On August 1 I took my 12 lb miniature poodle mix to my vet to get his shots and to get a new prescription of heartworm preventative. They took 2 fecals and they said it came back with something wrong . The vet prescribed CHPC 250 mg tablets 3 times a day for 21 days. I looked up the pills online and found was shocked by what I saw they were used to treat: hypertrophic osteodystrophy. I talked to my dog’s foster mother and she also said that they were used to treat for worms, one problem they didn’t say one thing about worms and no they didn’t deworm him…because why?…oh yeah he didn’t have any worms. I was told by the vet tech that answered the phone the Monday after I took him a long name instead of worms and that it was very contagious to humans, but I haven’t seen worms in his poo and I haven’t seen worms on my furniture and I sure don’t have any unexplained sores on me. The vet tech also told me that they did not put the “diagnosis” on the receipt. When I told my dogs foster mother she said that because it was not a real diagnosis. Please explain to me why they would prescribe CHPC 250 mg pills to a dog that is not even close to the size to have HOD which is only found in large breed dogs (yes I know that it is a bone disease in only large breed dogs) and why they said that they found something wrong with his fecal. BTW I was in the room the whole time with them and my dog and didn’t leave for any reason.
Thanks
This sounds like a major miscommunication issue and I cannot comment on the appropriateness of the drug without the “long name instead of worms” that is contagious to humans–you need to write it in your information in order to request an explanation of why the drug was prescribed. Many drugs are indicated for one purpose but also can have other good uses. Call your veterinarian and ask to speak to him/her directly to answer your questions.
Many people do not understand that “worms” is a casually used word often used to refer to all internal parasites in general, and many of them are not actually what you would picture as a true worm. Most of them are so small that even if they did come out of the body in the stool, they would not be seen. However, most of them DON’T come out of the animal in their stool–what DOES come out in the stool is the EGGS of the parasites, and these eggs are too small to see without a microscope. TAPEWORMS are visible, so looking at the stool IS important, but just looking without checking the stool microscopically will make you usually miss roundworms (big enough to see if an adult is passed in the stool but adults usually stay internal and only eggs are passed in stool) and only the microscope will show hookworms, whipworms, coccidia, giardia, strongyloides, lungworms, and others.
Melinda R. Burgwardt, DVM
Melinda R. Burgwardt, DVM
Lancaster, NY
Go back to the veterinary office and speak with the veterinarian who prescribed the drug, ask what it is for and write down the diagnosis and the results of the testing which took place. Do not depend on bulletin boards such as this one and your pet’s foster mother for advice or alternative treatment. If you do not understand something or need the proper spelling of a “long word” then go back to your veterinarian and get the answers you desire. Veterinarians do not randomly treat for suspected diseases: if the lab results indicated the need for an Rx, your veterinarian acted appropriately. Lastly: be careful of where your look up information on the Internet – use only peer reviewed websites such as veterinary schools or national organizations such as AVMA, AAHA, ACVIM, ACVS or other specialty associations in veterinary medicine. Do not rely on websites of breed clubs, private veterinary hospitals, pharmacies or chatrooms of supposed experts who have no training or degree in veterinary medicine.
Mark Logan, DVM
Baysea Veterinary Hospital
Cape May, NJ
dunno
Make an appointment to meet with the vet.
Phillip McHugh, DVM
Park Veterinary Hospital
Durham, NC
I’d recommend checking out the website veterinarypartner.com There is information on that drug if you type in CHPC in the search field. Apparently the drug is used for HOD but more commonly is used as an antibiotic for infection. You may need to inquire from your veterinarian what they are intending to treat with the drug.
A note about intestinal parasites: When fecal test are run, veterinarians look for much more than simply worms. Some protozoans also infect the intestinal tract and are often treated with antibiotics. If your dog did have worms, they are typically not seen. The only worms that are seen in the stool are roundworms, which look similar to spaghetti. In these cases, the worms that pass in the stool are dead. Evidence of tapeworms may also be seen, but it is typically not on the stool itself. When tapeworms are present, egg bearing segments of the tapeworm are seen, not the worm itself, and these are most commonly seen stuck to the hair around the anus or on area where the pet commonly lays. Tapeworm segments resemble mobile grains of white rice when they first come out, but quickly dry and look like sesame seeds.
I hope this information helps.
Beth Endsley, VNA, CPNC, VTNC
Hospital Administrator