Deworming, Giardia and Coccidiosis
Parasite control is very important in puppies, particularly puppies that spend any time outdoors or whose mothers live outdoors or go outside a lot, such as livestock guardian dog puppies. They can get parasites directly from their mother via the placenta or from her milk, or some types of parasites, such as giardia, can be brought in on her fur after she goes outdoors, especially if she spends any time in ponds, puddles, or other wet areas.
Puppies heavily infested with parasites sometimes have poor weight gain, rough coats, failure to thrive, diarrhea (often bloody), and dehydration. Certain parasites, such as giardia and coccidiosis, are particularly dangerous and can mimic parvoviruses in the severity of their symptoms.
You can lose puppies quickly from these side effects. Hence, the best way to prevent problems is to start a very strict parasite control program at 2 weeks old (sooner for coccidiosis) and stick with it until the puppies are past the critical stage.
Below is our parasite control program, with links to recommended products. If you are a breeder or puppy owner, you can follow this protocol with your puppies, but we suggest discussing things with your veterinarian first. We are not veterinarians and are not giving medical advice, only sharing what we do.
Supplies and Procedures
First, you’ll need to weigh your puppy because the dosage is very important. Below are the scales we use for various ages.
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Small Puppies
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Bigger Pups
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Adult LGDs
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All products can be administered with 1, 3, or 5 ml luer slip syringes. Use the 1 ml for neonatal puppies. Depending on their weight, use the bigger sizes for older pups and dogs.
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Intestinal Worms: Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms, Tapeworms
Puppies should be dewormed starting at 2 weeks old, repeating every 2 weeks until 2 months old, then once a month until 6 months old. So deworm at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 weeks, then 4, 5 & 6 months. The drug used depends on the age and the type of parasite they have or are at risk for.
Ideally, you should treat the puppies’ mom 10 days before she whelps and whenever you treat the puppies. We do this and have found that diligently treating mom helps keep the puppies parasite-free.
Under Six Weeks - Roundworms & Hookworms
Six Weeks and Up - Roundworms, Hookworks, Whipworms, Tapeworms and Giardia
Safeguard 10% Fenbendazole Goat Dewormer - 1 ML per 5 Lbs Body Weight.
- Starting at 6 weeks, we switch to Safeguard 10% Fenbendazole Goat Dewormer to cover Giardia, tapeworms, and other intestinal worms.
- If we suspect a Giardia problem, we will start the Fenbendazole at 4 weeks.
- Safeguard is given at 1 ML per 5 lbs for five consecutive days.
- Repeat weekly at 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks, then monthly until 5 or 6 months.
- Livestock Guardian Dogs are more at risk for giardia (and coccidiosis) than pet dogs because they live outdoors with livestock and have access to standing water from water troughs, puddles, and ponds.
- We buy the Safeguard in 1000 ML bottles, but the 125 ML Safeguard is probably enough unless you’re a breeder.
- You’ll need 5 or 10 ML syringes for puppies and 10 ML syringes or a goat-dosing syringe for bigger puppies and dogs.
- Very resistant cases of Giardia can be given Metronidazole instead of or in addition to Fenbendazole. This is a prescription drug, so you must get it from your veterinarian.
- Oregano Oil is said to prevent Giardia, but we haven’t tried it.
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Coccidiosis
Coccidiosis is a highly dangerous intestinal infection caused by the coccidian protozoa. It can mimic canine parvovirus with severe diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting, lethargy, anorexia, and dehydration. Puppies will generally be depressed and sickly and can die quickly from dehydration and malnourishment if not treated immediately.
Really bad cases may require subcutaneous fluids, prescription medications, and a special diet.
It’s best to prevent coccidiosis before it gets a stranglehold on your puppies or to treat it aggressively at the first symptoms.
You can get prescription medications from your veterinarian to treat Coccidiosis or use Toltrazuril 5% Suspension from Horseprerace.com.
We use This drug to treat and prevent coccidiosis in both puppies and goats. It’s expensive but works well, so it’s worth it.
Toltrazuril Dosage 5% Suspension
Puppies don’t get coccidiosis from other species because the protozoa are host-specific. Still, if you have goats, chickens, etc., and have a coccidiosis problem with them, you’ll likely also have issues with puppies simply because the conditions that favor the Protozoa are the same regardless of species.
The Toltrazuril dosage for goats is 1 ML per 5 lbs, but for puppies, the dosage is different and varies, depending on if you’re using it as a preventative or treatment. For prevention, it’s 5 mg per lb, given once. Most people recommend the first dose at 4 days and then every 2 weeks from 2-14 weeks, but if you have a severe problem, you can dose weekly.
To treat Coccidiosis infections (not just prevention), triple the dosage to 15 mg per lb and treat for 5 days in a row.
Cocciguard
We started a new protocol for coccidiosis prevention in 2021. We use a product called Cocciguard, which we get from Revival Animal Health. This is a powdered coccidiostat designed for livestock. We mix it into our puppy food at about 4 cups per 45 lb bag.
We feed this to our females while they are pregnant or nursing, and when the puppies start solid food, they get this same product in their food. We buy the 10 lb bags of Cocciguard and pre-mix it into the puppy food bags as we fill the storage containers.
Cocciguard is NOT a coccidiosis treatment. It’s only a preventative. If we get an outbreak of coccidiosis, we still treat it with Toltrazuril, but we have found that using the Cocciguard keeps the parasite at bay. We have not had a case of coccidiosis since we started Cocciguard.
Probiotics to Restore Healthy Gut Flora
You should always use probiotics after treating for parasites or any time a puppy has digestive issues. Here are some we keep on hand and use:
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