30/03/2024
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Super post by Dr Jacqueline Boyd, Animal Scientist and Canine Consultant!
Hairy treats are not an effective substitute for regular (de)worming routines - please read the below post and consider the effectiveness of own regime 🪱
🐰🐰🐰🐰Has the Easter Bunny visited you yet this weekend?🐰🐰🐰
While on the bunny theme, it's a good time to revisit the oft cited myth that rabbit ears are effective (de)wormers......
TLDR; they aren't 🫣
🐇👂'Ear, 'ear 👂🐇
Can I whisper something to you? 🤫
*hairy ears (or other hairy body parts of animals) are not effective de-wormers for your dog* 🙈
I see this being advertised and advised a lot and it worries me as parasitic worms are capable of causing significant health and welfare issues if not appropriately managed - and feeding hairy ears are not appropriate management methods! 🐰
If furry things were effective dewormers, wild and free-living scavengers and carnivores would not have the parasite burdens we know they can have 🦊🦝🦡🦅
What these chews are however, are tasty (for some dogs) additions to our dogs' daily diet and can provide enrichment and a source of animal-derived fibre that may support gut health. Their effectiveness at 'trapping' worms and microscopic worm eggs in the gut....no robust evidence at all 🪱🔬
(And honestly.... just because you never see worms or eggs, that doesn't mean they aren't there!)🫣
If you want to control parasites;
🪱poo pick regularly and keep housing areas clean - many parasites are transmitted in 💩
🪱ensure good overall health for your dog through diet, exercise, management and care
🪱use a service to know what is ACTUALLY going on
🪱treat based on need and seek veterinary advice on local issues relating to management, parasite species concerns and possible resistance problems - these differ based on geographical location, climate, vector species and a whole host of other variables!
Keep hairy ears as tasty treats (but also source carefully....remember these are by-products of animal production systems and not all are as high welfare as we might like to think 🐰)
And if you want to learn about dietary animal-derived fibre, have a look at
Depauw S, Hesta M, Whitehouse-Tedd K, Vanhaecke L, Verbrugghe A, Janssens GP. Animal fibre: the forgotten nutrient in strict carnivores? First insights in the cheetah. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2013 Feb;97(1):146-54. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2011.01252.x. Epub 2011 Nov 10. PMID: 22074361. 🐆