My puppy's breeder won't deworm. Do puppies need deworming regularly?

Hi and thank you for reaching out to Pet Coach about Alf. Intestinal parasites are very common with puppies. Alf will receive several dewormings with his puppy visits with his veterinarian. Please take a fresh fecal sample to your first veterinarian visit with Alf so they can evaluate for all of the parasites he may have. This is not an emergency for Alf, but would best to have him seen this week by his vet.

Almost all puppies get worms from their mother so it would be best to start deworming before 8 weeks of age. The amount of times the puppy needs to be dewormed really depends on the type of dewormer that is used. It also depends on the type of parasites that the puppy has. The best thing is to deworm him and then have a fecal sample tested for parasites at one of his puppy visits.

Puppies are usually wormed more than once so you shouldn't be too concerned. At some point, he should have a fecal sample tested for worms to make sure he is all negative. He also should be started on a monthly heartworm prevention that treats intestinal parasites, too. Heartgard and Interceptor are two commonly used monthly preventions. Talk to your vet about the best program for your puppy.

You can buy a puppy wormer from your vet or a pet shop and worm the puppies exactly according to the instructions on the packaging and their weight, Please do not over or underdose them. Make sure the dewormer is suitable for puppies.

Aurora-what a lovely name! I bet she's a cute little thing :) We typically recommend repeating deworming treatment every 3 weeks (21 days) in young pups as the deworming medication only acts on certain life-stages of the worms living inside the dog. If Aurora has a heavy worm burden inside you can expect to see some dead/almost dead worms passing in her stool-this is normal. If Aurora continues to have diarrhea a checkup with your regular vet would be recommended. Whilst internal parasites can be a common cause of soft stool in young dogs there can be a myriad of other possible causes, including coccida, parvo virus and inappropriate diet.

Yes, puppies can become infected with intestinal parasites 'in utero' (before being born), through nursing or from their environment. You can submit the stool sample to your veterinarian to diagnose intestinal parasites. Begin a deworming protocol when the pup is two weeks old.

It is a good idea to either go ahead a deworm periodically or check stool samples. Dogs are often asymptomatic for intestinal parasites and some parasites like hookworms and roundworms can potentially cause problems in people as well. I would recommend following your veterinarian's recommendations in your area.