Wormer ?

[Beardog]

I am wondering if I should maybe give my dog a de-wormer for whipworms, etc. just to be on the safe side?

He is just now getting over a few days of bad diarea and vomiting. I dont know what caused it?
Its not unusal for him to have soft stool and I have tried multiple foods- also he use to eat like a vacuum but now alot of the time we have to sit with him and coax him to eat. He is 11 mo. old.

He is on heartgaurd plus year round but I have never dewormed him. (he was wormed as a pup before I got him) and I see heartgaurd doesnt control whips, so since we regularly go to parks where other dogs go I wonder if maybe he should be given a dewormer like Safe-Guard® ( fenbendazole ) that will kill any and all worms ? I have read that whips are hard to detect with tests, so if I just gave him a treatment of the above I could at least rule out worms for any future problems . Do any of you just deworm regularly even if you have them on heartgaurd+
can it hurt them if they dont really need it?

[Ayoka]

If you hvae not already been to the vet about your dog being sick and not eating, it would be worth the trip.

I'm not a pro on worms but the last time we were at the vet, our vet did not seem to think deworming was necessary (maybe because he had been dewormed by the SPCA) however, I think you can take a stool sample to the vet to have it checked for worms.

[gore]

I dont use it but from what i heard heartgard+ prevents most worms but not tapeworms. I dont know h/w if thats what is causing the diarea and vomiting, a vet will know better.

[dogsbydoug]

Heartguard does not kill whipworms. PLEASE take the dog to the vet for a definitive test to be sure he HAS any worms at all before administering any OTC wormers or other meds.

I havenot wormed any of my dogs since they came to us unless they were diagnosed by the vet, and that has only happened twice. One ended up with whipworms and I swtitched to Interceptor from Heartgard at the recommendation of the vet after treatment with Panacur; and one came to me as a foster with tapeworms and was diagnosed by the vet (I could see the tapeworm pieces in the poop) and treated with Drontal.

Both dogs were re-tested 3 weeks after treatment and both were clear of worms.

We have since become very good about cleaning up poop in the yard and keeping it otherwise clean since we dio not know if the whips were in the yard or picked up elsewhere and 'deposited' in the yard - where they do a nice job of surviving - very hard to get rid of them!

Take a stool sample to the vet, along with the pup, and have both checked.

[Anne]

I use a worm/flea/heartworm preventative. We have never had a problem with any of those parasites.

I second the suggestion to take your dog to the vet. A dog who has diarrhoea and vomiting should see the vet as a matter of course.