Parasite Prevention

      Deworming, Giardia and Coccidiosis: Parasite control is very important in puppies, particularly puppies that spend any time outdoors or whose mothers live outdoors or go outside a lot. They can get parasites directly from their mother via the placenta or from her milk, or some types of parasites, such as giardia, can be brought in on her fur after she goes outdoors, especially if she spends any time in ponds, puddles or other wet areas. Puppies who are heavily infested with parasites sometimes have poor weight gain, rough coats, failure to thrive, diarrhea (often bloody) and dehydration. Certain types of parasites such as giardia and coccidiosis are particularly dangerous and can mimic parvoviruses in the severity of their symptoms.

You can lose puppies quickly from these side effects so the best way to prevent problems is to start a very strict parasite control program beginning at 2 weeks old (sooner for coccidiosis) and stick with it until the puppies are past the critical stage. Below is the parasite control program we use. If you are  new puppy owner  or have had puppies in the past you can follow this protocol with your puppies, but we suggest discussing things with your veterinarian first. We are not veterinarians and are not giving medical advice; only sharing what we do.

      First you’ll need to weigh your puppy because the dosage is very important for doasing your puppy the correct amount.  All products can be administered with with 1, 3 or 5 ml luer slip syringes.  Ideally you should also treat the mother 10 days before she whelps and whenever you treat the puppies. We do this and have found that being diligent in treating mom really helps keep the puppies parasite free.

      Intestinal Worms: Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms, Tapeworms: Puppies should be dewormed starting at 2 weeks old and we  repeat every 10 days until 2 months old, then once a month until 6 months old. So deworm at 2, 3,4,5, 6, 8, 12 weeks, then 4, 5 & 6 months. The drug used depends on the age and the type of parasite they have or are at risk for.

Roundworms & Hookworms

Here is our treatment schedule that we follow with all of our puppies: 

      At 2 weeks of age we deworm with Pyrantel Pamoate 50 mg/ml suspension. We then repeat treatment at 3 weeks old and then every 10 days after that until they are 8 weeks old. This is the same ingredient in Nemex 2 canine dewormer, only we use the human version, purchased through our program veterinary or through a highly rated pet website revival.com. It comes in a couple of different sizes and you don’t need a lot, so choose the size that works best for you. We administer it with a syringe - 1 ML per 10 Lbs body weight.  

      At 6 Weeks and Up we treat for and prevent Roundworms, Hookworks, Whipworms, Tapeworms and Giardia. For this we use Fenbendazole 10%. This comes in many different name brands what we use is Safeguard 10% Fenbendazole Goat Dewormer - 1 ML per 5 Lbs Body Weight administered with a syringe orally. 

      Starting at 6 weeks we switch from Pyrantel to Safeguard 10% Fenbendazole Goat Dewormer to cover Giardia and tapeworms in addition to other intestinal worms. (If we suspect a Giardia problem we will start the Fenbendazole at 4 weeks.) This is given at the rate of 1 ML per 5 lbs, for 3 days in a row for worms only or 5 days in a row to cover Giardia, as well. This will be repeated weekly. We Personally  in our program will continue weekly treatments until puppies are  10 or 12 weeks old just because puppies are more at risk when there are more of them living together and going outdoors more often. We feel it’s better to stay on top of things. Some people recommend treating only for 3 days for giardia and others say 9 days if they have a known infection. We generally do 5 days in a row, every 2 weeks if there is the possibility of giardia causing the symptoms being treated. Very resistant cases of Giardia can be given Metronidazole, instead of or in addition to Fenbendazole. This is a prescription drug so you’ll need to get it from your veterinarian. We do keep it on hand and use it for resistant cases, in addition to the Safeguard.

     Coccidiosis: Coccidiosis is a highly dangerous intestinal infection caused by the coccidian protozoa. It can mimic canine parvovirus with severe diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting, lethargy, anorexia, dehydration and the puppy generally being depressed and sickly. Puppies can die quickly from dehydration and malnourishment if not treated immediately. Really bad cases may require subcutaneous fluids, prescription medications and a special diet. It’s best to prevent coccidiosis before it gets a strangle hold on your puppies or to treat it aggressively at the first symptoms.

     You can get prescription medications from your veterinarian to treat Coccidiosis. We use Toltrazuril 5% Suspension. This is the drug we use to prevent and treat coccidiosis in our puppie. It’s very expensive but works very well, so it’s worth it.

Fun Fact about coccidia: puppies don’t get coccidiosis from other species, because the protozoa are host specific, but if you have livestock, poultry etc then you will more then likely have a coccidiosis problem, if you have a problem with them then you will likely also have issues with puppies, simply because the conditions that favor the Protozoa are the same regardless of species.

     The Toltrazuril dosage for puppies varies, depending on if you’re using it as preventative or a treatment. 

     For prevention it’s 5 mg per lb, given once. Most people recommend the first dose at 4 days old and then every 2 weeks from 2-14 weeks, but if you have livestock around, as we do, we recommend dosing once a week with the preventative dose until puppies are 14 weeks old.

To treat Coccidiosis infections (not just prevention) you triple the dosage to 15 mg of per lb and treat for 5 days in a row.

      Probiotics to Restore Healthy Gut Flora: You should always use probiotics after treating for parasites or any time a puppy has digestive issues. 

                                                   High Desert Doodles & More

                                                       Phone: 541-216-8370

                                  Email: HighDesertDoodlesAndMore@gmail.com

UPDATE: As of April 2023 we have added in "MOOM" to our daily routine with our mama and babies.  Moom is a natural  Oregano oil mix that is much safer for the gut flora of the dogs. Oregano oil helps fight against protozoa parasites 

UPDATE: Beginning with our January  2023 litter we started a new protocol for Coccidiosis prevention. We use a product called Cocciguard which we get from Revival Animal Health. This is a powdered coccidiostat designed for livestock. We mix it into our puppy food at the rate of about 4 cups per 40 lb bag of food. We feed this to our females while they are pregnant and nursing, and when the puppies start solid food they get this same product in their food. We also add Doc Roy’s GI Synbiotics to the food at about 2 cups per 45 lb bag of dog food. We buy the 10 lb bags of Cocciguard and 25 lb bags of Doc Roy’s and pre-mix it into the puppy food bags as we fill the storage containers.

The Cocciguard is NOT a Coccidiosis treatment. It’s only a preventative. If we get an outbreak of Coccidiosis we still treat with Toltrazuril, but we have found that by using the Cocciguard it keeps the parasite at bay and we don’t need to treat. This stuff is amazing and we will definitely continue using it!