question on dewormers

[VTJess03]

Why is it that vets recommend rotating dewormers for livestock, but not for dogs/cats?

I asked a vet if I should rotate my dog onto a new dewormer, and he said no as long as I didn't see any problems with it, but there wasn't enough time for me to ask him why not (and he was really busy that day, besides). It's not like it was a particularly pressing issue, so I thought I'd ask y'all.

[Jessika]

I'm not even sure what that means, so now I am curious!

[lizbud]

Maybe because livestock is susceptable to more kinds of worms that dogs
than dogs are. I've never heard of rotating a dogs preventive. If it works,
why change it?

[Glacier]

Not all livestock dewormers get all kinds of worms. They have to be rotated to ensure all the different types are eleminated.

Pet dewormers(at least the good ones) get all the different types of worms at once so no need to rotate.

[Catlady711]

Not all livestock dewormers get all kinds of worms. They have to be rotated to ensure all the different types are eleminated.

I asked the boss about this one, he said livestock can get a variety of worms, and that worms can sometimes be resistant to wormers, hence the reason for rotation of dewormer meds.

Pet dewormers(at least the good ones) get all the different types of worms at once so no need to rotate.

There is no such thing! There are several different meds for many of the worms/parasites that cats/dogs can have (whips, rounds, hooks, tape, coccidia etc.). It's a myth that one dewormer does everything. The reason we don't rotate in pets is they don't get worms as often as livestock and don't become resistant to the dewormers.

[wolflady]

Not all livestock dewormers get all kinds of worms. They have to be rotated to ensure all the different types are eleminated.

Pet dewormers(at least the good ones) get all the different types of worms at once so no need to rotate.

Actually, Glacier is right. Drontal Plus, which is the wormer my Vets use, treats all common canine/feline intestinal worms such as hookworms, roundworms, whipworms and tapeworms.

[Glacier]

There is no such thing!

No need to yell. Just repeating what my vet told me--it's why I don't use the substantially cheaper Panacur & Strongid anymore and pay 600 bucks a year for Drontral Plus instead.

[Catlady711]

I appologize for 'yelling'.

We do not carry this product at our hospital, even though we use other products from Bayer. I looked up info on Bayer's website about this Dronal Plus and I will email it to my boss to see why he does not use this particular product. I will let you know what I find out.

Although on the Bayer website it does state that Drontal Plus should not be used in cats, instead they have a regular Drontal for cats.

Again I appologize for 'yelling'. I have spent almost 6 years as a vet assistant, however I am always still learning new things every day.

[Catlady711]

I talked with the boss (head vet) about this Drontal Plus. This is what the boss said......

Apparently we do have some on hand at the moment (because of a special situation regarding clients taking pets out of country and import requirements for worming). (I appologize, I did not know we even had such a product).

However I was told that not only is it very expensive compared to the other wormers, our particular clientel base generally don't choose to spend that kind of money for a general wormer. The boss would prefer if finances are tight and clients are trying to decide which things to spend money on; a general wormer vs. other priorities (ie heartworm meds which have wormer in them for several types of worms, vaccinations, and spay/neuter), the boss prefers the latter choices.

Since companies tend to sell product in larger quantities (100, 500, 1,000 +) containers, if we don't have enough demand for the product, it will expire before even half of it gets used. If we keep carrying products that end up expiring after they've been opened, most manufacturers won't take it back, and we'd have to make up the costs somewhere else (ie. our clients).

The boss does not like to have to increase costs because of pushy distributors. Sales reps. will try to talk you into buying everything they sell and talk up their products big time in order to make a sale, regardless if your particular clientel has a demand for it. (Apparently this gets into vet/client economics which is beyond me in some cases)

Also the boss doesn't believe in medicating pets unnecessarily, and it's not cost effective for the client. (The boss goes out of his way to provide quality and affordable pet health care.) He doesn't see the need to give wormers (other than heartworm meds which do have some worming meds in them) on a regular basis if the animal is not high risk, or not showing and/or testing positive for worms/parasites.

That was what I got from my conversation with the boss about wormers.

Again I appologize for my misinformation concerning a wormer that covers all those worms. I did not know about it, nor did I realize we even carried it. Please accept my appologies.

Thank you for telling me about this product, as it initiated an informative discussion with the boss man.

[kanji]

Befor you follow your vet you may want a second opinion of using wormer, of which you can find in www.cosmic1.net .It's a pet health site that've found an original solution for worm prob.

[Catlady711]

Befor you follow your vet you may want a second opinion of using wormer, of which you can find in www.cosmic1.net .It's a pet health site that've found an original solution for worm prob.

I do not think it's ever a good idea to use a website as a substitute for listening to a licensed vet that knows your pet personally. If a person wants a second opinion fine, go find another vet, in person.

I checked out that link about the wormer, I have a few problems with it...

1) According to it's own website 'A new revolutionary wormer' however under the ingredients area it says 'a known deworming medicine'. This seems contradictory to me, not to mention the fact it does not list this supposed 'known deworming medication' by name.

2) For both the dewormer and the food it only states it was made by 'top manufacturers who meet the highest standards'. No where does it list the actual companies involved. I'd be skeptical of a product hiding this information if they are such 'top manufacturers'. Also who's highest standards? What authorities approved this? Who is the veterinarian who helped formulate this stuff and is he still practicing and where? Any reliable company should be willing to put this information up front to back their 'claims'.

3) According to their own website 'The ingredients are specified on the package'. So in otherwords they want your money before you get to find out exactly what you are paying for. Sounds fishy to me.

4) I'd be leary of feeding any pet a food with such limited information as this one gives.

5) It's never a good idea to just randomly medicate your pet without having had a diagnosis first by a licensed vet! Giving pets medications for possibly the wrong illness can possibly cause further complications with what is really going on, AND make your vets job harder by having to deal with any medication you've used (that may/may not work) that may react with what your vet would like to use that will work.

6) The website states it gets 'all kinda of worms', however does not list them by name the ones it 'claims' to 'get'. Some worms/parasites can ONLY be found by a fecal examination under a microscope.

Honestly not only would I not feed this to any of my pets, but I would never recommend it to anyone in good concious either given the limited information or deliberate hiding of information on the site.