Whip worm experience and 2 questions!

[Sara Schultz]

Wow. This has been a hard couple of days. 

Lucy, now 16 months, has been diagnosed with whip worms. Ugh. After some hard nights (waking up 5-6 times per night, cleaning up vomit & diarrhea & showering her bottom off on the times when she didn't make it, etc.) and one night at the animal hospital to receive IV fluids, Lucy has now taken all the doses of the first round of medicine to get rid of the whip worms (we do another round in 3 weeks, and a final round in 3 months.)

So right now, I am giving her white rice and chicken while her stomach "gets settled". Also yogurt with live cultures to get some of the good bacteria back into her gut. So far, she has had no bowel movements since the diarrhea stopped. (I'm a little worried what will come out when she does have one.)

Questions:
1. She seems really hungry. Does anyone have a clue how much chicken and rice I should offer? I have to leave town tomorrow, and I need to leave my husband baggies with the amounts in the refrig. :)

2. Also, my vet said that Interceptor for heartworm also covers for some of these types of parasites. I NEVER want to experience anything like the past 5 days again, if we can help it. Poor puppy and poor me. LOL

Anyway, do any of y'all know of reasons I should NOT give Interceptor in place of Frontline? The vet said it would be fine if I want to do so. Why would I NOT want to do so if we could protect Lucy from more possible illnesses from parasites/worms?"

Thanks, doodle lovers!

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I am so sorry for Lucy and you having to go through this.  I would cross post this in Health and Medical Issues Group.  For the food my vet said to double chicken rice portions to kibble. 

 

I have Rosey on Revolution and Bandit on HeartGuard/Vectra... I am not familiar with Interceptor.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sorry to hear of of your troubles. But Frontline is for fleas and ticks. Interceptor is for heartworm and I guess, from what you're saying, it covers whipworms too. At any rate you need to use both to cover these things, which I do. Interceptor is not for use instead of Frontline.

[Sara Schultz]

Right - sorry, I meant Interceptor in place of Heartguard. :)

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

The way I understand it from my vet, Interceptor not only takes care of hearworms (as a preventative) but takes care of all of the other worms EXCEPT tape worm. 

[Valarie]

Poor Lucy and poor you!  We had the same experience with our Sophie.  We started her on a topical "cover all" recommended by a vet as soon as we brought her home.  But a couple months later she would only drink if I gave her ice cubes and she wouldn't eat.  She vomited a little.  I called our vet and he said just watch her but she did not improve and we took her in. She had an explosive episode of diarrhea when the doctor tried to get a rectal temp.  My husband said he was sure they had to repaint that exam room after we left.  But that was fortunate as they were able to test a fecal sample and diagnosed her with two types of worms (one was whipworms).  She also had to spend the night to get fluids.  That was one of the hardest things I've done - leave her there overnight.  But she was like a new puppy the next morning when we picked her up.  Our vet recommended a different brand of treatment and she has never experienced that again. 

It so awful when they are sick and  you don't know why.  Glad Lucy is on the right track now.  Good luck. 

[Sara Schultz]

Which brand do you use now?

[Valarie]

We were using Advantage Multi when she got hookworms and whipworms.  It is a topical treatment that we were advised would cover everything.  We now use a different vet and a different product.  We use Interceptor  Flavor Tabs for heartworms, hookworms, roundworms and whipworms.  We also use topical Vectra 3D for fleas, ticks, mosquitoes. mites, sand flies,biting and sucking lice. 

[Linda and Murphy]

I am so sorry you had to go through this. I am glad that Lucy is doing better.

I give Murphy Sentinel. It covers whipworms.(after your experience, I checked to make sure)

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Wow, I feel so bad for you guys :-( What an awful experience.  Personally, I am not familiar at all with whip worms??  Hunter has been taking Heartguard - should I be switching also?

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I give Gracie Comfortis for fleas, Sentinel for heart worm and all other worms, and when we go into the mountains or where there might be ticks, I use the topical Frontline Plus.  Neither the Comfortis nor the Sentinel will kill ticks.  Sentinel and Interceptor are pretty much the same thing...I think!  I had never heard of whip worms until we were up visiting our daughter in San Jose in November.  We were playing with the dogs at the school field and a lady there who had quite a few dogs told us that she goes to the school now rather than the dog park because her dog(s) got whip worm at the dog park.  The dog park is astroturf and so it doesn't get washed down every day.  They do get a lot of rain but with all the dogs pooping and peeing on the astroturf I guess the parasites run ramped!  She also said that you should never let your dog use a public drinking bowl that the have set out.  I have never confirmed any of this though.  My daughter has been taking her Rhodesian Ridgeback for a year to the very park the lady was talking about every day and has not had any problems.  Do you know how she got the whip worms?  Poor baby!

[Sara Schultz]

I don't know where she got the whip worms, but I do know it can stay in the soil for up to 5 years! Maybe a dog at the canine camp where she goes when we leave town had it but hadn't been treated yet? Who knows? Maybe just on a walk?

 

So I guess now we can't have any doggie playdates in our yard. :(

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I would think you could still have your play dates.  The people that I know who have dogs and hang out with I figure are OK.  I know where they live and I pretty much know their dog's health and wellness.  Since we have our beach area which is very transient and lots of hippie type kids with dogs who are bumming off the street live there, I never use our dog park.  It is disgusting and most of the dogs are not that nice.  We have a police officer who lives on our street and she said that most of the dogs are not licensed nor get wellness checks.  These kids can't afford it and it is not their priority so most of the dogs are open for any type disease out there.  As far as issuing citations for unlicensed dogs...that is a joke.  She says it is useless.  They don't pay or show up in court.  It costs the city too much money to arrest them only to release them again so why?  Something is missing in this excuse???