[MENTION=1652]Angelgirl[/MENTION] if you are going to spend that amount on dog food, you really should try Fromm. It is way better than RC, and I think you would be really happy with it. RC spends a heafty amount on advertising- which gets taken out of the quality of the food. Pretty much anything you can get at a pet retailer is always going to be a second or back up choice if possible, the reason you do not find many of the best brands at pet retailers is because they wont make enough $$$ selling it.
[MENTION=1244]BullyB[/MENTION]
They should be able to see eggs. Fully developed parasites lay eggs. You treat them with de-wormer, and kill all the adult and young worms. But the eggs still hatch. So in 10 days you need to retreat, before the worms become egg layers, and after all eggs have hatched. Doing it a 3rd time is not a bad idea too.
Here is the thing, I have had several bully puppies and about 4 of them had worms. So I kept 'going back to the vet'..... 'come back in a month'.... 'oh dear the worms are not gone'..... 'lets do a recheck'..... I remember on Molly alone I spent over $1000 the first 3 months. So I went online to learn about these worms and that is what I found out!!! The vet was not scheduling me back at the right day, and I think it was on purpose!
If you really want to deworm on your own, you can. You can order dewormer online, it is not expensive, and you can treat yourself and save a fortune.
BUT, with that being said, you should also make sure it is not coccidia or giardia, which does require a different medication. But I anticipate that if you bring up the life cycle of the worm and the egg hatching cycle your vet will be pretty inclined to have you back in their office on the EXACT day the medication requires.
For regular worms the medicine goes every 10 days, but I have used a more expensive product called Safeguard which also clears giardia, and that was given every two weeks.
Stress is also a factor of diarrhea, and many puppies may get it because of adjusting to a new home.
Food change can also contribute. If it is either of these, 2 days on a bland diet should tell you. If it is not stiff using bland diet, the odds are there is something else wrong.
This is why it is important to get a fecal done, and if your pup has diarrhea that is SHOOTING out-- like a spray-- get them to the vet.
[MENTION=1652]Angelgirl[/MENTION] Yes petflow.com sells it and I believe reading they only charge like $5 to ship. Carolinapetpantry.com sells it as well.
Just wanted to give you all an update so far. I took Bunker's poo to the vet this morning. They called and said they didn't see any parasites, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't have one. So, they are putting him on a dewormer...panacare...it's a powder to put on his food, and another round of the antibiotic they gave him before (metanitrozole or something) and said to mix rice in with his food. We are to bring in another stool sample to his next appointment on Saturday morning. Hopefully something works...I just think it's wierd they didn't find anything. Bunker is acting fine, but what a messy cleanup! Thank you all for your advice!
Gertie got liquid diarrhea back a few months ago. I'd had her for about 2 1/2 months, so she hadn't had a recent food change or anything. So I took her to the vet and she was cleared of all kinds of worms, no coccidia or giardia. I was told to do a bland diet. So I did, but I also did Activia yogart. They don't have plain, so I used vanilla. It says it's for "naturally regulating your digestive system", so I figured it may help. I don't know if it did the trick, or the bland diet part, but it didn't seem to hurt. She cleared up in a few days.
I had Bongo on a 2 times a day feeding at 9 weeks old thinking it was OK. It wasn't he started getting that bloated look and would throw up so now I come home from work and we feed him 3 times a day and he's all better. the vet did a fecal exam and it all came back clean but Louie our other dog had diarrhea as well so that told me and the vet that they had just a simple stomach virus crazy. but the smaller more frequent meals helps..