Question:  Safeguard, Panacur, Fenbendazole dosing

We have a 300 lb. male llama that we are treating according to your August, 2003 protocol but would like verification of the Safeguard/Panacur dose. This should be simple but we are pulling our hair out trying to verify the correct dosage.

Can you please tell us how many tubes or what portion of a tube of Safeguard (equine paste/25 gram paste 10%) (100 mg/g) is the correct amount per day to treat in order to deliver your recommended 50 mg/kg dose?

We are also considering using Safeguard cattle pellets but there we are at a complete loss regarding correct dosage. In either case we are talking about many times more than the usual horse or cattle dose but we really don't trust our calculations.

Answer:

We use 50 mg/kg to treat meningeal worm. This is 10 times the horse dose. So - the weight rings on the panacur paste means that the 1000 lbs mark will treat a 100 lbs alpaca/llama. If you have a 300 lb llama, that means the 3000 lb horse dose. That is the easiest way to do it!

We also do a whole host of anti-inflammatory and supportive care. Are you working with a vet on this one? You want to be sure you have the correct diagnosis.

David E Anderson, DVM, MS, DACVS