I recently acquired an American Pit Bull Terrier puppy who I am trying to raise as naturally and chemical free as possible. I got her at 8 weeks of age and immediately started her on raw. She is now 10 weeks old and has had NO vaccines, wormers, or flea treatments (other than natural flea shampoo). She is going for her vet visit tomorrow and I have some pressing questions that I'm hoping for some help with.
#1. She has at least tapeworms, I see a couple every other poop. I am using diatomaceous earth for worming BUT am worried about the speed of it. I know it's supposed to take awhile to work but is my puppy being harmed by the worms in the mean time? Her stomach doesn't look bloated and she's perfectly active but what kind of damage could the worms be doing?
#2. I work as a pet groomer in a small Maine town. She comes to work with me daily. In regards to non vaccination would you say it's a positive or negative thing? I am still undecided about whether to go totally vaccine free or follow Dr. Dodd's protocol. I have purchased Paraid and Vibracta Plus and have been giving her some for a few days now.
Thank you!

Hi Emily,

I'm not a big fan of worming pups and adults "just in case" they might have worms. However, if a pup or adult is passing worms in the stool then they should be treated, IMHO. Take a fresh fecal to the vet with you tomorrow so they can identify which worm(s) your pup has and can dispense the proper medication.

Here's a link to general information about intestinal worms:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html

As for taking your pup with you to work, my then-pup came to work with me at least once a week and he was minimally-vaccinated. I worked at a vet hospital and I'm sure he was exposed to all kinds of things and he never got sick. So I guess I can say it was a positive experience for us.

Thank you for your reply!

They did the fecal test today and it came back negative. Although I know she has tapeworms, there just must not have been any in the sample. I've since read that tapes aren't super serious worms so I'll just continue using the diatomaceous earth.

I opted out of vaccines for the moment. Even when I mentioned Dr. Dodds minimal vaccine schedule she was shocked. Repeated that it was "scary" that there was literature like that out there. When discussing the parvo shot she said that I would have to keep her at home until 16 weeks, no walks or anything. I mentioned that I'm a dog groomer and come in contact multiple dogs per day. She suggested I disinfect my shoes before coming home. The only cases of parvo after vaccines she had dealt with was because of people not following that advice. So, anyways, I decided against even the parvo shot because of that.

What vaccine schedule did you follow?

True had 2 DHPPCs (1 given by the breeder and 1 given by me) and rabies.

Good for you for sticking to your guns! Your vet needs to open her mind a bit. :wink: There are a good number of people on this board with dogs who have either never been vaccinated or very minimally vaccinated and last I heard all are healthy and thriving.

Aloha Emily,

Good for you for trying to raise your pup natural and chemical-free. That's awesome! But as someone who has lived thru the complete *nightmare* of having a litter of 4 Belgian Sheepdog puppies come down with parvo, I ask that you at least *think* about reconsidering your choice to not vaccinate against parvo.

Our litter was happy, healthy and strong and we were lulled into a false sense of security thinking we had a clean home and that we were safe and doing all the right things for them. We thought we could get them vaccinated a little later. We couldn't have been more wrong.

IMHO, not vaccinating for parvo is playing with fire. All it takes is the experience of cleaning up a big puddle of bloody diarrhea in the middle of the night to change your mind. At that point I was praying so hard and begging the puppies to please forgive me for not vaccinating them against this virus.

We worked hard and did all we could for our litter and with the help of a wonderful vet, we were able to save 3 of the 4. As I looked into the eyes of our dying little "Pink Girl", I promised her that I would do all I could to make sure this never happened to us again and that I would share our experience with as many people as I can.

Now... parvo is not the 100% death-rate disease it once was. I'm not trying to scare you or even to change your mind. All I ask is that you *think* about your decision to not vaccinate against this preventable virus. And I pray that you (or anyone else with puppies) will NEVER have to go thru what we did.

Much aloha,
Luana Mitchell
Maui, HI

Emily, if you are not vaccinating, have you done research on what natural treatments (or allopathic treatments) are available for parvo?

For my next pup, I don't plan on vaccinating, but I will do plenty of research and have on hand the things I need to combat a case of parvo. A couple of interesting links:

https://www.msu.edu/~silvar/parvo.htm

http://www.wolfcreekranch.net/parvaid.htm

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/heal_parvo.html

Emily, I missed that you have the parvaid...good for you for being prepared.

Are you positive that it's tapeworm?

Hopefully, parvo is not very prevalent in your area. (I see where you are in Maine) I'm in Hawaii and due to our more tropical climate, we seem to breed *super bugs* here. Parvo and lepto are EXTREMELY common here.

Thankfully, we have a vet who is willing to listen and have an open conversation about vaccines, raw diets, etc. However, he is pretty steadfast on the parvo and lepto vaccine. And after what we've experienced, I have to say that I agree with him on that particular subject.

Much aloha to you and your puppy! I love pit puppies; they have the greatest "smile"!

Luana

Luana, I'm very saddened to hear of your experience with your puppies. I can certainly see why you would want to do all you can to prevent anyone else from going through the same thing. It's stories such as yours that is making me think hard and long about my decision. We are fairly isolated in Maine and have nowheres' near the epidemics that southern states have.

Lynne, I'm not 100% positive it's tapeworm. They are tiny, white worms in her stool.

I had the Parvaid and Vibracta overnighted just before bringing the puppy home. But for the preventative instructions on the Parvaid it says to start 2 days after exposure. Question is, how do I know she has been exposed? She goes to work (grooming) with me daily and has been in a vets office twice, but how do I know for sure? She was also with her siblings for a day after they had received their vaccines (breeder allowed me to opt out of them). Is it possible for the virus to be shed that quickly? Plus it would be the mother's immunity protecting her at that time correct? So she is just now getting to the susceptible age.

I found the number to a homeopathic vet here in Maine and intend to call tomorrow.

Thanks again!

Hi Emily,

Our litter got sick at 11 weeks. They had weaned from mom at about 7 weeks. We had plans for them to live as chemical-free as possible, too. They had received wormer on a regular basis (as recommended in the Leerburg Whelping Puppies video). They were weaning onto a raw diet and were doing very well.

We had 3 older dogs at home at the same time (mom, dad and another dog - all previously vaccinated, none ever had parvo). None of them got sick. The pups had been kept indoors up till 8 weeks and then moved into an outdoor puppy area. We thought we had done all we could in the way of keeping excessive people from visiting our house, washing down the puppy areas with a bleach water solution twice a day, making sure we always had clean clothes and hands whenever we'd attend to the pups.

And they still got sick.

I highly recommend seeing a homeopathic vet and seeing what they say. I wish we had one here on Maui, but we don't. Hopefully, because of your climate, you won't have to worry about this virus.

I wish you and pup all the best!!

Luana