Ask Me Help Desk - 3 month old rescued chihuahua has not been dewormed!

I recently rescued a 3 month old chihuahua and she has not has any shots or been dewormed. I scheduled her to get her shots next week but my question is should I start her on an over the counter dewormer? And if so how often do I give it to her. She seems to be fine, she eats and drinks well and I cannot see any kind of worms in her poop but I know they are supposed to be dewormed every week for 3-4 weeks. Does anyone know if she is in harms way or my family by her not being dewormed by 3 months etc. Please help!!

Personally I would until she has been checked out by a vet, it's only a few more days to wait and he can give her a thorough health check.

When you go to the vets take a fecal sample with you, just get a specimen jar from the chemist (pharmacy) and scoop a bit of poop in it the day before or that morning.

First of all, you should not worm your dog for a month straight. You are putting a poison into your dogs body. You do not worm your dog just because either. If you have noticed your dog gulping food and not maintaining good weight then you more than likely have a worm infestation. Take the fecal into the vet and let them determine what kind and if your dog even has worms.

A good over the counter wormer is a horse wormer, it is called Safegaurd (panacure). For your small dog, it would be a dot of wormer for three consecutive days every 6 months.

Wow... I would not go with the horse wormer!!

Did you miss the part where it is a 3 MONTH OLD CHIHUAHUA Luv_a_bull

Horse wormer is actually what the vets even give out, only it is measured into a powdered packet for your dogs appropriate weight. Ive consulted two vets about this wormer, and they have both said that the SAFEGAURD brand wormer is safe for dogs.

And, I mentioned to give the puppy a dot of wormer, not the full tube. If this pet owner goes with the safegaurd, they would more than likely have wormer for its entire life.

I have wormed litters of 7 week old puppies with this stuff. It is safe.

I don't doubt it's safe but I would be a little wary of working out the dosage.

Horse wormers come in a LOT bigger tubes/packets than what you would need, if you mess up the dosage accidentally it would not end well for the pup
Dog wormers come in the right dosage for the dog already and they aren't that expensive.

Sorry, I am just a big advocate for things like not self-vaccinating your pets and for using the proper products, I have heard of things going wrong too many times to risk it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luv_a_bull098

Horse wormer is actually what the vets even give out, only it is measured into a powdered packet for your dogs appropriate weight. Ive consulted two vets about this wormer, and they have both said that the SAFEGAURD brand wormer is safe for dogs.

And, I mentioned to give the puppy a dot of wormer, not the full tube. If this pet owner goes with the safegaurd, they would more than likely have wormer for its entire life.

I have wormed litters of 7 week old puppies with this stuff. It is safe.

It sounds like you may know what you are doing and the pups and their history. This is a very different senario.

If she doesn't know what she is doing your advice could be very bad for the pup. Better to wait to make sure that the pup doesn't have any health issues that a wormer could aggravate and use one designed for dogs and carefully measured for its weight.

How much is a "dot"?

Also, you recommend giving an animal 15+ year old medicine?

Quote:

... likely have wormer for its entire life.

All right, I don't think that anyone on here really knows what I'm talking about. Yes, Safeguard brand wormer is intended for horses. However; if you search for any type of panacure based wormer, you will find a lot of horse wormers that pop up. I have consulted two vets on this. It is completely safe. Panacure is panacure. If you want to purchase panacure wormer with a dog picture on it instead of a horse, then go for it. Past experiences I have had with the wormer D-Worm has left my dogs sick for a couple of days. The safegaurd wormer doesn't do that.

A dot... meaning a minuscule amount probably no bigger then the felt tip of a normal sized highlighter pen.

And no I did not recommend that a 15+ year old dog should be given any type of medicine. I was just stating it would more than likely be a one time by for a small dog. My 12 year old GSP doesn't even get any vax anymore besides rabies... and then at that, it's a 3 year booster.. And I would hope that the owner of this dog would use good judgment when it came to taking care of its health needs.

I guess I'm not one of those people who runs to the vet office every time my dog comes down with the sniffles... in which case, the few times my dogs did get kennel cough, a good remedy of raw honey and mucinex did the trick. Vets are too expensive. They charge $40 where I live for a DHLPP shot when I can buy the thing from the feed store for less then $5. A vet DID give me all of these solutions. I didn't discover them on my own.