Worms

[GreyCrazy]

Hi,

I first posted here about 2 months ago when my grey had growled at me and I was concerned it might be a behavioural issue. Then he started with an upset tummy and I realised it was down to that - very relieved!!

However the upset tummy turned to diarrhoea which kept coming and going, although his appetite has been HUGE throughout, cue multiple vets visits until 3 weeks ago he was finally found to have roundworm. I'd wormed him just after getting him but I've since discovered before that he'd not been wormed for 9 months. The vet thinks because of this it's likely he already had them and the one dose of wormer I gave him (he got Drontal+) wasn't enough. She said the infestation level was what they usually see in puppies that have never been wormed and that they were also behind other symptoms he'd had - noisy lungs, coughing, biting round his rear end and having pee accidents in the house (she said it was irritation caused by the worms).

He had a dose of broad-spectrum wormer immediately (Dolpac, 3 weeks ago today) and then when the diarrhoea recurred a week later, a single dose of Panacur (after another vet visit). He isn't due another dose of Dolpac till next Monday but yesterday started with rear-end biting again, had a pee accident inside and today his stools are less firm with some jelly-like stuff coming out at the end. He has basically been on a chicken and rice diet the whole way through although I had just started to introduce Burns to his diet – he's up to about 6 spoonfuls a day mixed in with the bland diet and until today had been lovely and firm for almost a week.

I'm waiting for the vet to ring me to see if it's safe to give him his Dolpac a week early, but in the meantime wondered if anyone here has had any experience of this with their greys - how long it might take to clear up, how many times it's safe to worm him, what with and so on. The vet doesn't think there's anything else going on because he's eating fine and (apart from when this first started and he was feeling really poorly), seems bright and happy, but I was also wondering whether I should be asking them to check for anything else? Obviously I'm concerned about continually pumping him full of chemicals but I desperately want to get him well again.

Thankyou in advance for any advice you can give! )

 

[FeeFee]

Really sorry you are having all these problems, it makes me angry beyond belief that people will let their dogs suffer like this rather than spend a few pounds on worm tablets :rant:

It does sound on the face of it that he is having a lot of problems to be caused entirely by worms and there is maybe something else like a food sensitivity going on as well - but I'm definitely not an expert and I know that in extreme cases untreated worms can cause damage to the stomach lining.

It might be worth posting on the 'advice' bit on Greyhound Gap's forum, as they take in mainly greyhounds who have been dumped or strays I'm sure people there will have dealt with dogs with heavy/long standing worm burden and they are very helpful regarding problems with rescued greys.

 

[GreyCrazy]

Really sorry you are having all these problems, it makes me angry beyond belief that people will let their dogs suffer like this rather than spend a few pounds on worm tablets :rant:
It does sound on the face of it that he is having a lot of problems to be caused entirely by worms and there is maybe something else like a food sensitivity going on as well - but I'm definitely not an expert and I know that in extreme cases untreated worms can cause damage to the stomach lining.

It might be worth posting on the 'advice' bit on Greyhound Gap's forum, as they take in mainly greyhounds who have been dumped or strays I'm sure people there will have dealt with dogs with heavy/long standing worm burden and they are very helpful regarding problems with rescued greys.

Thanks, I will do this. I'm starting to get really worried because I just can't seem to get him topside of this.

 

[fallenangel]

we had a greyhound with smilaer problems it was his diet he couldnt have any mixers at all he was wheet intolarant plus a few other things afrer some try and error we found a food that suited him and he never had another day problems. one of the other thinks that realy maid him bad was the proten chews the stick ones that come in bags of mixed colours could send him ill in hours.

 

[Dar Khan]

Hi,
I first posted here about 2 months ago when my grey had growled at me and I was concerned it might be a behavioural issue. Then he started with an upset tummy and I realised it was down to that - very relieved!!

However the upset tummy turned to diarrhoea which kept coming and going, although his appetite has been HUGE throughout, cue multiple vets visits until 3 weeks ago he was finally found to have roundworm. I'd wormed him just after getting him but I've since discovered before that he'd not been wormed for 9 months. The vet thinks because of this it's likely he already had them and the one dose of wormer I gave him (he got Drontal+) wasn't enough. She said the infestation level was what they usually see in puppies that have never been wormed and that they were also behind other symptoms he'd had - noisy lungs, coughing, biting round his rear end and having pee accidents in the house (she said it was irritation caused by the worms).

He had a dose of broad-spectrum wormer immediately (Dolpac, 3 weeks ago today) and then when the diarrhoea recurred a week later, a single dose of Panacur (after another vet visit). He isn't due another dose of Dolpac till next Monday but yesterday started with rear-end biting again, had a pee accident inside and today his stools are less firm with some jelly-like stuff coming out at the end. He has basically been on a chicken and rice diet the whole way through although I had just started to introduce Burns to his diet – he's up to about 6 spoonfuls a day mixed in with the bland diet and until today had been lovely and firm for almost a week.

I'm waiting for the vet to ring me to see if it's safe to give him his Dolpac a week early, but in the meantime wondered if anyone here has had any experience of this with their greys - how long it might take to clear up, how many times it's safe to worm him, what with and so on. The vet doesn't think there's anything else going on because he's eating fine and (apart from when this first started and he was feeling really poorly), seems bright and happy, but I was also wondering whether I should be asking them to check for anything else? Obviously I'm concerned about continually pumping him full of chemicals but I desperately want to get him well again.

Thankyou in advance for any advice you can give! )Can only say that more chicken than rice is bad as per serving and try a little mashed green veg . Also a dollop of natural yoghurt every now and again . If you vary the diet with white meat fed three times ,then add a red meat meal .

 

[jinnyfizz]

I took on two lurcher pups last year who were both suffering from worm damage.

After worming with Drontal and feeding them an extremely bland and totally fat free diet for two or three weeks the weakest pup was still having problems of a similar nature to your GH.

To cover all possibilities, he then had a course of anti-biotics to ensure there was no lasting infection in his gut lining. This did the trick and he has never looked back :thumbsup:

 

[GreyCrazy]

I'm feeding 4 cups of rice and 4 handfuls of chicken per day, split into 3 meals of 1.5.cups/1.5 handfuls am, 1 cup/1 handful lunchtime, and 1.5 cups/1.5 handfuls pm, the vet says she thinks these amounts are fine, not too much meat, and he does seem to do well when he's just eating that (nice bouncy poo and no change in behaviour that I can see). I'm also adding Protexin Premium Bio Probiotic to the pm meal and the vet's said to add 5ml of cod liver oil to help with his coat. He's back on the bland diet alone for 5 days and then I'm going to try James Wellbeloved. The vet thinks it's partly the worms and partly the Burns not agreeing with him! Hopefully we'll eventually find something that does... :blink: Of course he thinks the chicken and rice is just fine, thanks! :thumbsup: Thankyou for all the advice so far.

 

[Silverpeacock]

Hi!

My younger grey came with a huge worm burden - we didn't realise this at the time and just thought he was failing to thrive for the first 8 weeks... Cutting a long story short after a couple of massive doses of wormer, he had similar problems to yours for a short time. We had to introduce new foods very gradually so it didn't shock his system (i.e. we added 1/4 cup of new food to current food on fist day increasing over 10 days until he was on 100% new food)

I wouldn't be giving the Cod liver oil at the moment, the less to lubricate his system the better at the moment - by all means add it back when things are sorted, my lad now loves it and it does make their coats lovely and shiny!

We also avoid any food or treats with bright colours for both our hounds, it really don't seem to do them any good at all.

This will sort itself out and he'll be fit and healthy in no time, but don't worry about the odd runny poo, greys just do that sometimes!