Comparison of febantel tablets and Vercom paste against gastrointestinal nematodes of dogs

Thirty adult dogs with naturally acquired gastrointestinal nematode infections were assigned at random to ten replicates and treated daily for 3 days with either a combination febantel/praziquantel (Vercom) paste, febantel tablets or placebo tablets. Numbers of hookworm and whipworm eggs after treatment were reduced similarly for both drug formulations when compared with pretreatment egg counts, whereas these counts increased in the controls. Vercom paste reduced the hookworm egg count by 99.9% and the whipworm egg count by 99.6%. The febantel tablet decreased the hookworm egg count by 99.9% and the whipworm egg count by 100%. As determined at necropsy, the controlled test efficacy against adult hookworms and whipworms was similar for the Vercom paste and the febantel tablets. The controlled test efficacies of Vercom paste against Ancylostoma caninum, Ancylostoma braziliense, and Trichuris vulpis were, respectively, 99.7%, 100% and 95.8% and those of febantel tablets were 98.2%, 100% and 99.7%. These results indicate that the nematocidal efficacy of febantel against these nematodes remains unchanged in these two formulations. No adverse reactions to either febantel tablets or to Vercom paste were observed.