After this article posted, I received some valuable feed back from a contributor concerning Llama worming. Please note the following correction…
“In reg
ards to M-worm prevention almost everyone has either returned to Ivermec as a preventative or moved their Dectomax schedule to 30 days as it was subsequently proven that the Dectomax does NOT work on a 45 day schedule and in fact is not as effective as Ivermec when given in 30 day increments.”
This information was confirmed by the vets a University of Tennessee & contributed by:
Deborah Logan
South East Llama Rescue
SELR Giftshop
Adoption Coordinator AL/GA/TN
Thanks Deborah for the important correction! Friends, please be sure to visit Deborah’s website & her virtual gift shop
I know posting about this is going to open up a whole can of worms!
We have a lot of animals here and parasite control can become quite the chore.. not to mention quite expensive. We have two office cats, Minou & Sola , three office dogs, Angel, Taz & Mandy, two guard dogs, Diesel & Beulah, and last but not least two house dogs, Mouse & Zipper. These are just our pets… I’ll get to the farm critters later!
We live in the country – on a small mountain, or maybe we can call it the hillside of a small valley – doesn’t matter what it’s called.. we’re surrounded by lots of woods, marshy and/or brushy areas. Our pets need protection… fleas isn’t too big an issue here.. ticks are! If there’s something that drives me nuts is finding a tick, on me!
FLEA & TICK CONTROL – DOGS & CATS
I used to buy Frontline in several different formats. Our dogs range from 4 lbs to 145 lbs so I’d buy this product in each size and enough for monthly treatments for about 9 months a year. Can you imagine the $$$ ? Yikes! So how do I get around that? Simple, I only buy one format.. the extra large dog size. Then I use a syringe & pull out just what I need for each dog & cat. Only the 100 + lbs dog need one full ampule – for me, one extra ampule is enough for all the other pets.
Frontline dosage is (0.5 cc per 10 lbs). Insert a syringe in the ampule & draw the quantity you need depending on your pet’s weight. Leave the needle in the ampule for your next draw. Then simply apply deep within the fur on the back of your pet’s neck & draw what you need for the next pet. If there’s any left in your ampule, store it in a cool, dry place & just be careful not to spill the contents. Repeat monthly.
HEARTWORM – DOGS
As for heartworm prevention, you can use Ivomec or similar type product. Dosage is simple & so cheap! You need 1/10cc per 10 lbs. Again use a syringe, leave the needle section in the bottle & squirt the product in the back of your dog’s mouth. However, if your dog is a COLLIE, do not use this product. REPEAT DOSAGE MONTHLY.
INTERNAL PARASITES – DOGS & CATS
To treat for Hookworms (looks like Roundworms with teeth at one end), Roundworms (looks like piece of cooked spaghetti), Tapeworm (looks like rice in feces or around anus) & Whipworm (whip shaped cooked spaghetti) – you can safely use Safe-Guard (10% suspension), yes this is the same product you use on goats. Safe-Guard is a generic name for FENBENDAZOLE.
Dosage is also very simple… 1 cc per 5 lbs or 5 cc per 25 lbs. You must repeat for 3 consecutive days. However, if you’ve seen any kind of worms in your dog’s feces, use for 4 days. This preventative treatment should be repeated yearly. I found that this dosage became hard to administer on our 100 lbs + Mastiffs. For these 2 dogs I used the Safe-Guard paste for horses. Just use the guidelines on the tube. Again here it is better to overdose than underdose. If you have a puppy, it should be wormed every 2 weeks until it is 3 months old. Especially if you don’t know if the mom was parasite free.
IT IS BEST NOT TO USE IVERMECTIN (OR GENERIC) AT THE SAME TIME AS SAFE-GUARD – BEST TO USE 15 DAYS APART.
