# A Question re Worming Tablets



## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Our lurcher, who'll eat anything anytime, and frequently does, hates the so called beef flavored Drontal tablets we normally use. We've tried everything including wrapping them in cheese, pate etc., physically pushing them to the back of her throat and holding her mouth closed , and mixing them with her kibble. She can take a large lump of cheese hold her mouth closed, and she'll regurgitate the tablet without the cheese about a minute later.>

Has anyone any other ideas, or is there another worming tablet that is acceptable to the Pet Passport Scheme we could try? We neeed to order some more for the end of the month.


Malcolm


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## wug (May 19, 2011)

I would speak to my vet first. Re the Pet Passport, our experience is that the vet abroad normally supplies the tablet. If you can find something your dog will swallow then certainly take it with you but the vet will be under no obligation to use it. You would need to take the packet as they have to enter the batch code etc. But they are used to dealing with reluctant animals and should be able to get the dog to swallow it.

A "spot on" type where the wormer is a liquid and is administered to the dog's skin on the back of the neck is a good alternative.

Graham


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Grind the tablet into powder and mix with its food??????

Andy


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Give him 3 or 4 knobs of butter without the tablet in it one after the other encouraging him with "good lad" each time. This will work him into a little frenzy of gobbling the butter up.
Then surreptitiously give him a knob with the butter inside it

Butter doesn't need chewing like cheese and the greedy monkeys tend to swallow it straight away without chewing and so dont detect the tablet inside and the butter masks the smell to a degree.

Hope this works


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

wug said:


> I would speak to my vet first. Re the Pet Passport, our experience is that the vet abroad normally supplies the tablet. If you can find something your dog will swallow then certainly take it with you but the vet will be under no obligation to use it. You would need to take the packet as they have to enter the batch code etc. But they are used to dealing with reluctant animals and should be able to get the dog to swallow it.
> 
> A "spot on" type where the wormer is a liquid and is administered to the dog's skin on the back of the neck is a good alternative.
> 
> Graham


We've always taken our own tablets and never had a problem with a vet. If you know of a 'spot-on' worming treatment that is acceptable to DEFRA I'd love to know about it.

Malcolm


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Mrplodd said:


> Grind the tablet into powder and mix with its food??????
> 
> Andy


 That wouldn't be practical at the vets Andy.

Malcolm


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

drcotts said:


> Give him 3 or 4 knobs of butter without the tablet in it one after the other encouraging him with "good lad" each time. This will work him into a little frenzy of gobbling the butter up.
> Then surreptitiously give him a knob with the butter inside it
> 
> Butter doesn't need chewing like cheese and the greedy monkeys tend to swallow it straight away without chewing and so dont detect the tablet inside and the butter masks the smell to a degree.
> ...


That might be worth a try, although we normally use easy spread


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## an99uk (May 12, 2005)

You could try Milbemax tablets instead of drontal. The tablets are huge and look like sausage pillows. Might fool him.There is an injection available that can be used instead, sorry, I don't know what it's called, you could check with your vet.
Luckily we don't have any problems as our dog will eat anything.


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## WildThingsKev (Dec 29, 2009)

For the pet passport it has to contain Praziquantel so that means Milbemax, Droncit or Drontal Plus.


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## WildThingsKev (Dec 29, 2009)

Also, my vet gave me a pack of generic Milbemax last year without me noticing. The French vet wouldn't administer it as it wasn't licensed in France despite having the exact same ingredients.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

emjaiuk said:


> Our lurcher, who'll eat anything anytime, and frequently does, hates the so called beef flavored Drontal tablets we normally use. We've tried everything including wrapping them in cheese, pate etc., physically pushing them to the back of her throat and holding her mouth closed , and mixing them with her kibble. She can take a large lump of cheese hold her mouth closed, and she'll regurgitate the tablet without the cheese about a minute later.>
> 
> Has anyone any other ideas, or is there another worming tablet that is acceptable to the Pet Passport Scheme we could try? We neeed to order some more for the end of the month.
> 
> Malcolm


Same problem here

I risk my fingers as I push them to the back of his throat and hope for the best , a quick kiss on his nose as I hold his jaws shut

A dice with death as we lock eyes >

Haven't yet met a vet who will do it for me

Don't get a reduction in the cost though:grin2:

Sandra


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Peanut butter (smooth) works for Daisy most of the time !!!


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

My old lurcher was exactly the same. I was a vet nurse, and used to dealing with recalcitrant patients, but she would try the patience of a saint!


The butter trick is the best home made one I found, You must give off the right body language when you do it, though. She could spot a mile off if I was tense or "determined" and would get suspicious with anything I offered her. I used to start with a nice knob of butter and ask her to sit as though we were practising our training. Give the butter as though it was a reward and try not to hover as though to "catch" the regurgitated pill. They pick up on this suspicious body language. After three bits of butter have another two ready, one with the pill in and one to follow. The one to follow must be right behind the "pill one" and given immediately so that she does not get time to examine what is in her mouth before having to grab the next one that is right on her nose. All the time pretending your are training her and not giving tablets. Lots of smiling and no determined setting of the jaw 


Last time a vet in France gave our dog a pill he used something called "Easy Pill" it is a meaty flavoured putty that can be moulded around a pill. After having explained how difficult she would be with her wormer to him, she just ate it out of his hand! Boy did he look smug.


