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Does my puppy need calcium supplements or a Drontal dewormer?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Golden Retriever | Female | unspayed | 1 month and 18 days old

My pet is 49 days old..eats puppy food(pedigree),cerelac,rice soaked in milk. I m giving proviboost (multivitamin suspension. My question is whether I need to give her a calcium supplement (provical pet available in India) along with this?? And I am deworming her with nemocid(pyrantel pamoate) 250mg/5ml at the interval of 2 weeks...Do I need to try any other deworming suspension like Drontal plus?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on December 15th, 2016

I would caution against giving too many supplements. The calcium supplement is definitely not needed. Research has shown that over-supplementation of calcium in puppies leads to bone abnormalities. The multi-vitamin also may not be needed. In fact, if your puppy is placed on a higher quality dog food (besides the Pedigree), you won't need any supplements at all. I would highly suggest slowly transitioning Roonie to high quality food such as: Royal Canin, Wellness, Merrick, Hill's Science diet, etc. The dewormer you selected is the standard one that we start every puppy on, so you are on the right track there because it covers roundworms and hookworms. The Drontal plus covers a few more worms: whipworms and tapeworms. So it is warranted to give if you have suspicions or proof that Roonie is infected with these worms. You will see tapeworms if they were present, because they are visible with the naked eye and look like tiny fried rice when dried. You won't see whipworms, but the stool would be a little soft if present. Although, it won't hurt if you just wanted to give it to make sure you cover most parasites that Roonie could be infected with. However we always encourage you to just get Roonie's fecal tested by your vet so that you know for sure what, if any, parasites are present.

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    Answered By Jacqueline Nobles, DVM, DACVECC

    Veterinarian, Board-Certified Emergency/Critical Care Specialist

    Published on

    If eating puppy chow, a calcium supplement is not needed. Pyrantel is fine for roundworms and hookworms but will not eliminate whipworms or tapeworms. So if your pet has been diagnosed with whipworms or tapeworms, drontal plus would be indicated.

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