[Tally88]

Hi There,
I am new to the forum but not new to dogs.
I am looking for a more natural/herbal de-wormer for my dog and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good one to use?
I looked at HomeoPet WRM Clear but have not heard good things about it.
Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[OnlyNatural]

I'm new here, too. The easiest way to worm a dog is to feed pomegranate seeds. They are fairly easy to get and do the job. Pomegranate seeds kill internal parasites fast!

 

[Tess]

Do not waste your time with herbals and unproven methods. They do not work.

Anti-parasitic medications and vaccines are two of the greatest gifts of living in modern times (along with antibiotics)

If your child had lice or your house had bed bugs, would you fool around with herbs?

 

[Holly]

Yup, don't waste your time... You'll only end up using a proper dewormer down the road anyway when the natural stuff doesn't work.
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[MysticSpiritus]

Garlic does work on intestinal worms, but there's no guarantee that it will sufficiently kill all of them and there are mixed studies regarding it's toxicity, so I wouldn't bother trying it.

I do know that apple cider vinegar, a small amount in their water bowl daily, is supposed to make them uncomfortable hosts for parasites, but I'm not sure how true it is. During flea season and summer when there's stagnant pools of warm water I'll add a bit of ACV to my guys' water bowl and they've never had any issues with worms, but I can't say if that's just the way it is or if it has anything to do with ACV.

I would just go and get dewormer.

 

[Dawnben]

Hi There,
I am new to the forum but not new to dogs.
I am looking for a more natural/herbal de-wormer for my dog and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good one to use?
I looked at HomeoPet WRM Clear but have not heard good things about it.
Any help would be much appreciated!

Healing clay works. It is gentle and natural unlike what the vets give. Healing clay can be added to the diet daily. I also use it to keep my dogs teeth clean. It kills the bacteria one the teeth to keep them clean.
Parasites
Calcium bentonite clay is a natural de-wormer. It gently removes parasites from the intestinal tract and safely eliminates them- all without the use of harmful chemicals or medications. In addition, the clay also cleanses the digestive tract of bad bacteria, viruses and fungi, which allows the animal to better absorb nutrients from its diet. This detoxifying action also aids the animal’s liver and kidney, which can easily become overloaded with toxins.
Body Weight Amount
<20 lbs 1/2 tsp
20-50 lbs 1 tsp
50-90 lbs. 1 Tbsp
>90 lbs. 1-2 Tbsp
I get mine here
HealthForce Nutritionals, ZeoForce, Detoxification, 14 oz (400 g) - iHerb.com

 

[Tess]

I would like to know if "OnlyNatural" or "Dawnben" have any scientific studies to back up their claims about Pomegranate seeds and Clay as truly effective antihelmintics.

If you are going to give out medical advice to people, there should be evidence to back it up.

Otherwise, you are endangering people's pets with false information, that could have them delay proper treatment for their animals.

 

[Tally88]

Thank you all for your comments. I really appreciate it.

 

[Holly]

This month has been fun... Seeing all of the flea-covered dogs either not on preventative or on "Aunt Sue's Natural flea repellant"... Ugh.
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[Dawnben]

I would like to know if "OnlyNatural" or "Dawnben" have any scientific studies to back up their claims about Pomegranate seeds and Clay as truly effective antihelmintics.

If you are going to give out medical advice to people, there should be evidence to back it up.

Otherwise, you are endangering people's pets with false information, that could have them delay proper treatment for their animals.

The proof is in using it. It is natural and animals seek it in the wild. I use it regularly for my dogs and myself and after using it for over 2 years have never had any side effects. This will probably gross a lot of people out most don't know what is in their own bodies.
Internal parasite removal with calcium bentonite clay
I only recommend things that I have used with success myself. The poster asked for something natural the clay is natural and also effective in the removal of worms. It can be used daily without harm. Unfortunately our dogs can be reinfected easily , using clay stops that from happening.

 

[Tess]

The proof is in using it. It is natural and animals seek it in the wild. I use it regularly for my dogs and myself and after using it for over 2 years have never had any side effects. This will probably gross a lot of people out most don't know what is in their own bodies.
Internal parasite removal with calcium bentonite clay
I only recommend things that I have used with success myself. The poster asked for something natural the clay is natural and also effective in the removal of worms. It can be used daily without harm. Unfortunately our dogs can be reinfected easily , using clay stops that from happening.

Actually there is no "proof in the using". We as a culture left that level of "proof" behind when we stopped using bloodletting as a cure for illness. People believed in the "proof" that blood letting worked for 2,000 years. After all, much of the time the patient lived and got better, so it must have worked, right?

I'm glad you and your dogs have not gotten worms in the last two years. My dogs and I have not gotten worms either, and I have given them nothing as a preventative. In fact I was surprised that our Josey tested negative for worms this past week, because he does eat all sorts of things one would expect to give him parasites, such as chipmunks and mice the cats provide. So by that "Proof", doing nothing for worms works too.

Science it the way we have to distinguish fact from rumor. Science has brought us out of the dark ages of ignorance and superstition.

Yes, I know the OP asked for a "natural wormer." The truthful way to answer that is more along the lines of MysticSpiritus's answer. Or say "There really are no proven "natural" methods."

If you want to know for sure if your healing clay works for worms, take 20 dogs who test positive for worms. Give ten of them healing clay and wave a magic Hermoine Granger wand over the other ten. Test them again and see if there is any difference.

 

[Holly]

I wonder why every stray animal I see has worm then if they seek it out in nature?

