Should you deworm a pregnant dog? A Complete Guide

Deworming Pregnant Dogs: Dr. Greer’s Deworming Protocol

Last updated: March 1, 2022

Deworming pregnant females and breeding dogs is essential to protect the newborn puppies. But not all dewormers are considered safe for pregnancy.

Can I use a de-wormer on my heavily pregnant dog?

As I said above, I recently came across a question on a forum about a heavily pregnant dog with worms in her stool.

To my dismay, the owner was asking what kind of dewormer could be used on the dog.

The answer to that is none of them.

This is an especially good example of why it’s important to see the vet if your dog has worms.

In this case,attempting to deworm the dog could not only result in the worms NOT being properly treated; it could actually harm the unborn pups.

Properly deworming dogs takes experience, testing, and knowledge of the right deworming agent to give.

If a dog presents with worms, taking him to the vet is the only real way to be 100% sure that the worms are properly treated.

A stool sample will be taken to determine which worm is present and if any other worms are present. After that, a deworming protocol will be prescribed that best suits the worms in question.

A follow-up appointment will be scheduled – which should be kept – to be sure that all worms in the dog’s stool have been destroyed.

It is both unsafe and not as effective to attempt to treat worms without knowing which kind they are.

In general, it’s a good idea to see the vet whenever anything is going on INSIDE the dog’s body.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s dig into some more frequently asked questioned related to deworming pregnant dogs.

READ ➔ Heartworm in dogs: Everything you wanted to know

When to deworm a pregnant bitch?

Now that we known that we can deworm a pregnant bitch, in this section we will detail when it is recommended to do.This is not only for the benefit of the expecting more, but also for her puppies. The guidelines to follow are the following:

Maintain usual external deworming, confirming with your veterinarian that the product you have is suitable.

If we are going to breed our dog ,one must deworm it, regardless of when last it has been dewormed. (Before breeding, we must remember that there are many dogs in the world without homes before bringing new puppies into the world).

During the last two weeks at the end of the pregnancy, you have to deworm your dog again. With this last administration we intend to protect the puppies from intestinal worms. Despite this, the puppies are likely to be born infected, so it is also important to start your deworming calendar from 15 days of age. It is also recommended to deworm your dog during the lactation period. The puppies will be in contact with parasites present in the environment, but also through the placenta and the milk of their mother.

If your pregnant dog is already infected, it is vital to remeber that infestation can compromise its health and that of her puppies. In this situation you should go to a veterinarian immediately for information of how to deworm an already infested dog.

Should you deworm a pregnant dog?