My nursing dog is not gaining weight, losing hair. Can I deworm her?

Great question! Tofy should be dewormed now, then again in two weeks, and a third treatment two weeks after that. This will ensure all the worms are killed. After that, she should be dewormed every three months. When the puppies reach six months of age, they should also be dewormed every three months. I would also feed her a puppy formulated food while she is nursing her puppies. That will give her extra calories, calcium, and protein to support nursing them. Once the puppies are weaned, she can go back onto an adult dog food. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Can you post a picture of Tofy so we can see how thin she is? I would feed her more food if she will eat it and I would wean the puppies so she can dry up and stop using her energy to produce milk. Not all dewormers get ALL parasites. I would have a stool sample checked by your Vet and I would have blood work done if she is so skinny that you are this worried. I hope this helps!

Hello. Popcorn may have some underlying disease or parasites. Make sure you are feeding her a very high quality puppy diet, as pregnancy & now nursing can make tremendous demands on your pet. She needs all the calories she can take in to prevent further weight loss. It is also possible that her fur loss is also a normal consequence of her pregnancy. Many dogs will blow their coats at this time. Once she weans her puppies, her coat should return fully. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Pyrantel (roundworms, hookworms and whipworms) and Drontal plus (also effective against tapeworms) are safe for nursing female dogs. Intestinal parasites are zoonotic/transmissible to humans by fecal/oral contact so be super diligent about hand washing after handling her or her pups. It is likely that all her pups have worms now too but they should be at least 6 weeks of age before deworming with its pyrantel. Good luck and congrats on the puppies!

I do not recommend giving a dewormer until at-least three weeks of age. The deworming medication is dosed based on body weight, so the mum will need a different one than the puppies. The label of the deworming medication should indicate how much to give per body weight of the pup, or dog (certain medications can be used for a puppy and an adult dog). If it doesn't then I would not give it. It's always best to give this medication only as directed by your veterinarian, because it can be easy to make a mistake, or use the medication inappropriately. I hope that helps and all is well with the pups.

The anemia could be because of the worms, as well as the nutritional demands of pregnancy and nursing her pups. You can deworm her while she is on the antibiotic, however make sure the deworming treatment is safe for nursing animals. To help with the anemia try the following Limit energy expenditure everyday (think frequent walksfor short amount of time) Iron rich foods- cooked spinach and extra lean ground beef Here is an amazing resource to explain anemia and what you can do now; https://www.petcoach.co/article/6-things-you-should-know-about-anemia-in-dogs/

Yes, she can nurse the puppies even though she has worms. I would definitely make sure to deworm her ASAP, but it sounds like you're doing that - so it's fine for her to continue nursing in the meantime. You will also need to deworm the puppies starting at two weeks of age.