Worming or worm count ?

Some of my readers will of heard that you can worm count a dog, but have no idea what it means.  Most people use poisons to kill parasites.  I honestly believe there is a place for all but we have to use a big bit of common sense also. 

​If you need advice then find a local holistic vet to you.  You can google search them. 

But it is like everything in life do not subject the body to a poison if their is nothing to kill.
Why would we? If their is nothing there its pointless.  

The problem we are seeing is our pets now have various stages of poisoning, and it affects the brain.  We see dogs swaying, look drunk, to full blown epilepsy.  Once the wormers/flea treatments/vaccines removed from the equation dogs are not fitting.  We know of a Vizsla since she stopped Leptospirosis vaccine the dogs not had another fit.   So this should not be just pushed under the carpet.  Some types of so called Epilepsy is hereditary.  Some is chemical exposure. Some is other influences.   

In February 2024 I read an article in the veterinary times where it was pleading with vets across the UK to stop selling it monthly.  Many did heed and started to reduce the products.  But many did not.  So why was this article being written?  A discovery that our waterways are full of these poisons.  From dogs swimming in rivers, lakes.  When we bath our pets anything on the fur is washed down the drain and ends up in the sewage plants.  Some sewage plants recycle water back to drinking water.  How revolting.  I should think the health risk to humans must be high other wise they would not tell vets to stop using it. 

In 2025 an article came out that the RSPB had discovered why song birds are on the decline in gardens.  They pick up fur from our pets, or bedding fluff and line their nests which in turn was killing the baby birds.  This hit news outlets.  But it's soon forgotten about. 

Let's look at things as logical as we can do.  No-one wants worms/parasites.   This is where Worm counting comes in.  A test which looks at the stool of your pet and records how many eggs, or worms are seen. If nothing is seen, then whats the point giving a product ? None of course as the products are meant to kill whats there.  

There are two worm counting labs in the UK.  worm count and feclab.  I believe there is a 3rd but Ive not used them.  You go to their websites www.wormcount.co.uk or www.feclab.co.uk and you buy a worm count kit for £19 or £20.  They send out the kit and inside the kit is a glove, pot, scoop, poop bag, form to fill your details on.  Pre paid envelope to send back.  Ideally you get a tiny bit of your dogs poop in the morning and put in pot and send back to company.  With in about two days you get an email with result on.  Green means no eggs seen.  Red means adult worms.  Other colours between means various stages of worm growth. 

But for the healthy dog there is a way forward which minimises the administering of poisons.  The reason is these wormers and flea treatments are causing neurological damage in our pets, skin sores and mild fitting to Epilepsy.  So we must minimise their use. So how do you do this?

In their diet you can add in things which parasites do not like.  You make the dog unappealing.  

Worm eggs are carried on the back of fleas, so if you get fleas your dog may well have worms.  Worm count if you get fleas.

Give your pet raw food which makes a healthier immune system.  Healthy immune systems are not appealing to parasites.  They like poorly ones.  For example a dog on Apoquel with its immune system suppressed will probably be more likely to get parasites than dogs which are not.  So even medication can affect how many parasites your pet gets.   

But with giving raw food you can add in things which makes the gut unappealing for the parasite to live like Garlic, Grape seed extract, parsley, herbs, Verm X, Crushed pumpkin seeds.  Clove, Black walnut and so on.  There are even companies now making stuff which includes all these to repel worms.    For the skin and fleas, they dislike citronella, clove, lavender and so on.  Again you can purchase products to repel fleas and ticks.  Neem oil is like a strong garlic smell, and if you use it with a carrier oil like almond can really repel fleas, lice and so on. 

A product which is natural called Diatomaceous earth is volcanic ash which parasites can not live in, it breaks down their outer shell. So if you have an infestation of fleas sprinkle on bedding, dogs fur. You can even put it in the food. Follow instructions on packets.   

This year my chickens got red mite, so I brought some DE and squirted in the nest boxes.  It killed them by half, but some chickens still had them on the fur. So I caught each one and dosed the feathers.  This completely killed the parasites.   

If your dog gets harvest mites between its toes squirt this powder in-between the toes and see if it works.  It's completely harmless. 

So we minimise everything by doing natural things.  Some dogs go years and years between needing a more harmful product.  But sometimes the only way you can get rid of fleas or worms is to use a product and this is why I said at the start minimise use and yet each has its place in the world. 

If we minimise use of poisons it has to be a good thing doesn't it.! 

I hope this makes some sense.

But what you also have to know about me is sometimes I realise that all the natural stuff just has not worked for you and you want to then go to something which will kill quick.  I understand this.  I have used in the past Advantage with no ill effect and I have used Panacur paste with no real ill effects.  

For puppies under 12 weeks, Panacur paste is licensed, and so is Frontline spray.  There is very little which is licensed so breeders have to be very careful what they use on puppies.  I have known breeders say that Panacur has killed puppies.  It is very worrying and of course its just breeder chitter chatter but it's enough to worry us all.  I have seen puppies get diarrhoea after Panacur. I have also seen puppies get hives after using spot ons.  So again minimise where you can and go to worm counting instead of just treating and use natural stuff on fur.  You will thank me for it later.  

I hope this all helps you all.