Rita Hogan takes on conventional dewormers and offers natural alternatives. The subhead, Avoid Deworming Drugs, is a red flag to our editorial team because they are generally efficacious. Fortunately, she does suggest taking a stool sample to a veterinary hospital for testing. We share this article for your review and consideration, especially noting their April 11th Facebook post received 2.5K likes and 1.4K shares.
Source: Dogs Naturally, April 12, 2016.
Here are some great recommendations for foods and herbs that can help prevent and treat worms. But first, I want to emphasize why you shouldn’t use deworming drugs, either for prevention or to treat worm infestations in your dog. There are many different drugs available and, like any drugs, they all have side effects. And as you’ll see, there are many effective natural alternatives you can use, so there’s no need to use drugs that can cause side effects and harm your dog. When you read about some of the adverse effects that have been reported for common de-worming drugs, you’ll probably agree it’s not worth the risk to your dog.
INSIGHTS: Articles like this sensationalize adverse events and don’t tell the whole story of decades of effective use and the real percentage of doses where an adverse event occurs. When we examine the veterinary professionl’s collaborative work, such as the AAHA Canine Life Stage Guidelines* we get a better picture of approaching deworming from a scientific perspective as shown here.
*Guidelines for parasite control:
- All dogs
- Year-round ectoparasite control per Companion Animal Parasite Council and CDC.
- Year-round endoparasite control, including heartworms and zoonotic intestinal parasites based on Companion Animal Parasite Council and CDC recommendations;97 fecal evaluations based 2–4 times/yr.
- Puppy
- Discuss prevalence of parasites in puppies and zoonotic potential; early deworming based on Companion Animal Parasite Council and CDC recommendations (i.e., every 2 wk from 3 wk to 9 wk of age then monthly from 6 mo of age); fecal exams 2–4 times during thefirst year of life.
- Junior / Adult / Mature / Senior / Geriatric
- Conduct fecal exams 1-4 times/yr depending on health and lifestyle factors.