I have seen it in my vet's so worth investigating to see if she likes it.


My Romanian rescue runs my old lurcher a close second in the "reluctant pill taker" stakes. He is as greedy as they come but can still detect a pill hidden in a piece of chicken (all he was allowed to eat at the time). He got very suspicious during a recent course of antibiotics and so I had to cut the pills into four so that they were even easier to hide. Funny that, how he managed to get three more treats out of me than he should have done if he had swallowed it the first time!


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

Our last greyhound wouldn’t let anyone touch her mouth so the vets would just inject her . With our Bull Lurcher its muzzle off ,pills in a little pate’ and pills gone, refit muzzle.:grin2:


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## wug (May 19, 2011)

RE "Spot On" seems there isn't any with the Tapeworm treatment in it.

I can echo what PatP says about body language. When we had cows they always seemed to know when you wanted to catch them for something unpleasant, such as the blood test, and would make themselves scarce, and all animals can pick up non-verbal cues that we aren't even aware of. So you have to be clever. Quite a few folk suggest marshmallows - you can make a small slit and put the pill in the middle. I would do some training first so the dog gets the idea that this is a treat - and lots of praise. You could even do a couple of dummy runs with other items in the slit, such as a bit of carrot etc. Then follow Patp's routine of putting the mickey finn in a sequence.

If that doesn't work, and once he's spat it out he's not going to take it again, then it's the hand down the back of the throat technique. There's lots of videos on the internet showing how it should be done with the head up in the air, not down.

How to give a dog a pill


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

How to give a cat a pill

http://www.jokefile.co.uk/numerical_order/1132.html


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Just been to the French vet at Mailleraye today, and true to form the ******** lurcher turned her nose up at the Milbemax even though it was in a handful of treats. She carefully ate the treats around the tablet. I took a chance and just pushed it right to the back of her throat and wonder of wonders it stayed down! The vet at Mailleraye is fantastic though, even though it was a different one to whom we normally see, as soon as it looked as if it might be a problem she left the room, and just asked if she'd taken it ok when we went out to reception. €15 for two dogs as usual.

Malcolm


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Just goes to prove that the Vet is more interested in the money than actually doing what is required of them. Some professional ethics shown there then!

How would you feel if another dog, treated thus by the same vet, comes back into the UK "performs" in your garden and one of your grandchildren gets infected with the worm that the treatment that was possibly NOT administered is meant to prevent??

Can you be 100% certain your dog didn't pick up just a single worm egg whilst in France???

Andy


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The key point surely is that the vet sees the tablet being taken? It may well be that some dogs will not take it easily and alternative methods have to be used, if that incudes it's owner being seen to give it and the tablet does not reappear is there a problem with that?

It is still under the supervision of the vet.

I have had a student who had lost the sight in one eye through the disease, he was not bitter in anyy way and I was very surprised but if that had been a member of my family from an untreated dog then I would have been livid, but the UK ONLY inssts on it for dogs coming INTO the UK, but it exists in the UK as well AFAIK, so why is there not a requirement for ALL dogs to be treated regularly?

Answer; because there is no way to monitor it so it is just ignored, incoming dogs CAN be checked.........

The 24 hour ruling is simply because mOST dogs will poo in that period, but not all, so some may ony go every 48 hours - thereby negating the effect of the 24 hour ruling......

Ours is always done 48 hours before the trip, locally, the cost is immaterial - the dig's welfare is important and that includes it's treatment for ticks, fleas, worms and kennel cough, in fat all the diseases that are required if onewishes to leave a dog in kennels locally......

I doubt that most dog owners in the UK would take that course of action......


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

But in the instance given the vet DIDNT see the tablet being taken, but left the room and asked later if it had been! And that was the point I was making, a lack of professional ethic, just a desire to make money.

Andy


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

agree with you on that, not professional behaviour but if she had stayed there it would have been OK, as it was the tablet could have been secreted somewhere (I'm sure it wasn't) - I wonder why she decided to leave at that point......


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

I take your point that the vet should stay and supervise, but we know the vet and the usual one knows us. There have been times when the dogs have brought up part of the correct dosage, and on all of those occasions they have had it mixed into their evening meal, that doesn't fulfill the letter of the law, but certainly fulfills the spirit of it. Giving dogs medication at home is totally different to getting them to take it in a strange environment. As Dave said, the requirement is as much for DEFRA to look as if they're doing something rather than actual effective measures to eradicate the disease. €15 for two dogs is hardly going to make the vets fortune.

Malcolm


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