Yeah THAT FILE Connie. Though for the time being he isn't trained, he just bites.lol

I don't know how much in the know I am Barbara, but I'm learning. (I hope)
The vets don't want to talk about neutering as much as it's a presumptive 'this is when we'll do it'. Kinda like we don't have anything to say about it.
Much like the 'talk' about vacs. They'll even try the guilt trip thing, 'Well, don't you care about your dog?'

Heck, I don't know maybe they even believe in what they're selling.

 Quote: randy allen

I probably will say something to somebody Connie. One of the vets I normally see is the older gent in the practice. He only is available a couple of days a week. A founding father perhaps?

And I didn't get out the door without the requisite talk about neutering. That's when I almost lost it with, "I don't even want to hear about neutering that's how I lost my last vet". And she didn't hear a word I said, but instead carried on about how it's good for the dog's health, helps with behavior blah blah blah.

Jeese, that reminds me I need to send gift cards to my vet and office staff this Christmas. I feel fortunate to not have to deal with those talks anymore.

I hope you do say something to someone Randy. The problem I think a good number of vets run into is a lack of feedback from people who are in the know. My last vet among other reasons was fired because of the policy of charging me $35 just to be in the same room as my dog without actually examining him. The exams they gave were pretty cruddy, I usually do a better job checking everyone over when I let the dogs out to go potty. The final straw that broke the camels back with them was informing me that I would be unable to have my dog neutered unless he had his rabies shot and a KC shot, but they'd be happy to give him those shots that day before putting him under. I flat out told them that was a stupid, uneducated, dangerous policy obviously ment to line their pocket as opposed to actually being for the dogs well being which I'm sure got me a note on my permanent file. LOL

I would simply ask next time to see your usual vet and let him know then you weren't happy about your last visit.

Update on the worms thing,
Today I got a call from the vets office about Striders latest fecal test. They said it was positive with some fancy dancey name I can't remember, but when I asked what that meant the other end said they 'thought' it was round worms and they have a perscription ready for me to pick up. A ten day supply (I think).

I'm kinda new to this questioning vets thing, so correct me if I'm wrong someone please, but can't round worms be handled with the ediable Diatomaceous earth I've been throwing around the house for the last few weeks for fleas?
If I can help it I just as soon not be throwing meds into the dog.

Thanks for any help ya'll can offer.
Randy

*** I could definitely be wrong on this! So check my work!!

I *think* that roundworms are the ones that encyst in the dog's muscle at a certain life stage. I think they are the ones passed to puppies through breast milk too, which is why puppies need worming.

If I'm right - food grade diatomaceous earth only works on the digestive tract and would not kill the worms in the muscle (although I don't know how the drug works, so maybe the drug doesn't either).

More research is definitely needed..... I'm just throwing theories around here. You would need to know more about the life stages of the worm, and exactly how the specific drug you were prescribed works vs the DE.

P.S. the above rambling is courtesy of your ending phrase "ANY help" lol...

Thanks Angela,
My thoughts though are kind of running at wtf, the dog is sixteen weeks old. If this had been past on from the mother wouldn't they have shown up before now? He has had two tests weeks apart previously that were negatory.

So I need the fancy dancey name for this parasite to hazard an educated guess on how I should jump?

Randy

ETA,
And should I be thinking about my other dog as well?

Puppies can be born with roundworms. The larva are small enough to migrate through the placental wall to the fetus's liver or lungs. The newborn's young roundworms migrate from the liver and lungs to the intestine. There they start to grow and reproduce. About three weeks after birth, pups can start to shed roundworm eggs into the environment via poop. (Now there's another source; see below.)

Mother's milk can harbor larva too.

The pup can also eat an embryonic egg in old fecal contamination of food or water bowls, the food on the ground, etc., etc. The egg hatches in the intestine (as above).

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/roundworms_in_dogs___puppies.html

About the other dog, I'd drop off a fecal. The negative tests, BTW -- a fecal flotation was probably not done, which would mean that unless there were visible worms (as opposed to larva), there would probably be a negative.


P.S. They are very very common, in most mammals, worldwide.

 Quote: Angela Burrell

... If I'm right - food grade diatomaceous earth only works on the digestive tract and would not kill the worms in the muscle..

I think that too.

I can read up tomorrow.

At what I'm paying for the exam, it'd better be what ever the best there is. They said it's sent out, no slides in house.
It takes about three days for the results to come back.

I'm not freaked about it, or anything else. Just want to know before I start blindly throwing some poison or another in into him.

Randy

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=476

This covers most of it including the bit about how long roundworms are inactive for.

I'm kind of surprised your vet doesn't do their own fecal floats. It's a pretty simple process.

 Quote: article linked above

The other concept stems from the fact that larvae in migration cannot be killed by any of these products. After the worms are cleared from the intestine, they will be replaced by new worms completing their migration. This means that a second and sometimes even a third deworming is needed to keep the intestine clear. The follow-up deworming is generally given several weeks following the first deworming to allow for migrating worms to arrive in the intestine where they are vulnerable. Do not forget your follow-up deworming.

Well, I guess that answers my question - the deworming drugs only act on the worm in the intestine, and not elsewhere in the body. Now the only thing to find out is how effective is diatomaceous earth on roundworms?