How old before you de-worm a puppy?

[Chilli]

Hi all,

A friend has a 7 1/2 week old puppy. It's a lhasa apso and she has been advised to worm it now Is this right? Sounds a bit young?

Cheers.

[bexVN]

A good breeder will have wormed the puppy at 2 and 5 weeks old. A third one should then be done at 8 weeks. Puppies are born with roundworms and these can cause severe illness even death if not cleared at a young age.

Panacur is the most common one used, we advise a 5 day course to also reduce chances of Giardia.

7.5 weeks is not too young esp if not been done before.

Edited by bexVN on Monday 30th September 11:29

[Chilli]

Many thanks for that. I'm assuming this little fella has never had it done, given the state it was in.

Thanks again.

[Autopilot]

A reputable breeder wouldn't normally let a pup go before a full 8 weeks with its mum, so I'd assume they've not done anything else right.

[Rumple]

Mine was done when the puppy had his first injections, he too was in a state

[Rumple]

Autopilot said:

A reputable breeder wouldn't normally let a pup go before a full 8 weeks with its mum, so I'd assume they've not done anything else right.

This is right, ours was underweight, full of worms and two weeks younger than we were told, he is a healthy 5 month old now.

[bexVN]

There is some debate re: the age to rehome it always used to be 8 weeks (still is for kittens) but some say for socialising a pup benefits by being in a new home from 7 weeks and time to settle in before vaccines are started. I think 7.5 weeks is a fair compromise but only if the rest of the care has been well provided.

What makes me cross is bad breeding practice's and yet they stay in business because people still buy from them.