# Feeding Your Dog Pennies For Worms???



## Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull (Feb 6, 2008)

So this guy told me the other day that to get rid of worms, you should feed your dog a penny every month. This sounded like the dumbest thing I have ever heard. He is not exactly the smartest guy I know, and makes lots of stupid comments that I know are false. He said that something in the copper will cause the worms to release themselves or something like that. Has any body heard of this? Is this some old school method of worming dogs? It sounds ridiculous, but I have been wrong before. Thanks for the replies.


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## Quincy (Feb 25, 2007)

The copper penny and worms sounds to me like something from "Urban Legends", then I thought there maybe some potential risk of bowel blockage particularly so in small dogs.
.


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## 3212 (Feb 4, 2007)

I can certainly ask the vet at work, but I am quite sure this sounds like a myth to me. 

It seems like all those pennies in the stomach could cause either a blockage or other intestinal/GI problem.

It's actually so strange what people come up with...if you think the pennies are bad listen to this. I worked with a girl (who I thank didn't last long at the vet clinic because she had some outrageous ideas and didn't treat her own pets very well) that gave her dog a broken up cigarette on their food so that the dog wouldn't get worms from eating chocolate. 

Yes that was word for word what she told us. I don't know which is crazier, thinking chocolate gives dogs worms, or thinking a cigarette would stop this from happening. We got quite a few laughs out of that one at work.


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

I'm putting my money on Urban Legend
There are plenty of "home remedies" for worms,
Pennies, Cigarettes and Gun powder are the 3 most common ones I hear!
I mean, who would feed any of those 3 to their pets???
I actually know a gurl who also feeds a broken up cigarette to her dog monthly and swears by it... 
I have never done any worm prevention on my dogs and they dont have worms either, I'm guessing shes just lucky like me and it has nothing to do with the ciggie.


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## ChrissyBz (Aug 10, 2007)

I know gun powder works for leishmanaiasis but I've never heard of for worms. Doesn't sound like something I'd like to try.


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## kims_ark (Feb 29, 2008)

After almsot losing a dog to a blockage I personally wouldn't recommend it.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Old pennies can give a dog zinc poisoning.


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## Dana1384 (Aug 13, 2007)

I found this website http://www.lacetoleather.com/fataltodogs.html and at the bottom it has a thing about pennies, but nothing about new pennies  

I think it is probably just a myth also.


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## Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull (Feb 6, 2008)

Yeah it sounded pretty dumb to me too. The guy was saying that the penny would pass right through, but who knows. Why take the risk. I figure I'll just spend the $5 and get medicine that I know will work.


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## Lorina (Jul 1, 2006)

This sounds right up there with other "remedies" like dousing your dog with gasoline to kill fleas. Sure, it kills the fleas... and your dog, too!


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

And I thought the Human race was a progressive race. LOL Some folks are stuck in the past. The very far back past in some cases. LOL


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

> The guy was saying that the penny would pass right through, but who knows.


Tell that guy to eat a few pennies himself and see what it feels like to pass one.


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

If so I guess it could be incentive to actually stoop and scoop though... ya know when the money is tight...


*sorry making light of a crappy situation here*


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## Dana1384 (Aug 13, 2007)

I was watching one of those EV show and they had a dog on there that ate about 10 dollars worth of change. The dog survived, but I think they said it was going to have medical problems the rest of its life because the owner thought it would all pass, and waited to long to bring the dog to the vet. 

Wimble it would be good incentive to scoop


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## RenaRose (Mar 22, 2007)

This is completely off topic but a friend of my moms who works on a ranch threw out this pillow that was full of plastic pellets. A few hours later she went outside and saw a group of chickens laying around the garbage. She went over and started trying to stand them back up, but they were so full of plastic pellets they just fell back over. They chickens were able to pass the pellets. That story always makes me laugh. Bean bag chickens.


