Oh Yay!

The Girls have worms. I don't know if Conker has them too, I do not think so, but I have suspected something along those lines for a few days now. Poop has not been, satisfactory, so I "explored" a couple turds and found some little round-tubular-shaped worms (not tape segments, thankfully) in a couple of them. So totally happy about that.

Other than when I put them on heartworm preventives this past summer, the Girls have not, to my knowledge, been dewormed. Ever. Conker had been several times by the shelter I got him at as well as when he was put on heartworm preventives, and before I went to Alaska.  I guess it's a bit my fault since I have basically taken over the Girls' care, but they are also Mom's responsibility, so she takes a bit of the blame as well.
I don't yet know where these worms came from, I do not think I ever will either.

Upon discovery of the little nasties, I promptly ran out to the Grange to grab some deworming medication. Last time I did this for just Conker I got the canine safe-guard dewormer for about $10. It would cost (with the current local price) about $55 to deworm all three dogs using that product. Instead, I bought the goat safe-guard dewormer since it is the exact same chemical, but in a different form (liquid instead of granules) and concentration (10% instead of 22%).
I learned a few tricks about saving money when it comes to this sort of thing during my stay at the sleddog kennel, like using this variation of the dewormer instead of the other one, as well as proper dosages for this (fenbendazole) and other (pyrantel pamoate, ivermectin) dewormers in various concentrations.*
Anyways, the 125ml bottle cost me $20 and will treat all three dogs for three days in a row (which is what you do with fenbendazole) twice. I saved about $90 right there.

The Grange did not have any liquid pyrantel pamoate for some reason, so I only got the fenbendazole. I wanted both just to have them on-hand since I prefer to rotate dewormers instead of using the same one every time. I guess I'll check the other two smaller feed-stores next time I am near them to see if they've got it.

So starting tomorrow all three dogs will get dewormed, then again in a few weeks just to be sure the little buggers are gone.


*No I will not share this information. In the event of someone attempting to DIY ends up killing their pet, even if they followed my dosages exact and did not overdose or whathaveyou, I do not want to have been the source that resulted in that pet's death. If you are really that curious about it, ask your vet. Or figure it out yourself, the math is really not that hard. Either way I recommend you talk to your vet first.