My bitch was wormed with Cestem two months before coming into season (normally do this every three/four months) and Advocate on the first day of her season (do this every 6 weeks).  I had planned to give her panacur from day 40 till 2 days after mating, however, I have just got back from the vet (a new one as my regular vet doesn't haven't experience with whelping) and have been told not to worm her during pregnancy and start worming daily from 2 days after whelping.
What do you all do?

Pregnancy hormones trigger the encysted worms in hr muscles to reactivate and enter her gut and also infect her whelps. If she's not wormed during pregnancy the pups will be born with an avoidable massive worm burden. I'd worm with Panacur from Day 40 till 2 days post-whelping.

Ive never wormed during pregnancy and never had a massive worm burden in pups, not even a visible trace of worms in poo from panacur at 2 5 7 weeks. pups all above average size for breed and thriving

I routinely worm my bitches with Drontal prior to mating.  I still Panacur from day 40, and have never had worm problems with any of my litters.

If your vet isn't a breeder I would listen to people who breed!  :-)  No disrespect to your vet, but I think you should go ahead with your original plan.

Thanks all, I will stick with my original plan to worm from day 40.
JeanSW - my vet (who is excellent) doesn't breed or have experience breeding which is why she suggested I find a vet who is experienced.  I found one and this was my first visit - so not sure how much faith I should have in them now!
PS - sorry that was a typo - I meant to say panacur from day 40 till two days after whelping (not mating)!

I've also never wormed a pregnant bitch in 30 years, always preferring to use as few invasive chemicals as possible and have never been aware of a worm burden in puppies either.  I do feed garlic regularly and have used Drontal puppy at 3, 5 and 7 weeks on all litters.

Breed welfare took in a litter of 6 week pups (about the weight of 4-week pups; incredibly skinny with massive pot bellies) whose mother hadn't been wormed in pregnancy. They nearly died when they were wormed because of the diarrhoea caused by the dead and dying worms, but were pulled through. I never want to see another pup like those ones.

I wouldn't want thin pups with pot bellies either and have only seen them in Vet Surgeries when the litter have not been wormed. :)

I still prefer not to give pregnant bitches chemicals in the same way that we don't recommend any chemicals for pregnant women. 

In fact for the past 20 years, I've given my bitches (house and humans!) minimum chemicals too but I do give healthy pups a dose of Frontline spray as well as their Drontal to set them up before they go to their new homes.  For most of those pups, that's the only chemicals that they see in their long and happy lives. :)

Ditto to Louise DDB and WestCoast -I would NEVER consider worming a pregnant bitch and never have done. So far I have only seen worms in one litter of pups and that was my very first litter. They had a fair bit but then they and bitch were wormed with Panacur, since swapping to Drontal I've never seen any. I worm the bitch with Drontal at time of mating then worm the pups with Drontal puppy at 3, 5 and 7 weeks and tell owners to repeat at 9 and 11 weeks. It really bothers me to even consider giving Panacur for so many days to a pregnant bitch.

That's why you only give a quarter of the normal dose daily. The cumulative effect is enough to kill the worms without affecting the mother or pups. Worming during pregnancy is 98% effective, so the pups don't get such a shock when they're wormed at 2 weeks and 5 weeks.

Each to their own but not for me.  If it ain't broken, then I'll not try to fix it. :)

I have always wormed bitches in whelp however I do wonder if I am doing the right thing.I think we too often use chemicals and question if they are always needed.

I can remember my own vet telling me not to worm during pregnancy, when i took my girl for a scan with a new vet she gave me miblemax so i was left quite confused. I chose not to worm at all until after with Panacur and pups were fine, my breeder mentor suggested this to me also.

