Whip Worms

I have been told that i could give a small dose of Ivomectin to my dogs (labs) to prevent parasites and ticks. I have a male lab that has frequent dark bowel movements with occassional blood. The local vet says it is whip worm and he has wormed him several times, this isn't working. What should I do, and could the Ivomectin be the answer?

Until I get braver on this Internet-vet thing I'm going to skip the discussion of using ivermectin products off-label in dogs but I will address your dogs whipworm issue. First of all whipworms can be very difficult to treat because of where they live in the digestive tract and reinfection from larva in the tissues and eggs in the environment. In stubborn cases I may treat the dog 2-3 weeks after the first treatment and every 2-3 months thereafter for 4 treatments. That will probably kill all the worms in the dog but the eggs are resistant and difficult to clear from the environment so repeated treatments at 3 month intervals may be needed. Another option is a heartworm preventative medicine called Interceptor. Interceptor is also labeled for control of whipworms, according to the company they achieved a 94-99% control of whipworms at the once-a month labeled dose.

Dr. Mike

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