How often do you worm your dog, and why?

[TheLivelyCat]

How often do I need to worm my dog?
I understand that the guidelines are every 3 months on average, however my vets have recommended I do monthly due to my dogs lifestyle, hiking, mantrailing, our location beaches, woodlands, farms ect and breed (Labrador) as they are known scavengers, shes very much a town and country dog.
I have no issue worming monthly if she is high risk, but the vet was saying that over the counter wormers like drontal dont cover lung worm, and I will definitely need to cover her for that too.
So in total im looking at £24pm to cover both wormer and flea and tick prevention. Vet doesn't do pet plans ect, and private perception works out more expensive after paying for the perception.

Monthly, because lungworm kills dogs and because I have children at home who could be blinded from roundworm

Love how many people are ignoring that your dog's worms can infect other dogs

Just because dogs aren't treated for worms, doesn't mean they have worms. I've had worm counts done, including for lung worm, so I know my dogs don't have worms. (And since I'm picking up poo, no dog is eating it anyway). It's not a cost thing, a worm count isn't any cheaper than prophylactic treatment. Just something that's entirely unnecessary for my dogs and entirely inline with BVA recommendations

People are ignoring that worms can infect children.
And IMO not picking up after your dog should be more severely punished.

do you worm count monthly? I do think it’s the way forward

do you worm count monthly? I do think it’s the way forward

What makes you think that @mintleavesandthyme ?

Recommendation is every 3 months for worm counts due to the lifecycles of worms

"that you have a worm count carried out every 3 months, to break any parasite cycles and to detect worms that may have been too immature to be egg-laying at the previous count"

This is also why worming treatment is normally every 3 months. Worming treatments kill any worms present at the time of treatment, they don't stop a dog picking up worms/eggs the day after treatment, but the lifecycle is such that treating again in 3 months should prevent transmission.

@dennydan you were saying about it not being vet bashing?

You might not have intended it, but others simply can't help themselves.

Ultimately, I think we all have a responsibility to protect all dogs - particularly those that are vulnerable like puppies - (as well as children) and it will never rest easy with me that others don't. But others clearly don't share that view and they are entitled to it. I think if you have the money then why not? Same reason I take my dogs for check ups every 6 months - because I want them to be as healthy as possible.

We have 2 dogs and we never worm them.

Worm count is not putting your dog at risk at all.

In fact it is giving your dog a better protection.

If your dog has worms the worm count will say the specific type and you can give your dog the correct medication and not just a generic wormer.

We know the wormers are getting stronger and causing issues to your dog genera health. Worm count stops this from happening.

There is no risk in worm counting - it will add a better level of protection to your dog.

My dogs are my life - they are my companions and they are working dogs. It is my duty and responsibility to put their health first.

This includes monthly phsio, hyro sessions, regular vet checks. I do the best for my dogs which includes worm counting and not over medication on unnecessary medication

Also worm counts look at your dogs poo generally so any other issues can be picked up eg lack of absorbtion of food and food particles and fat digestion. Not designed for this but an added extra of the test

God, there's some hard of thinkers on this site.
Multi-national corporate groups don't want to make money and neither do fecal sample labs apparently.
And as for the effect of veterinary pharmaceuticals on the environment, on the recipient and other animals? Ah, fuck it.

But why would you worm your dog without any evidence that they actually have worms? It’s like giving them painkillers with no evidence of pain.

@dennydan I would love to see the articles that suggest wormers cause issues to dogs health? I've never seen any suggestion of that.

And no one ever said you weren't doing your best for your dog...

@redboxer321 there's no need to be rude about people who disagree with you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It doesn't make people 'hard thinkers.'

@shoesandshipsandsealingwax because I would rather the worms left my dog dead for the safety of other dogs, particularly puppies, and children...not really complicated. The getting the worms again is not the point, for the safety of other pets and children that can become seriously ill, I do what I think is right.

I'm not sure when caring about other peoples vulnerable pets or children became such a contentious issue 😂

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks It's not that I object to people disagreeing with me, it's the way you do it. I found your post just as rude as mine.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks but unless your dog actually has worms then you’re just wasting your money - you’re not benefitting your dog or anyone else’s

Regular worm counts and treating the specific type of worm that’s present (if any) would be cheaper and more effective.

I would rather be cautious, and not take the risk of not noticing and/or causing another person's dog or child harm, than save a few quid. It's not about the money for me, it's about doing what I feel is (morally) right.

That's my personal choice.

Not sure why that's such a point of contention for people...

This is old information, it’s monthly for lung worm which used to be only in the South but is now prevalent throughout the UK

@redboxer321because the use of medications like this does effect the environment and you get resistance eventually anyway. Reducing our reliance on them is better for sustainability.

Droncit every 3 months for tapeworms. Simparica Trio monthly to cover all other worms (including heart and lung), fleas and ticks.

We live in the countryside, the dogs are mostly off-lead. We have significant risk factors as I have fox poo rollers, rodent hunters, and a scavenger who is particularly partial to cat poo.

My vet practice is independent and they are very happy to provide the written prescriptions for Simparica Trio. I can't imagine they are making a huge profit on charging £20 per dog every 6 months.

Eh? You are advocating for using them more! Unless I misunderstand?

My dog throws it all up every time we give him the worm and flea treatment so I’ve been thinking for a while what bloody good is it doing him. He’s on a Vet’s for Pets VIP plan, which includes annual vaccination and a couple of things like 1 x vet consultation and nail clips. Am I a mug then?

Please tell me if I am wrong but I believe that wormers kill worms that are already in your dog. They do not protect against that dog picking up worms the very next day. So, if you want to be sure your dog doesn't have worms or any worms leave their system dead, you'd have to worm every day.

Wormcount checks if there are any signs of worms. If so, worm them, if not don't. It is exactly the same as using a wormer but without any side effects.

And it's not about saving a few quid. Wormers (not including for lungworm) can be bought for less than £3 online although admittedly those that treat lungworm are more expensive. But wormcount is not cheap. A test for lungworm and others costs £35 and you have to decant poos into little pots for three days 😧

Loads of evidence to say that regular worming has a negative effect on dogs too. Some of it not reliable but there's loads our there from trustworthy sources.

As for children getting toxocariasis, while one incident is one too many, it is pretty rare and can be picked up for non-domesticated animals too. We can't eliminate all risk and although we can try to minimise it, worming dogs when they don't need to be wormed is not going to help in that endeavour.

No. But you many want to do a bit of research. It's not easy to do something which is the opposite of or different to what the vet tells you but sometimes - not always, not even often - doing the opposite is the best thing.

https://dragonflyproducts.co.uk/products/wormcount-test-kits-feclab?srsltid=AfmBOorv_4W0BtCmOn0gr6oG5YU5VLmyq2olzjdNXCYzQCZu6CrW2cGj

@redboxer321 you do misunderstand and I’m not sure how

There are a number of points:
worms in dogs can be dangerous and even life threatening
they can also seriously harm children

anti-parasitic medication is an important tool for reducing the risk of these serious consequences

faecal worm counts is also a tool for this.

worm counts or treatment for lung worm (either) should be monthly.

yes it kills the worms inside the dog but crucially on this time frame even in the dog ate a worm egg the next day, due to the life cycle of the parasite, it would not be able to shed eggs itself/be infectious or cause the dog any harm before the next wormer. That is the reason for the time scale.

Ask your vet for an alternative. It happens sometimes. There are other options