OTC worm meds

Question
Hi Dawn--
This is a short story of my little predicament.  When we got this dog, Bobbie, from a humane society, they claimed on paper that she had been treated for worms; however, about 10 days later, we noticed that her poop started showing little rice-shaped yellowish worms.  So, that's already either miscommunication or a flat out lie.  Not really knowing what to do, we decided that since she was already under "warranty" for 30 days, we took her back to the Human Society to tell them the worms had come back.  The vet on duty gave us some banana flavored worm medicine. That was supposed to be the end of it.

It wasn't.  Different worms (I believe they were longer and had 2 heads) were noticed.  As early as a couple of days after that banana drink, nothing seems to be going away.  So, we went to Plan B, some very fancy clinic across the street.  After we explained what we had done, regarding the worm situation, somehow they recognized that the banana drink was the wrong medicine for the worms she had.  We brought a sample of her feces and she was diagnosed with having hook/round worms.  The proceeded by giving her an injection -- that I still wonder what it contained; but, that only came after when we told them about the Human Society visit of which they said the wrong medicine was given for the wrong worms.

After a routine check of her poop this morning, I noticed that some might be present again.

I was wondering if the OTC worm medicines that are available for dogs are of any benefit?  If so, can you recommend one that will take care of hook/round worms, or do I have to keep spending millions to get the job done correctly?

p.s.  I noticed the antibiotics that she was given are also available over the net for 20% of the price that we paid.  Do you have any comments about getting them directly from those providers since I know the exact name and dosage needed?  Thank you.

Best Regards & Happy Holidays!!!
Rene

Answer
Hi Rene,  The rice shaped worms were probably tapeworms which come from fleas and are treated by a droncit shot (which is proably what the second clinic gave you).  The Humane Society probably did originally treat her for roundworms, but it would take at least two treatments as the larvae would hatch normally within 14 days, which is why you saw those other worms.  The banana drink was probably an aid in killing tapeworms, but wouldn't have the full affect the droncit shot would.  If she has worms again in 10 more days, she needs to go back and get treated again as there might be more larvae in her that are hatching.  It normally takes two or three treatments to fully get rid of those types of worms.  You can buy OTC wormers for roundworms that are fairly effective.   Erliworm is a good one.  It is chocolate flavored.   She will pass dead worms for a couple of days after treatment for roundworms.  Tapeworms (the rice ones) should be reabsorbed by the system.

Also, buying the antibiotics OTC is definitely the cheapest route to take.  

Hope this helps,

Dawn