Parasites and Your Toy Poodle


Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian. I am simply a Toy Poodle breeder who has learned a number of effective things on prevention of certain health problems and maintenance of poodle health. To that end, please understand that I am not prescribing or diagnosing your poodle's health issues. If you have questions, please see your vet.


Fleas & Ticks and Your Toy Poodle

Fleas and ticks are the most obvious parasites. You really can't miss them.
First, your toy poodle will start scratching like crazy, maybe biting and licking around the base of her tail and her ears. If you look on these areas, and also on her belly, you may actually see fleas running around. Look deep into her coat right on her skin and you may see brown flecks what looks like dirt - that's flea dirt.

There are several things you can do to prevent and/or eliminate fleas with your Toy Poodle. Many people use flea baths, flea soaps, sprays, etc. We don't. We have found, living here in the mountains where fleas are in great abundance, that all of that is a waste of money and effort. For us, we have found that the single-most effective treatment available is Frontline. This product is available in drops, which most everyone is familiar with, and a very handy spray that comes in two sizes. You can order spray on Frontline from Lambriar Animal Products, and I will give you a link for that in a moment. You can also order the drops very inexpensively from the Pets Megastore. This outlet is in Australia, but I have found that converting the Aussie dollar to American is a great advantage for us, as it makes the Frontline and Advantage flea products about half of what you would pay here in the states. It tales about the same amount of time to ship here as most mail-order companies (4-5 business days), and the shipping is not significantly more. I have used this company when we were still using Frontline drops and highly recommend them.


Ticks are not as common on toy poodles. This is probably due to the fact that most toy poodles don't do a lot of running around in tall grass, which is where ticks love to hide. They kind of jump off the grass onto your poodle, crawl around until they find a good spot (usually behind the ears. Once they find a spot they like, they bite into your poodle's skin and begin to suck blood. Ticks are not very big when they first attach - perhaps as small as 1/8" in diameter. But when they start to fill with blood, they get huge, disgorged with blood and disgusting. You can remove a tick from your toy poodle by placing an alcohol filled cotton ball over it, squeezing some alcohol onto it. Then take a tissue and gently pull the tick off. You want to be sure to kill it with alcohol first, as it will remove it's head from your poodle's skin as it dies. If you just tear it off the poodle's skin, you may tear the head off, leaving it in the skin and possibly causing an infection. To me, an infection is better than a tick, but if you can prevent a problem, you should do it.

Internal Parasites and Your Toy Poodle (Worms)

Roundworms: Also known as "puppy worms", These are probably the most common worms in dogs. Nearly every dog has them and will keep getting them. Roundworms are exposed through the mothers milk and contaminated soil. They show up the your toy poodle's stool or vomit (if they have a really bad case) and look like thin, curly spaghetti. Other signs of roundworm are rough coats, bloated belly, diarherra and vomiting but most infestations are not that obvious.

Hookworms: These appears as small white or reddish-brown segments less than an inch long. These worms "hook" onto your poodle's intestinal lining and feed on their blood. They release eggs into the intestine, which is then passed on through the feces. Hookworms cause blood loss, which can lead to anemia - potentially fatal to puppies.

Tapeworms: Usually seen in freshly passed stool, tapeworm segments are white or pinkish white and resemble grains of rice, Normally, they are harmless but annoying. There are two types most common here in the U.S. the flea tapeworm is the most common. That is one reason why flea control is so vital. The other type of tapeworm involves the poodle biting into a host animal such as a mouse or rabbit.

Heartworm: This worm also looks spaghetti like, but you won't ever see it. It gets into the heart of your poodle, where it grows and eventually fills the heart enough so that it can no longer function. Heartworm is very easy to prevent and extremely difficult to cure. Here is another case where prevention is very important.

Prevention & Treatment For Your Toy Poodle

 We use three main products here at Stoney Hollow in prevention of the parasites mentioned above.

Panacur/Safe-Guard(fenbendazole): This is available through your vet as Panacur, but is also available generically as "Safe-Guard". It is extremely effective against roundworms, whipworms and hookworms, but not against tapeworms - although the label does claim tapeworm. As Safe-guard, it is considered a livestock wormer.

The dosage for liquid or paste is 1 cc per 10 lbs., once a day for 3 consecutive days. Other breeders use other dosages, but this is what my vet recommended for toys poodles. We have found fenbendazole to be very effective at this dosage.

We buy it in 1000 mg. bottles from Lambriar, which costs us approximately 11¢ per dose, or 33¢ per treatment. You can also get it at your local feed-stores and sometimes even Wal-Mart in paste form. The large bottles are expensive, but the liquid is easier to use than the paste. The paste is very inexpensive – about $6.95 per tbe at Wal-Mart, which works out to something like 35¢ a dose/$1.05 per treatment.

Praziquantel: Tapeworms are more difficult to handle. There is really only one effective drug to resolve tapeworms. Previously available only through prescription, Praziquantel (also known as Droncit)is 100% effective in all field trials. You only need one tablet per 6-10 lbs - which is most toy poodles. It is available through most animal veterinary supply catalogs now, but Lambriar has the best prices.

Ivermectin: Also known as Ivomec, this is a cattle/sheep/swine de-wormer that is especially effective against heartworm, In a multi-dog situation, it is the only way to go. You can also buy heartworm medications through the Pets Megastore. If you are just starting heartworm medication, please have your toy poodle tested for heartworm before you begin preventative treatment, If she already has heart worm, the wormer will kill the worm in her heart and possibly cause congestive heart failure. You MUST have her tested before you start unless she is already on a heartworm medication. Our puppies have always been started on heartworm medication in the form of Ivomec before they leave here.


Your friend,
Kristen Hall

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