Hi,

quick question please.

We have a litter of 9 pups that are due to leave in the next week and a half, at 8 weeks.

When some of them (about 3) are pooing, they do a normal poo but the last bit is like a blob of jelly. This dose not happen every time, say about once/twice a day each. They have been to the vet and had a 3 day course of PANACUR, just finished today and still the same problem. They said its common when they get upset (move to a new home) or if the food disagrees with them, but not so common at this age !!!

Is this normal ?
Any ides what it could be ?
Is it OK to send them to their new home like this ?
Any recommendation ?

Thanks,
Help-Please

If this is the first time that they have been wormed then it's fairly safe to agree that they were born with a heavy worm burden.  Did you Panacur your bitch during pregnancy?  Pregnancy hormones will awaken those encysted worms and pups will have got them from mum.  Pups should have been wormed with Panacur suspension from 14 days old, and repeated every two weeks thereafter.

No, I personally wouldn't send them to their new homes with worms.  I would have wanted to have treated them and send them away worm free.  Pups need worming regularly to 6 months of age.  Are you worming mum with an adult dose every 14 days?

yes they been wormed as normal (starting at 3 weeks) and the mum wormed was before she gave birth and for 2 days after. As the vet told us to do.

the poos that do have the problem (form about 3 off them), all look OK. Apart form the last bit, they sometimes are like a little jelly (only about 1/4 a tea spoon in size), or sometimes they try another poo and a little jelly blob will comes out. Some poo's are OK !!!

Gross though this may sound, if you can get a jelly sample (I would use syringe) it may be worth your vet testing a faecal sample.  That way you can put your mind at rest.

Some pups have problems with Panacur on the second worming - we nearly lost one years ago, and won't use it on baby pups any more, although it seems fine on adults.   Hoechst said at the time there was nothing wrong with the product, but I know others have had problems.

Jo

I have had this after worming and like you I wormed the bitch while she was pregnant and pups from 2 weeks of age. I it was one of my first litters so I was worried but my vet said it was mild colitis from the wormer..... I have had it since but not worried and it has cleared up on its own. You can try some edible Aloe Vera gel ( iused Holisticvets from Higher Nature) to soothe their tums or some Tree barks powder from Dorwest Herbs.... Either of these have sorted it very quickly if I had any with it:)

The jelly (mucus) would suggest some intertinal irritation going on.   Have you have one of them tested for Giardia - it might be worth ruling this out (via a stool sample - fecal) before sending any of them home.    I don't think I'd be happy to send a puppy home that isn't producing a normal stool to be honest.    It's too easy for people to sue these days!!!

I had problems with puppies and Panacur, and I refuse to use it on young puppies.  I know it is the only product which gets rid of the giardia, but I'm pretty sure it nearly killed two puppies of mine (between two and three weeks old).  I'm really leary of Panacur (which simply means "cure-all").