Alternatives to advocate wormer

candjsmum

I have used advocate wormer on Skye for the last 2 years since she was a pup. Just used it an hour ago and boy did she play me up. Reason is she thought I was giving her eye drops as the tubes look similar. She had a touch of conjunctivitis a month ago and really kicked up to have the drops put in. She would run and hide as soon as I got them out.
Now I got the tube of wormer and she was gone. I had to get DD to help hold her and even then it was a real struggle. I can't be going through this every month as she has really hurt my wrist by twisting away and I don't want to upset her like I have just done. Is there any good alternatives anyone can recommend please

krlyr

You could do some training to get her happier with the application tube. Just keep one of the empty vials and you can use it for training. Just like you'd desensitize a dog to anything, do it in baby steps. So for example, you might start with picking up the vial and putting it down, then giving her treats for staying nearby. Repeat several times, until she shows more comfortable body language, then progress to holding the vial and giving her treats. Holding the vial for 5 seconds, then 10, then 20, then starting to move towards her. Getting her to sit while you hold the vial, lots more treats. Moving the vial towards her neck with her still sitting, reaching for her neck with it, etc. You could even mimic the sensation of liquid by putting some water in the vial.

I have rushed through the steps here, but in practice it could take days to get her comfortable with each step. Remember, don't progress until she's comfortable with the current step, only make one (small) change at a time, if she starts to spook go back a step and progress more slowly, or put another step inbetween.

Advocate is quite an effective product as it covers lungworm too. There aren't many products that will treat lungworm - Advocate and Panacur (at a half dose for 7-10 days, not the regular one-off worming dose) are the only two advertised to treat it I believe. Milbemax will reduce an infestation but not a complete treatment.

candjsmum

Thats a very good idea and I will definitely try that. She's a collie so very, very intelligent, she may pick it up quickly. I have always used it as it is very effective and don't really want to change.
Will go dig the empty vial out the rubbish as it was my last one.
Thanks for your time and reply.

krlyr

If she's a Collie, read up about the MDR1 gene and issues with Ivermectin/similar flea treatments. Unless you got her tested to rule out the MDR1 gene defect, it may quite limit the choice of products

http://www.laboklin.co.uk/laboklin/showGeneticTest.jsp?testID=8032
http://www.sheltie4me.com/info/display?PageID=5258