What is the Best Worming Treatment for Dogs?

Maintaining your dog's health and well-being is your sole responsibility as a pet owner. Not only does this mean providing them with appropriate food and taking them for checkups with the vet, but also keeping up with their routine worming treatments. 

Here, we’re going to talk you through the different types of dog wormers to help you decide which is the best worming treatment for your dog. 

Simply put, yes. You do need to worm your dog. Regardless of where you're living or your dog's lifestyle, without routine worming treatments, your dog is at risk of picking up parasites not limited to intestinal worms. Worm infestations can cause several health issues in dogs if left untreated, including: 

• Digestive issues —(such as diarrhoea, vomiting, and swollen stomach)
• Malnutrition—Worms can interfere with your dog's absorption of nutrients, leading to unprecedented weight loss and malnutrition.
• Anaemia — Worms that feed on blood, such as hookworms, can cause anaemia in dogs if left untreated.
• Organ Damage—Some worms, such as heartworms and lungworms, can travel around the body to find homes in organs beyond the digestive system.

Some worms are also zoonotic, which means they can be passed between species. This means if your dog is infested with worms, they could pass them on to you, and most worms aren't picky about who or what they're eating. You can learn more about the different types of worms and their impact on your pet's health in our Ultimate Guide to Worms in Pets.

When choosing your dog wormer, there are a few key things you should take into account, such as: 

• The formulation of the worming treatment (e.g. tablet, Spot-on, etc.) — How easy will it be to administer to your dog?
• The length of protection — How often do you need to readminister the treatment to keep your dog protected? 
• What worms does it treat and protect against — Will this treatment be effective for your dog?
• Your dog’s age — Some dog wormers are unsuitable for dogs under a certain age or weight limit, so check before choosing. 

How long the treatments last and what worms they specifically protect against can vary from brand to brand and even product to product. For routine treatments, we recommend you use a broad-spectrum wormer, such as the Prazitel Plus Tablet for dogs, which offers protection from some of the most common intestinal worms, including roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and whipworms. 

If your dog is already suffering from a worm infestation, we recommend consulting with your vet as soon as possible to find the most appropriate and effective treatment. 

Dog worming medicines come in a range of formulations to make it quick and easy to adminster them. Here, we take a look at the best wormers for dogs to help your find the perfect fit for your pup.

Perhaps the most popular worming treatments for dogs are dog worming tablets, like these Beaphar WORMclear Worming Tablets, which kill all common types of worms in dogs. These small and easy-to-administer tablets are great for fussy dogs who need their tablets hidden away in food, or you can sneak one of these dog dewormer pills into a treat like these Royal Canin pills assist treats. 

Some brands even offer a tasty chewable worming tablet option, such as the Drontal Tasty Bone Wormer, so you can give the tablet to your dog as easily as you would a treat! 

How you administer your dog's worming pill will depend on:

1. How well your dog takes tablets.
2. Whether the worming tablet is chewable.
3. If the tablet can be taken with food.

Dogs that are good at taking their medicine or who will eat anything, no questions asked, can just be given a chewable worming tablet, and they should find them palatable enough to eat it whole. 

If your dog is more suspicious, you may need a sneakier approach, such as breaking the tablet up and hiding it in your dog's food or wrapping it in something that masks the taste, such as a thin slice of ham. If you give your dog their tablet with food, ensure they consume the entire dose by mixing the medicine with only a portion of the food and giving your dog the rest when they've eaten it. 

If your dog's worming tablet isn't supposed to be given with food and doesn't take it willingly, you may need a more hands-on approach. Our Guide to Giving Dog's Tablets provides detailed instructions for this. 

If your dog is particularly averse to taking tablets and hiding them in food, it is not enough to coerce them, so we'd recommend looking at a worming liquid instead. These oral solutions are formulated with the same worm-killing ingredients, just in an easier-to-swallow form. 

Liquid dog wormers are also popular for puppies, who require a much lower dosage more frequently than adults. Puppies are particularly susceptible to roundworm infections while nursing. For example, the Drontal® Liquid Wormer for Puppies is intended to treat roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms in puppies from two weeks to one year old. It comes complete with a syringe to make calculating small dosages much easier. 

Some dog worming liquids are flavoured to make administering them easier, but you can mix your dog's dosage into some food to make it more palatable for fussy pups. Dog worming liquids are typically available in bottles between 50ml and 100ml, making them a great choice for anyone with multiple dogs to worm. Or, if you have multiple pets you want to worm at once, then thePanacur® 10% Oral Suspension Wormer could be the one for you as it's suitable for use in puppies, kittens, cats, and dogs, meaning you can worm them all with just one bottle of treatment by matching their bodyweight to the dosage, rather than buying individual treatments per pet. 

Another option for picky dogs is using a worming powder, like these Panacur 22% Granules. Much like worming liquids, worming granules protect your dog against various types of intestinal worms and are quick and easy to administer. All you need to do is mix the recommended dosage into your dog’s daily food or with a tasty treat. These granules are effective against the major tapeworm species but don't cover your pet for others, like whipworms or heartworms. 

Worming granules are typically sold as individual sachets in varying dosages but are suitable for cats, dogs, kittens and puppies, making it a good choice for homes with multiple pets. Simply mix the granules into their dinner, and you're good to go. 

Many cat wormers are administered as a spot-on solution that works its way into their bloodstream, but is there a spot-on wormer for dogs? 

The answer is yes! Plenty of dog worming spot-on treatments are available, but you will need a prescription from your vet to buy them. Spot-on dog wormers from brands such as Advocate and Evicto are also formulated to treat fleas, ticks, and other external parasites, which means more active ingredients than a flea or a worming treatment alone. This is why many broad-spectrum worming treatments are prescription only. 

Prescription worming treatments aren't necessarily better than non-prescription ones, but they are definitely more efficient. They typically tackle multiple types of worms and biting insects and save the trouble of multiple treatments. To learn more about buying your dog’s prescription worming treatments online, visit our prescription information page.

In truth, this question depends on the treatments you’ve been using and your dog’s behaviour. Most worming treatments offer between 1-3 months of protection, and many specialists recommend you treat an adult dog for worms at least four times a year. 

However, a monthly worming treatment is more appropriate if your dog is more prone to scavenging. Dogs typically pick up worms from their environment after consuming something contaminated with worm eggs or larvae and sometimes even from ingesting fleas while grooming themselves. If your dog spends more time outside or is more likely to eat things they shouldn’t, they run a higher risk of developing an infestation. Find out more about how often you should be worming your pet in our blog.

Worming your dog is necessary to ensure its health and well-being, but it doesn’t have to be a chore. Now that you know the different types of treatments available with and without a prescription, we hope you can make a more informed decision about your dog’s routine healthcare. 

Is your dog’s next treatment date coming up? Then check out our full range of dog worming treatments and find the perfect fit for your dog. 

This post is an opinion and should only be used as a guide. You should discuss any change to your pet’s care or lifestyle thoroughly with your vet before starting any program or treatment.

This post was written by a human.