Hi

At how many weeks do you start weaning your puppies I thought I might start at 3 weeks???  can I then give them their first wormer at 3 weeks??

First worming should be done at 14 days.  I use Panacur liquid, and give a 3 day course at 2wks, 5 wks and 8 wks.  I mash puppy food for Mum when pups reach 3 weeks, and find some will lick at it and some won't.  I just let them start in their own good time.

First wormer should be given at 2weeks, I use Panacur 10% which is given at 2,5,8 and 12 weeks (if still with you at 12weeks). This is given as a three day repeat dose. However not all puppy wormers are the same and always read the instructions (goes without saying of course! :-D)

With regards to weaning, try some liquidised puppy biscuit in some lactol puppy milk so its like a puppy milkshake. This gives them taster.
However not all pups will be ready or interested at three weeks, be guided by what they want. Once they start weaning dont retrict mum from letting them feed from her, she will tell them when enough is enough! ;-)

I also worm at 2 weeks & then 2weekly intervals, I use Drontal puppy liquid,unlike panacur you only give one dose each time not on 3 consecutive days. I and several breeders I know have had very poorly puppies using panacur so have avoided it since & have been pleased with drontal, although
I know many people use panacur successfully.I then start weaning mashed up puppy food at 3 weeks.

I usually worm at 3/4 wks then fortnightly after that.  I dont like Pancur, I use drontal puppy syrup. I usually start weaning round about the same time, but with the pup I have at the moment I dont think I will need to  as she is an only one and getting plenty of milk from mum, I will just watch and see when mum does not feed her as much then start weaning.

I start to worm my puppies at around two weeks with Drontal Puppy (used to use Panacur but had a bad experience with it), then every two weeks til they leave.  I like to give the tummies time to settle after the first worming before I start weaning.  After a few days I try them on a little raw mince (that has been frozen first), once they are happily tucking into that I start them on soaked puppy food (Arden Grange) with a little raw mince mixed in.  Gradually increasing the number of meals.

I like to start at 18 days so that they are having solids before they get wormed so that I can be sure they are wormed on full stomachs.

I and several people I know had problems when worming at two weeks doing the three times, and continue to wrom at 3 weeks and seven weeks as I was originally told to do by my Vet when given Panacur.

I have had no probloems with this regime before or since the time I had terribloe issues when doing two, five and eight weeks.

I do already worm the dam in whelp so the pups are carrying very low worm burden at birth.

regarding weaning your puppies - if you have a large litter, say 7+ then it is a good idea to start weaning a few days earlier than the 3 week norm.  This helps to take all the feeding burden away from mum a little earlier with so many pups.

I have a smallish breed worm at 4 weeks and 7..  Bitches are fully wormed all the time and wormed before mating so low worm burden also to begin with. Dam is wormed along with the pups to.

So guys if I worm at 2 weeks and the puppies have not started weaning how do I give it to them ?? via a syringe or on some mashed up puppy food, how can I be sure that they are getting enough of the wormer if I put it on food that they are not sure what they are doing with it?

Squirt it into their mouths with a syringe.

The wormers are supplied with a syringe - weigh each puppy and calculate how much for each one - I make a chart so that I can tick off each puppy once done.  Then carefully syringe in the correct amount into the mouth - you just open their mouth at the side and in it goes.  When they are very little it isn't a very big dose but as they get older it can get a little messy.

What is the relevance of using frozen mince and not raw fresh mince

There is a very nasty bug in raw mince which can be killed by freezing.  If you search through the posts on weaning you should find more detail on it.  Hope that helps.

Neospora?

Do you give them the mince raw?

Yes as long as it has been frozen first.  I defrost it and when its at room temperature roll it into little balls for the pups.  They love it.

When do you start putting water down for the pups? is it when I start weanining them??

Well I start trying them with a little water from when they are about 14 days but they don't really seem to touch it much until weaning (at least mine dont seem to) - I start them off with a little ceramic dish and as they get older use a metal chicken feeder (rectangle one) for it as mine always seem to knock it over!

