Panacur for intestinal parasites?

[dunky]

I made the mistake of purchasing a baby bluey this weekend because I felt bad for it at the pet store. It was skinny and dehydrated, along with being obviously bullied by a larger tankmate. The petstore told me the baby is captive bred, but it appears to be a meruke so I'm assuming at best it was born from a recently captured female. It was very lethargic for the first couple days, but it did finally start eating for me yesterday and is already starting to look not quite as thin.

The only other main problem I am having at the moment is he is having horrible watery and smelly diarrhea multiple times a day. I'm sure part of it is stress, but I really think this guy probably has at least a moderate load of intestinal parasites. I'd love to take him to the vet, but my normal vet doesn't deal with reptiles, and there are no vets in my area that are on the BTS veterinarian page on this site (closest one is about 4 hours away). I use Panacur to deworm my dogs on a yearly basis, and was wondering if maybe I should just go ahead and deworm the new skink too?

If it isn't a horrible idea, does anyone have any knowledge on the dosage? The Merck Veterinary manual says 10-25 mg/kg for 3-5 days, then stop for 10 days and repeat the dosage cycle again.

[Scotts1au]

This is a good resource but read the disclaimer. http://www.anapsid.org/resources/rxdose.html

[El Lobo]

Unfortunately the only real solution to this problem is VET or at least a testing lab. Any vet should be able to run a basic faecal test. The faecal discharge needs to be analysed to find out what is in it, parasites etc.

As the discharge is watery it will still be contributing to ongoing dehydration so re-hydrating to replace lost electrolytes would help. Offering something like Pedialyte may assist electrolyte replacement. The diarrhoea is only a symptom of something else going wrong, not a disease in itself. Without testing not much can be ruled out including coccidia or other protozoa.

I think quite a few of the longer term members have used fenbendazole so they may be able to offer their experience.

A couple of links that might be of help:

http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/hydrate.htm

http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-h ... sites.aspx

http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/av ... ?id=608433

I know the argument against buying unhealthy animals from a pet store as they will only replace with another and continue the cycle, but I am also motivated by the more compelling argument that any animal is entitled to a chance at life, regardless of where they come from.

[Bird_Brain]

The others pretty much answered the question and can't add much more. I will add that I feel panacur is a pretty safe drug. I am going to take this off topic though and wonder if you have your dogs on heart worm prevention. If so what brand? Many heart worm prevention not only prevents heart worms, but also takes care of many intestinal parasites. You maybe wasting the money on the panacur.

[dunky]

Unfortunately the only real solution to this problem is VET or at least a testing lab. Any vet should be able to run a basic faecal test. The faecal discharge needs to be analysed to find out what is in it, parasites etc.

As the discharge is watery it will still be contributing to ongoing dehydration so re-hydrating to replace lost electrolytes would help. Offering something like Pedialyte may assist electrolyte replacement. The diarrhoea is only a symptom of something else going wrong, not a disease in itself. Without testing not much can be ruled out including coccidia or other protozoa.

I think quite a few of the longer term members have used fenbendazole so they may be able to offer their experience.

A couple of links that might be of help:

http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/hydrate.htm

http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-h ... sites.aspx

http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/av ... ?id=608433

I know the argument against buying unhealthy animals from a pet store as they will only replace with another and continue the cycle, but I am also motivated by the more compelling argument that any animal is entitled to a chance at life, regardless of where they come from.

I'll have to try calling a few more vets around here to see if I can find one that is willing to do a fecal on a reptile. The ones I've tried so far have either refused or charged such a high amount of money that it's not really an option (the one wanted a $50 office visit, plus $75 for the fecal, and who knows how much for the medication). I realize in the grand scheme of things, even a $150+ vet bill isn't that bad, but I hate feeling like I'm being screwed over just because the office doesn't want to do it.

[dunky]

The others pretty much answered the question and can't add much more. I will add that I feel panacur is a pretty safe drug. I am going to take this off topic though and wonder if you have your dogs on heart worm prevention. If so what brand? Many heart worm prevention not only prevents heart worms, but also takes care of many intestinal parasites. You maybe wasting the money on the panacur.

I've always had great luck with panacur in the past with my dogs, so I feel fairly safe using it. My dogs are on heartworm medication (Tri Heart Plus), which does deworm for hooks/rounds/whips iirc. I just live in a rural area where Giardia Lambila can be an issue, so I treat them with panacur occasionally since it will treat that because I have had issues with giardiasis with minimal symptoms in them in the past.

[dunky]

I'm going to try calling some more vet offices this afternoon to see if I can get a fecal done for him asap, because now he isn't eating. Hopefully I can find one within an hour or so drive that will be willing to do one and actually know what they are doing to be able to diagnose him.

[Scotts1au]

I have found in the past that diarrhoea often occurs in blueys with a bacterial infection, however if exposed to a wc bluey it could be anything. I would start from the premise of an infection being the most likely cause. Doesn't read like your little guy is in a good way. Most likely a vet will give you antibiotics. It may well have worms but, the worms may not be the cause of its problems and treating with Panacur, may be an unnecessary stress. If the vet is treating for a bacterial problem, then there are some other environmental protocols that will help the bluey fight off the infection, although they often get worse before getting better.

[El Lobo]

I have found in the past that diarrhoea often occurs in blueys with a bacterial infection, however if exposed to a wc bluey it could be anything. I would start from the premise of an infection being the most likely cause. Doesn't read like your little guy is in a good way. Most likely a vet will give you antibiotics. It may well have worms but, the worms may not be the cause of its problems and treating with Panacur, may be an unnecessary stress. If the vet is treating for a bacterial problem, then there are some other environmental protocols that will help the bluey fight off the infection, although they often get worse before getting better.

I'm not as familiar with reptiles gut issues as with mammals but is clostridium overgrowth a known with BTS?

[bluewho]

-I'd like to make a suggestion. There is a very respected site called "The bearded dragon company" Don't let the name get to you, it's an online store designed for reptiles. The people who run it will test a sample for you via mail. These people are not vets, they are BD breeders and care alot for reptiles. My BD may not be here today if not for them. Coccidia darn near ended her and it was their meds that saved her (2 rounds of vet meds did nothing) They also have a "do it your self" fecal float kit for a pretty good price!
-None of this is meant to replace a vet. But this is a very cost effective option if you want to rule out parasites.
Good luck

[Bird_Brain]

I aalso offer to do free fecal exams to members on the forum. I was a vet assistant for 4 years and did quite a few fecal exams in my life. I don't guarantee that I will be able to find everything but the more common intestinal parasites I'm comfortable in my ability. I mainly ran dog, cats, and farm animals.

Again I don't recommend my fecal exams to replace vet care but it could help lead you in the right direction.