each time) and be aware it doesn't cover ticks.

The receptionist is not allowed to dispense POM medication. She may hand it over and take your money, but if it hasn't been checked and authorised by the vet they are breaking the law, and the vet ought to be giving the correct dose.

So advocate is the best cover if used in conjunction with Drontal? I am aware Drontal do a wormer just for tapeworm.

Is that combination the best protection?

Droncit would be fine for the tape worming. Drontal is doubling up a bit on the intestinal worms also covered by the advocate, but is more widely available and won't do any harm if used together.

Thank you for all your help. Spoke to vets and they said they could do the milebax as suggested, with one large tablet and one small which costs £13.00. A very substantial saving.

They state they have had no reports of lungworms yet and that Advocate is the best option if I'm concerned.

However the saving on the Milebax makes it possible to do more regularly if Lungworms becomes a risk factor.

Thank you you lovely clever dog housers, for giving up your time and knowledge