How long can hookworms live in my pet's gut and how do I treat them?

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Hookworms are treated with deworming medications. I like panacur. I would treat twice for 3 days, 4 weeks apart and retest Maximiliano's stool 4 weeks after the 2 round. I would also put him on a monthly heart worm preventative as the medication also deworms the dog monthly. To prevent reinfection and ground contamination you should walk him on a leash and immediately pick up all stools and discard them. Do not let children play in contaminated areas. They should always where shoes outdoors. Strict hygiene and hand washing. People, especially children, can get hookworm. https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13555 https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=35037 I hope this helps and I wish you and Maximiliano the best!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, I recommend treating with first round then repeating a round 3-4 weeks after the first. Then her stool rechecked 4 weeks after the 2nd round. Be sure to start your dog on a good heartworm preventative like Intercpetor or Sentinel which can help prevent reinfection with Hookworms. If your dog has been off heartworm preventatives have her tested before restarting. I hope this helps and good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are many ways to treat things that are all appropriate. The dose of dewormer is weight dependent so if the same drug was used it is likely the new dog weighs more or they used a different dewormer. A lot of vets use the heart worm prevention as a dewormer because it also takes care of intestinal parasites. It is really Vet preference. I hope this helps!

I can certainly understand being frustrated with this problem! Drontal, in my experience, is a great deworming treatment, and it often takes at least two treatments to kill all the worms. That's because the first treatment kills the adult worms already present, and the second kills the ones who had not yet hatched at the time of the first treatment. Preventing worms does require treatment with a deworming medication every three months, and each dog in the house should be treated to prevent reinfection. I would recommend giving all the dogs in your home Drontal, and giving them this treatment every three months. You can also give them Panacur instead of Drontal, it's a good deworming treatment that works well in my experience.

Yes, I can certainly sympathize that with 2 Huskies that you need lots of dog park time! One thing I would suggest would be to discuss with your veterinarian changing from Heartgard to Advantage Multi. The dewormer in Heartgard (and the ones we use most commonly) only work one time to kill the adult worms in the GI tract, but do not continue to work on newly developing larvae. Since it sounds like your dogs are getting repeatedly exposed, Advantage Multi may be a better option to maintain a constant blood level of dewormer. I have attached a handout below about hookworms. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1530 And here is more information on Advantage Multi. https://www.bayerdvm.com/show.aspx/productdetail/advantage-multi-for-dogs Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Fortunately, hookworms are relatively easy to treat with either fenbendazole (such as Panacur) or pyrantel pamoate (such as Nemex) based deworming medications, all of which are available over the counter. Be sure to clean up after each of Malaki's bowel movements to prevent reinfection. You may need to treat Malaki twice, but three weeks apart to assure that all parasites were killed. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

Your pet should get two doses 2 weeks apart because this is the life cycle of the worm. Keeping Tabitha on a monthly heartworm preventative (which has an intestinal dewormer in it as well) can help prevent reinfection. Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Take care and I hope you get rid of those hookworms soon.