Whipworms :-/

[Sharae & Winston]

Winston had some terrible blowout diarrhea last night so we took in a fecal sample to the vet this morning. We just found out he has whipworms.

The vet tech said its one of the hardest kind of worms to get rid of because dogs tend to reinfect themselves or go to the same area where they were infected in the first place. He is being treated starting Wednesday with 3 days in a row of Panacur, and then must be treated for another 3 days 3 weeks later, and then again in 3 months. 

He has had tapeworms before but the treatment for that was pretty straight forward with a high success rate. Does anyone have experience with this particular worm? I am scared we will never be able to get rid of it and I feel bad that my poor boy keeps getting sick :(

I forgot to mention this in my original post- He is scheduled to get neutered on next Monday, the 8th. They have reassured me that this is still safe and him having the whipworms will not have any effect on anything, but I still worry. 

[Sharae & Winston]

After reading all of this I am completely stressing out right now:( I was just going to vacuum and clean all floors, wipe his crate out with bleach and wash his mat. It doesn't sound like that is going to be enough. I am more worried about the outdoor areas. We live in an apt complex so he has pooped pretty much all over this place. Of course I pick it up, but that's not to say some of the eggs may be remaining on the ground especially with the way his bm's have been lately. As of Wednesday, when he gets his first dose, I guess I will wash his toys in addition to everything else, but I don't know what else I can do to prevent it? We have puppy wipes so I was already planning on wiping his paws when he comes in from outside as a precaution, I will do his bottom too. He never goes outside unsupervised- he's always on leash with someone and we are pretty vigilant about making sure he's not eating anything. He loves to lick puddles when it rains (which is always) but we always try to tell him no and pull his head up. Aside from that, he will pick up the occasional pinecone or stick in his mouth but we always fish it out as soon as we realize.

He has been on advantage for fleas the last two months but he's probably due for his next dose pretty soon. The vet says they will give me a monthly heartworm preventative that's is taken orally but it's only given during the summer months. I should be getting that soon too. Will that help prevent this from happening again? I can't believe he has gotten two types of worms already and is barely 7 months old, are there certain dogs that are just more prone to getting these things? I feel like I am never going to be able to take him to a dog park or park ever again!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Confused. They are not going to start the Panacur until Wednesday?  Is that what you are saying?   Get the Panacur  NOW!

I think it is great that you don't have this place permanently as your residence. You now do not have to remove thousands of dollars of topsoil :)

[Sharae & Winston]

Yes, we have to wait til Wednesday because the branch of our vet clinic on our side of town only has the liquid version of panacur on hand and they recommend we give him the "granule" version that you sprinkle on their food because of his size and the fact that the liquid is apparently horrible (tasting). I asked her specifically if he will be ok to wait until then and she said if it were her dog she would wait for the granule kind. Short of taking off time from work to drive 45 mins to the other side of town there's no way for me to get the other kind sooner. Do you think they could cause him serious harm before then? He seems fine other than when he does go #2 at his regular times they are explosions.

Yes that is the only thing nice about our situation now :) plus the fact that we are moving in June and can leave this infested place behind lol. The bad thing about apartments is we can't control other people's dogs and the illnesses they are clearly spreading to us.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's some good info about whipworms, including the ways in which they are transmitted and the kinds of heartworm medications that kill them.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_whipworms.html

Whipworms are transmitted through contaminated soil, and according to this article, it's impossible to eradicate them from the soil. Wiping the feet, butt, etc when the dog comes indoors is important, because the eggs get into the intestine by the dog licking himself. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Karen,

Am I reading this correctly. That the product, HeartGuard, is one of the products not really too effective with the Whipworms?

Just when I was feeling a little bit more secure now  :(  UGH

Please tell me I have some hope

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, Heartgard Plus will not kill whipworms or tapeworms. Only hookworms and roundworms in addition to the heartworms. 

[Sharae & Winston]

That is really good info, thank you. I'm glad it mentioned that they aren't readily transmissible to humans, because my bf has been going on and on about he thinks he has them and is making a doctors appt lol! I guess I need to be paranoid and always wipe his feet from now on because there's no way to prevent him from going in dirt. He's not a huge licker but He does lick his front paws from time to time so imagine that's probably how he got them.