I’d like to interrupt this post with a “plug” for all of my local readers that I get all of my pet medications, dewormers, feed, anything animal related from L &J Farm Supply in Spring City (423) 365-4931. They have the best prices not to mention the best customer service anywhere… Danny is number one!!! Now that I’m done with commercials…
INTERNAL PARASITE CONTROL – GOATS & LLAMAS
Parasite control is an ongoing problem on most small farms. The biggest contributing factor is the fact that most farms are hobby farms and thus there are too many animals per acre. A periodic and routine worming program along with good pasture management goes a long way toward reducing the problem and maintaining good herd health.
Please note goats/llamas living in different parts of the country need to be treated for different parasites. The information I’m sharing with you is basically for goats & llamas living in the east Tennessee area. Some folks prefer to have fecal analysis done a few times a year and treat for a specific parasite. I’ve been successful with my method and I see no need to change it. Like the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
GOATS
I just finished a year’s cycle of Safe-Guard (.6 cc per 25 lbs, orally). I love this product, it’s easy to use & I believe it is effective. However, I’ve been using it for about 15 months (once every season, at least), and it is now time to switch to another product.
I switched to Noromectin which is a generic for Ivermectin (therefore cheaper to buy). The dosage is also simple – the complicated part is weighing your goats! I normally use a “goat tape” but it had been a while since I’d actually weighed my girls. This time I brought my bathroom scale to the barn, protected it with a Walmart bag and weighed myself with each goat. It was easy with the < 50lbs ones but I nearly took my back out with the >50 lbs! Thankfully my scale goes high enough!
Again use a syringe & leave the needle part in the bottle after every “draw”. If you’re not using a stanchion, straddle your goat between your knees with just her head sticking out. Slightly pull her head back, lift her upper lip on the side of the mouth, insert the syringe as far back as you can and “squirt”! Keep her head up until she swallows. Less than half a minute per goat!
Ivermectin dosage: 50 lbs or less – 1 cc, 51 lbs to 100 – 2 cc, 101 lbs & up, 2.5 cc : A little more is better than not enough but don’t over do it too much!
LLAMAS 
Again this depends on your geographical location but here’s what I use.
Safeguard (number 1 choice)
This wormer is safe and effective on almost all worms including the Monezia type of tape worm. It is the medication of choice for treating a confirmed case of meningeal worm. The dosage for routine worming in llamas is 2cc per 20 pounds (10cc per 100 pounds). I use the one sold for horses & triple the dose. Example, if your llama is 150 lbs, set the dial on the syringe for 450 lbs.
Ivermectin or a generic
Ivermectin is effective for most worms including preventing meningeal but not for tape worms. The recommended dosage for injection in llamas is 1cc per 66 pounds which is one and a half times the cattle dose. Note that administered subcutaneously, effects last longer then if administered orally.
Dectomax is a newer medication that is similar to Ivomectin. However, it is less painful for the llama as an injection and lasts a full 45 days. This is the injection of choice for the prevention of meningeal worm. Dectomax is not effective for tape worms. The recommended dosage for i
njection in llamas is 1cc per 66 pounds which is one and a half times the cattle dose (same as Ivermectin).
Valbazen is a very effective broad scope oral llama wormer including tape worms. This and Synanthic are the only two medications proven effective for tape worms in llamas. A word of caution however, we have learned from experience not to use it with bred females in the first 3 months or last 3 months of pregnancy. The oral dosage is the labeled cattle dose which is 4cc per 100 pounds.
This is another broad scope oral wormer that is one of the two along with Valbazen that is effective for tape worms in llamas. We have found this wormer to be very effective in difficult llama worm cases. Synanthic is also not recommended for use the last 3 months of pregnancy. The dosage is the labeled cattle dose which is 2.5cc per 110 pounds.
WORMING YOUR PIGS
This is an easy one.. the hard part is to figure out how much the little ham weighs! Use Ivermectin or Safe-Guard Paste for Horses, double the dose (if pig weighs 100 lbs, use 200 lbs marker on syringe), inject in a Twinkie or some other tasty cake, toss to piggy & BINGO! Job is done for 6 months! Here also it is better to over dose than under dose.
So, that’s how parasites are handled here at my farm!