Hi

have started the weaning process!! They all seem to be taking to it quite well, I wondered how much food I should realistically expect them to eat in the first few days of weaning, I know how much they should have but is it like just letting them have a taster and gradually building up to the full amount, mum is also still feeding them although I have been taking her out of thye way when I give them their food.  Please advise..

It really is such a small amount they have for the first feeds - just think how timy their tummy's are and also that they aren't used to eating  - just like a baby with its first feeds.  If you are using mince I would be freezing it in small (100g) sizes so that you don't waste too much once it is defrosted.  You gradually increase - they tend not to over feed anyway but at times can have little fat tums!

What about drinking do you just put the water down and hope for the best or is there a way of encouraging them!!

You can just dip your fingers in to encourage them but generally they will find it for themselves and gradually start lapping.  They will also fall asleep in it and also take in too much in one go and it go up their nose - all normal for puppies.

What sort of problems have you had with Panacur as I have been recommended to use this both by my vet and by a friend who has been breeding and rearing pups for several years (I gave the first dose yesterday).  This is my first pup (only one in the litter) and I want to do the best for him!  I have read the leaflet and can't see any contra indications.

In my experience doing them 3 times by 8 weeks of age is to much and have had terrible diarrhoea in one litter when doing them at five weeks.

Prior to this on Vets instruction I had dosed pups at 3 weeks and then before leaving at 7 to 8 weeks, and the bitches in whelp from 6 weeks.

By doing them at 3 and then 7 weeks I have had no problems other than a slight looseness in the odd pup and slight inappetence by the third day of dosing, but no appreciable slow down in weight gain, unlike the time I did them 3 times when I had projectile shits and pitiful weight gain the week they were wormed for the second time.

My theory was that it was too much, especially as my pups would have had very low worm burdens passed on from their dams due to worming whilst pregnant and this had been done with successive generations so probably even less worms passed on from encysted larva from the generations of Mums.

I also weigh each pup and if a pup weighs say 1.5kg it will get the dose fo 1kg not 2kg.  Aftyer all the dosage for sheep is one tenth of that for dogs, and is obviously still effective, so it is powerful stuff we are pumping into them.

>all the dosage for sheep is one tenth of that for dogs

Is that of the same concentration of the chemical? I know that Panacur comes in different strength suspensions so that you don't have to alter the quantity so much, just give a similar dose of the higher strength one for a larger animal.

I buy the 10% suspension in half litre or litre from hyperdrug and that comes with dosage instructions for sheep and cattle, it is the same.

> What sort of problems have you had with Panacur

3 friends all had extremely sick litters of pups after using panacur some actually lost some of them & others ended up hospitalised, so had always vowed not to use it, however got a bitch from a friend who had used it so I wanted to continue on her current worming routine over the puppy period, however after just 2 doses she was v poorly, sick, the runs & just generally unwell for about a week, so I have not nor will I EVER use it again.

Thanks for all of the replies on this.  I have given the pup his second dose today and will continue to check for diarhhoea and weight gain and if there is any problem will go to the vet on Monday.

Eva, you may find that, like Pugnut and myself, that there are no problems whatsoever.  Everybody on CD will have their favourites, which will be based on personal experience.

My girl has now got diarrhoea she is just over 3 weeks post whelp, my pups were wormed with panacur with no problems but do you think her licking them ect that it may have made her runny she is otherwise well with a cold wet nose but a little tired looking which I would expect anyway, or could it be a combination of the puppy food I am feeding her and the pigs ear she got as a treat on Friday night the pups were wormed over last weekend , any suggestions????

Like you I have had no problems and will give the 2nd lot of the 3 doses next weekend.  Mum and pup are doing really well, he is starting to wean himself now and has also met and played with my male dog (the father of the pup) who today managed a best in breed in one of our local open shows.

Glad that all is going well.  Congrats.