Never easy decisions as we all want to do the best for our dogs. 
But I've never been one to accept whatever I'm told preferring to do some research myself from reputable sources and then make my own decision with information discovered and accept responsibilty for the decision that I've made rather than blame someone else. :)
I've changed my ideas about routine parasite treatment and vaccination in the past 20 years. :)

Ditto Jeangenie, have done this with 6 generations of bitches over the last 20 years using Panacur 10% suspension.  Never had a problem with using in pregnancy.

> Breed welfare took in a litter of 6 week pups

My friend rescued a litter of GSD's like this a few years ago, same result.

The main difference I suspect is that the dam had probably never been wormed herself so had a lot of worm cysts and therefore passed a lot onto her whelps in utero and while feeding.

I suspect as I have wormed generations of my bitches that should I choose not to worm in pregnancy this time, then chances are the pups would be fine until I wormed them the first time as the bitches will have fewer encysted larva and worms themsleves due to regular worming.

Just back from vets who has given me Milbemax wormers for my girl i havent give them to her yet,a little concerned now after reading posts. Im going to have a look on the net for the Milbemax

I use Milbemax on my dogs, without a problem, and even collie owners ask for it at work and their dogs have no ill-effects.

I use Milbemax without any problems. I particularly like it for my pregnant bitches as it's a case of giving one tablet at 42 days rather than pouring chemicals down their throats for three weeks.

>pouring chemicals down their throats for three weeks.

Anyone reading that without much knowledge, could easily be mislead.

It is hardly "pouring" down their throats with Panacur.  It's actually a quarter dose, for any uninformed folk reading.

Milbemax is safe to use on adult collies, or other breeds that may carry the MDR1 gene, but you do have to be careful to use the correct dose and according to it's own safety sheet it might not be suitable for young dogs of these breeds. I wouldn't use it on a pregnant or lactating bitch for those reasons.

>"Studies with milbemycin oxime indicate that the margin of safety in certain dogs of Collie, or related breeds, is less than in other breeds. In these dogs, the recommended dose should be strictly observed.
>The tolerance of the product in young puppies from these breeds has not been investigated.

Dogs which are known to carry the MDR1 gene include these breeds...

Australian Shepherd , Border collie , English shepherd , German Shepherd, Old English Sheepdog , Shetland Sheepdog, Silken Windhound , Rough Collie & Smooth Collie. It is worth remembering though that other breeds may never have tested for the MDR1 gene, if you don't test for it how do you know you don't have it :-)

> It's actually a quarter dose, for any uninformed folk reading.

Yes it is, but having done both approaches, I much prefer to use one dose on my bitches, and that's Milbemax. And what's more, they prefer it too :-)

Does Milbemax stop transference of worm activated (by pregnancy hormones) encysted larva to the pups, and deal with larval stages, or does it simply deal with immature and adult round worms in the bitch?

If the latter it is not doing what Panacur does, and is the reason that most breeders use the 3 week in whelp protocol is to reduce the worms in the pups before birth.

One would hope the bitch was as free of worms as possible having been regularly wormed herself.

> One would hope the bitch was as free of worms as possible having been regularly wormed herself.

Exactly. As for worm burdens in puppies, I haven't seen any in my pups when using either Milbemax or Panacur during the pregnancy.

The Milbemax approach also deals with lungworm, something I've taken on board (vet's advice) when a bitch was taking a long time to dry up after her litter, and also another bitch who was bleeding heavily after being spayed. Lungworm can of course affect clotting. Not sure that the 3 weeks of a 1/4 dose of Panacur would deal with Lungworm?

So I guess it's a matter of personal preference, and perhaps taking a vet's advice, provided it is one with the breeder's trust.

I think I might choose to use the Milbemax for the worming I always do when the bitch comes in season, assuming it isn't prescription only. 

I don't choose to involve the vets unless necessarym they get enough out of me for health testing and rare emergencies etc as it is.

The reason I worm in pregnancy is to have the benefit for the pups.

>assuming it isn't prescription only. 

It's a POM-V, I'm afraid. But if your vet's seen the dog within the past 6 months or a year they're usually happy to let you have it.