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## JenTN (Feb 21, 2008)

RenaRose said:


> This is completely off topic but a friend of my moms who works on a ranch threw out this pillow that was full of plastic pellets. A few hours later she went outside and saw a group of chickens laying around the garbage. She went over and started trying to stand them back up, but they were so full of plastic pellets they just fell back over. They chickens were able to pass the pellets. That story always makes me laugh. Bean bag chickens.




I just literally laughed out loud over that. Great mental picture!


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## Rujack (May 17, 2011)

Although now, I would be a bit leary to try it again, many years ago, probably more than 25, we got a puppy destined to be euthanized. A friend who was a breeder was at a coffee house we frequently visited waiting for the next door vet to open to destroy a german shepard puppy because he was the runt of the litter and prone to hip displacia. Not wanting to see the darling puppy killed we took the pup instead and brought him home. Within 2 weeks we could tell he was infested with worms and my husband said his father always used a penny to de-worm their animals and promptly opened the pup's mouth and threw a penny down it's throat. I was a bit skeptical and disbelieving. The next day I went to the enclosed back porch where we kept the pup overnight because he was yet to be housebroken and seen a pile of what I assumed to be spaghetti he had vomited. I wondered if my husband had fed the dog spaghetti and when I approached the pile to clean it up it was squirming!!!! It was a huge pile and I backed away in surprise wondering how that much had fit into that puppy's tummy! The puppy's eyes, which before the penny were clouded over were clear and sparkling and his belly was no longer bloated. So, believe what you want but I seen it with my own eyes! It's NOT a myth. There may be other risks in doing it, possible intestinal blockage and other risks but in this case it cleared the puppy of roundworms within 24 hrs!!! After that though, we always bought a worm pill at the feed store annually to keep him clear of worms. Let me clarify that I'm in no way recommending it but wanted to tell of my experience of it actually working. Our beautiful boy lived to be 16 yrs old and was a wonderful beloved family pet. He blessed our lives and we will always hold his memory dear to our heart.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

RonE said:


> Tell that guy to eat a few pennies himself and see what it feels like to pass one.


Just think how hard it would be for water dogs hitting the water and not sinking immediately, each dog when retrieving ducks would have to have a little doggy submarine with mechanical arms to get job done. Think what building all those submarines would do to help the economy especially in WI. (lots of duck work in WI)

Of course they probably would not be built in US but that's another story.

Almost 50 years in this stuff and this ranks about as high as possible on my personal "stupid heard remarks" and actually one I had not heard before.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Where would we be without all these three year old threads to dredge up?


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## JuneBud (Feb 17, 2010)

Definitely do not do it. Pennies can kill dogs from zinc toxicity. Pennies are around 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper. Copper is toxic too.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

RonE said:


> Where would we be without all these three year old threads to dredge up?


This 3 yr old thread is a doozie for me, any time I come within 2 continents of becoming a "know it all" something like this jumps and kicks me in the butt, especially since I consider myself an expert on stupid stuff (having imbibed frequently) in such actions.


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## Fuzzy Pants (Jul 31, 2010)

I just want to say that one of the things I find most endearing about DF is how old members will chastise new members for starting a thread on something that's already been discussed before instead of posting in an existing thread. Then when a new member does post in an existing thread instead of starting a new one, the same old members come along to chastise them for digging up an old thread. It really is cute and one of the main reasons I come to DF...really it is! :yo:


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

Fuzzy Pants said:


> I just want to say that one of the things I find most endearing about DF is how old members will chastise new members for starting a thread on something that's already been discussed before instead of posting in an existing thread. Then when a new member does post in an existing thread instead of starting a new one, the same old members come along to chastise them for digging up an old thread. It really is cute and one of the main reasons I come to DF...really it is! :yo:


The way I see it is, we get new members every day or so. Talking about topics that have been talked about before but bringing new thoughts on the topic. To me, whether it is an old thread or a new one makes no difference as long as people wish to discuss a topic. Admittedly, it does seem odd how often people dredge up old topics that might have been heated in the first go round. I guess I never dig that deep into things here. Once a thread is a page or two away, it is gone to me as well. ha ha


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