# Deworming a mom with babies



## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

We have now dewormed our foster family (mom and 3 pups, look to be going on about 5 weeks old now give or take...). The shelter dewormed mom with a thick yellow paste when we picked them up 1 week ago, and we dewormed all of them yesterday with the same paste given to us by the shelter. 

*I do not know what they are deworming them with, this is what they want used*

The mom is passing a TON of small to medium sized wiggly white worms, she passed a ton today after the deworming yesterday. I've looked at pictures of all the major worms (whips, hooks, rounds, pins) and they all look the same to my uneducated eye. The shelter is not going to pay for a fecal, we are lucky to be getting dewormer at all from them....in the past we have had to pay out of pocket, and the stuff did not work (bought the most expensive stuff on the market around here) and all the pups still had to be dewormed with vet dewormer when they eventually went to their new homes. Our vet will NOT see dogs that do not belong to us without doing complete physicals, etc on all of them.

I asked the foster coordinator at the shelter if it was normal for the worms to be alive when passed after deworming, or if they should be dead. He said it's normal for them to be alive. But if this is the case, how do you ever get mom cleared up when she keeps eating the pup's poop immediately after they pass it?

Mom is trying to be a good mom by keeping their area clean, but in doing so she is just eating all their fecal passing and I would imagine reinfesting herself. What on earth do you do to keep them all from just passing around worms??? I've never had a mom with babies, so in the past the rescues we fostered young ones for dewormed with good dewormer and it wasn't an issue.


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

IMO over the counter wormers are not real effective. Pups should be wormed every two weeks starting at week 2. Mom should eliminate most of the worms but may need retreatment in a couple of weeks. Is it Strongid that you are using? At week 6 you can treat the pups with Safe Guard Dewormer for Goats (Liquid; Tractor Supply 17.99). It is a very effective intestinal wormer for the pups. It is good if the mom is passing the worms, better out than in! Good luck.

PS Besure to check with the vet because some wormers can not be used on Mom while she is nursiing.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Doc said:


> IMO over the counter wormers are not real effective. Pups should be wormed every two weeks starting at week 2. Mom should eliminate most of the worms but may need retreatment in a couple of weeks. Is it Strongid that you are using? At week 6 you can treat the pups with Safe Guard Dewormer for Goats (Liquid; Tractor Supply 17.99). It is a very effective intestinal wormer for the pups. It is good if the mom is passing the worms, better out than in! Good luck.


I do not know what he gave me, it was already premeasured and in the syringe. It is a medium thickness bright yellow paste.

Is the safe guard dewormer effective on all the major worm types? The number one issue is I do not know what type of worms she has and they aren't going to spring for a fecal. The other dewormer recommended unfortunately only treats two of the four, so I don't know if it would even be effective.

How soon should I wait to deworm them with the safeguard, if our TSC has it, knowing that I just dewormed them with this other stuff yesterday?

I wouldn't mind doing/paying for the fecal myself, but the problem is she is a little bitty thing probably 30 lbs and my smallest is 55 and was just in, so they know she's not full of worms. They won't treat without seeing her, which is fair and understandable, but fostering for such a large city shelter is so different than what I am used to. They try, but....


Thank you so much for the advice. Welcome anything else you may have to add!


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## spiritsmom (Mar 1, 2003)

Sounds like strongid t - we used it exclusively in the shelter. It is quite safe, but we usually started it at 2 weeks old.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

spiritsmom said:


> Sounds like strongid t - we used it exclusively in the shelter. It is quite safe, but we usually started it at 2 weeks old.


My question is - when the babies and mom are passing LIVE worms, and mom eats the puppy fecal matter as soon as they pass it, will she just keep reinfesting herself? Should they be passing live worms after being dewormed, or shouldn't the worms be dead?

At what point can you break the cycle?

I know the dewormer is safe, I just am trying to figure out if it will take care of multiple types of worms, because it seems most of the OTC dewormers only hit things like rounds and pins, not whips and hooks.


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## spiritsmom (Mar 1, 2003)

Hookworms and roundworms only - you'd need better stuff like panacur for the whipworms.

I don't really know if she'd be reinfesting herself but I imagine she would be since they are alive when she would be ingesting them and they'd make their way right back to her intestines. 

The worms should be dead when passed after deworming a few times I would think - or at least that has been my experience in the past.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

With a heavy worm load, live worms being expelled isn't uncommon.

Yes, mom will keep reinfesting herself if she's cleaning up the wormed puppy poop right away, but gradually the worm load will decrease significantly. Pups will also likely reinfest themselves as all they would have to do so is lick some poop, step in it and lick a paw, etc.... It may not be possible in this situation for mom or pups to be completely worm free while they are all together, but regular wormings will significantly reduce the worm load and thus improve their ability to absorb nutrition and their overall health. Then once the pups go home, maybe one more dose or so may be needed but with them separated so reinfestation is less likely, the worms can be gotten rid of for good.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Thanks all, sorry for the delayed reply. Been super busy...we met with mom and pups with the vet the shelter contracts with, and they are all looking good under the circumstances. Mom was on clavamox for a week, definitely improved but still hacking and coughing quite a bit when excited/nervous, etc. so she was put on "doxy" (?) for the next two weeks as an antibiotic. Even just after last nights dose and this morning, she is already much improved. So either she just hadn't quite turned the corner yet to getting better or the doxy is really that good.

The shelter hasn't sprung for a fecal yet, but in talking to the vet and researching best I could the worms (should've just taken some in, but hindsight...) we think she has whips and tapes. The other dewormer should've hit rounds and pins, if they were present, and we still have a dose of that for mom and the pups. All were put on panacur, I think she said the yellow stuff was strongid, and they also received tablets of something that started with a "c" but can't remember what it was. That was a one time dose, whereas the pancur they will all receive daily for awhile.

The vet estimated them at 5 weeks, so I was accurate in estimating their age at 4 weeks when we picked them up last Thursday. She would like to see them weaned off mom at 6 weeks so mom can get a little more meat on her bones and concentrate on her health, get her spayed, and adopted out. Pups will remain with us for several weeks past weaning because the shelter spays them prior to adoption.

As it is, mom is only allowed to feed them 3 - 4 times a day, and the babies are working on soaked kibble and canned food. Two of the three are doing great on that, I'm not sure we will hit the full wean date at 6 weeks. I would prefer they stay with mom till 8 weeks but they are not my pups or mother so we will try to abide and have them weaned if all goes well. They won't "force" us to wean them, so if they need a feeding or two at 7 weeks or so all should be ok....mom is super sweet and coming out of her shell wonderfully, and all the pups are getting bright eyed and very chipper, rushing to the door of the x-pen to get petted, fed, etc. Mom is quite content to spend her days away from them and only go in for feedings and a little one on three cuddling with her babies, this should help keep her worm load a little more under control and keep the pups from feeding at will since they want them weaned early.

Thanks for all the advice.


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