My 8-week puppy has worms and stopped eating. Is it safe to wait?

Yes your puppy can definitively wait until tomorrow. Gastrointestinal worms generally speaking cause abnormal digestion and absorption of nutrients from intestine and that usually cause increased appetite. Energy requirements may increase for that reason or for fast growing phase. Worming treatments will soon get rid of them all. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Ideally he should be seen by a vet to stabilise his condition and correct dehydration as well as supplemental feeding and a full health check to rule out additional illnesses reducing his appetite. Consider surrendering him to your local shelter to get him the best care. In the meantime an oral worm dose carefully dosed for his weight from your vets office or pet store, pedialyte and a mousse textured high calorie recovery or puppy food is recommended

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Worms do cause diarrhea and a very high worm burden (amount) can cause severe disease. However, if the puppy is eating, playing and drinking, and is acting normally, then you can wait until tomorrow. I would just inform the new owners about the worms, and have them bring Dan to the vet right away. The vet will get proper deworming performed, as well as vaccines. Best of luck with them!

Lelia not eating is a sign that she feels very bad and it's possible that it is related to a reaction from that dewormer although other causes are possible. The big concern is that she is very young and not eating. Puppies do not have the physical reserves of an adult dog. If she has not been eating since Monday then you need to take her in for an exam and medications to soothe her stomach. You don't want her to end up with low blood sugar and need a visit to the emergency clinic! If she will not eat her own puppy food, try warmed white meat chicken and plain white rice. This is not balanced but it will be fine for a few days. If she will not eat that, she is pretty sick. With young puppies, it's best to be cautious as they are fragile. Have her checked out today if possible.

Unfortunately, there are no home remedies for worms in puppies. She will need a deworming treatment for her worms, and you can get one OTC from your vet's clinic (you don't need an exam) or from the pet store. I recommend giving Zura Panacur.

You won't be able to find a tapeworm treatment over the counter so this is going to need to wait for your vet apointment (you could call them back and ask for a sooner apointment explaining the situation), you can buy an over the counter flea treatment though, Advantage spot on is safe to use on dogs from the age of 7 weeks.

Try to feed them little and often, but if still being sick they could benefit from an anti sickness injection or medications. They also need to be treated for worms and have their vaccinations ( when they are feeling a bit better ).