 

[ruthcatrin]

FOOD GRADE (make sure it food grade, not pool grade!) diatomatceous earth works. I've used it. I'll dig out the amounts if you want. However DE is SLOW. So if you have a dog who's definetly got worms you're better (IMO) using a wormer from the vet to get rid of the worms (cause the worms can have a huge impact on the health of the dog) and then using DE as a preventitive instead.

 

[Tess]

I find this utterly unconvincing.

In his book, The Clay Cure, Ran Knishinsky writes:​

"While many herbs and homeopathic remedies are suggested for this condition, I believe clay offers one of the finest treatments for all types of parasites.

First, its use will stimulate the gall bladder to increase the flow of bile according to Raymond Dextreit, a French naturopath. He writes that no parasite can live too long under any bilious condition.

Second, considerable research has shed light on the connection between clay eating and parasites. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition mention this in a recent article: "Geophagy can be a source of nutrients. Its primary way of enhancing nutritional status appears to be, however, to counter dietary toxins and, secondarily, the effects of gastrointestinal parasites" (Johns and Duquette 1991). Further, numerous citations in a host of other journals collaborate this fact: throughout the globe, people eat clay in response to parasites.

Third, worms are themselves clay-eaters and are attracted to clay. As a result, when the clay is eliminated from the body, so are the worms. But the process isn't quick; for every worm eliminated several eggs are usually left behind. However, the eggs hatch, the new worms are also immediately attracted to the clay, and in time, the entire problem should be disposed of."


(bold type is the original text, found at Dawnben's link)



And it is upon this sort of reasoning that people are eating clay every day?
http://www.aboutclay.com/info/Uses/parasite_removal.htm

Looks like someone wanting to sell a lot of books, to me. Also someone is making money on purified clay.

 

[Dawnben]

Looks like someone wanting to sell a lot of books, to me. Also someone is making money on purified clay.

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I know you cant say that about the pharmaceutical companies can you. I am sorry that you and Holly are so closed minded that you have to resort to ridicule.

 

[Tally88]

Everyone has good points, but I believe it is the responsibility of the owner to look at both sides of the story, research ( no, this does not mean just looking up one article and calling it good) , talk to different people (especially your vet), and make a decision what best works for you and your animal. EVERY animal is different and what may work for one animal may not work for another. Environment, climate, your life style, etc, can also play a role in how well something works for you.
My biggest problem that I have run into with conventional dewormers is after continual use the dewormer no longer becomes effective because the parasites/worms have become resistant to it and I can no longer use that dewormer for my animal. I have experienced this even with my livestock.
For my livestock, after years of research (literally, looking at both sides and weighing out the pros and cons), talking to people and taking classes, I made the decision to switch to a proven herbal dewormer and, after using it for a few years now, I have not run into one problem and my vet and I are amazed at how well it is working. I went into it very skeptical and had my conventional dewormer on hand in case it didn't work (which I was sure it wouldn't) but the results I saw and am still seeing are amazing. My livestock are healthier, their immune systems are stronger, rarely do they get sick and when they do they recover 10 x faster with little down time, and most importantly, they remain worm and parasite free.

After seeing how well my livestock have done with the herbal dewormer I began looking into natural/herbal dewormers for my dogs, hence my question.
So that’s part of my story. I did not share it to try and convince you all that my way is right and yours is wrong. This is what I know and see working for MY animals. Again, It is your responsibility and decision to find what best works for you and your animal(s) ~

 

[Tally88]

Another thing you must keep in mind is everyone has their own definition of what makes something "Proven". You must find what is "proven" to work for your animal.~

 

[Tess]

You are right. I lapsed into a bit of sarcasm. That was uncalled for and impolite. I apologize. Truly. Its actually been making me feel uncomfortable all day.


With regards to the OP's point about having found an herbal wormer that may show some promise with her livestock...
There are certainly things derived from plants that can be effective medicinals. As most folks realize, many, many of our modern medicines were originally discovered in plants, then subsequently manufactured in quantity.

Conversely, there are certainly main stream medical products that lose their effectiveness as organisms evolve resistance. My vet mentioned the other day that "Frontline" is not working very well in our area anymore.


Here are the points I'm trying to make.
1) Just because it is "natural" does not make it safe. There are plenty of ways to hurt yourself overdosing on herbal remedies too. Plants make powerful chemical compounds.

2) And just because someone says on an internet forum that some herb or root or clay can kill parasites, fleas, tick etc, does not make it true.

3) We have one very good tool to figure out what is safe and effective. It is called the scientific method. It involves doing tests to figure out what really works, and if it is safe.

Lots of people read this forum. We owe it to those readers to be as honest as possible about what we know and don't know. It seems at some level unethical to report something as a known fact (X kills worms) when in fact this has not been shown to be true by experiment.

As a couple people have inferred in their own anecdotes, there is a difference between causation and correlation. Science allows us to distinguish these two things, so we can know if we really have a terrific new wormer, or flea treatment, or whatever.

The internet is rife with claims about everything. Animal forums in particular can have a lot of claims about everything from home remedies for illnesses, to magical training procedures that will fix behavior problems.

This Forum has a bit of a tradition of skepticism about claims that do not have any science behind them.

 

[Holly]

I know you cant say that about the pharmaceutical companies can you. I am sorry that you and Holly are so closed minded that you have to resort to ridicule.

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[Holly]

Listen, I'm a VET. I like some proof. And I'm not anti-everything "natural", but I need some PROOF. For dogs with hemangio, I push them to get Yunnan Baiyao. I'm not going to sit here when I have experience that shows otherwise to certain posts. Unfortunately a lot of the posts are yours. If people want to listen to the pushing of the natural stuff and risk it not working, that's fine. I'm going to tell them what I know works. Otherwise it's a disservice to the OP.

So, not closed minded. Scientifically inclined.