Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 11/9/2009

Question
Hello,
I have a problem with my papillon/chihuahua mix. I got her on the 1st of November and she has now settled in really well. To date, she is 11 weeks and 3 days old. She has had her first vacinaction, the reason for it being slightly over due was to the fact she was slightly dehydrated.
However, I was told she needed worming at this point so obviously I contacted my local vet. I got the worming granuals, and gave her them as instructed. I was to put a quarter of the sachet in her food for 3 days once a day and discard the rest. After trying it once in her scrambled egg (which was advised by breeder and vet), she was violently ill with sickness and diohrea. So I decided to stop for the mean time. I was just wondering if you could tell me whether or not this is normal, is it something to do with the size of her tummy etc? Any ideas/suggestions as to what the problem could be would be greatly appreciated. I understand you cannot make a diagnosis. Will it do any harm if I don't worm her just now?
She is currently on a diet which consists of scrambled egg at 7:00 am then again at 3:00pm and at 7pm she gets her puppy comlete food dry meat which was given to me by the vet. Is that an ok diet for her size etc? Anything I can do to improve it? I also give her fresh meat every 3 days and her oral sticks etc.
I recently lost a very young pet, therefor I am very cautious and wish to do everything I can to give her a long, healthy life. Can you give me any care tips etc? I have read up on the breed thoroughly but a little extra advice and an opinion is always helpful.

Thankyou!


Answer
Well the wormer started to kill off the worms she has and then they give off toxins that make the dog sick. What kind of granules are they?  If she is on heartworm prevention, which she should be, that will also take care of the worms little by little, but she needs a dose up front to kill them off now. How long did she have diarrhea and how many times did she vomit?

Did you see any worms in the diarrhea? It is important to look. You might want to ask the vet for a milder type of wormer for now. And yes, she needs to be wormed now- not later.

As far as her diet goes, she is on track to become a sickly dog. She is not getting the proper nutrition to help her grow at all. Scrambled eggs are for people, not dogs. It doesn't matter how small she is, she needs to be on a diet that is complete for her life stage and she isn't. I don't know what a puppy dry meat is, but in any case she needs to be on one food only- preferably Science Plan Puppy Growth Small Bites. That is ALL she needs to grow strong and healthy. It is precision nutrition for a dog just her size.

I know that in the U.K it is called Science Plan, not Science Diet. She can eat both the canned and dry if you want to mix it up, but make sure you follow the package instructions.

I know how dogs like her get if they are fed human food at a young age. They are the ones we see in the office over and over with illnesses and pancreatitis and other woes. Their teeth are bad and rotten, they beg all the time (for proper nutrition) and they are always obese.

So if you do not want your dog to end up like that, take it from me and get her slowly switched over to Science Plan.
Here is a link to the website in the U.K for it:

http://www.hillspet.co.uk/adult/products/product.aspx?pid=3&packform=Bag&sc_lang...

that will take you to the puppy food.

Now you need to ask the vet about the heartworm pills and a milder wormer or a one pill wormer. I think he gave you Panacur granules, which are safe enough, but if she has a lot of worms she will get sick from it. It happens a lot. So as the vet what you can do to prevent a reaction to the dying worms.

Let me know if you have any other questions and also how she is doing in a few days.
Go get her some Science Plan puppy growth in the meantime!