Breeder Health & Supplements

Health products are the part of a breeding programme you buy before you need them. A wormer bought on schedule costs a few dollars, while a litter carrying roundworm costs you weight gain, buyer confidence and a fortnight of catching up. This collection covers the everyday health and first aid side of a breeding household: worming, calcium, gut and joint support, ear and eye care, and the dressings and gloves that make a whelping or an injury manageable rather than frightening.

Worming, the one that cannot slip

Milbemax is the broad spectrum allwormer most Australian breeders recognise, from around $13.99 for dogs under 5kg through to around $31 for the 5 to 25kg band, with cat tablets in the range as well. Troy puppy and kitten worming syrup at around $14.99 goes into a two week old pup far more easily than any tablet. Nexgard Spectra chews combine intestinal worming with flea and tick cover, which matters on the east coast, and Fidos Closasole is there if you prefer an alternative allwormer. Puppies need worming every fortnight from two weeks to twelve weeks, then monthly until six months. Dose by weight rather than by eye, because underdosing is what drives resistance. The full range sits in dog wormers.

Calcium, and when it matters

Calcium drives uterine contractions, which is why it comes up in every whelping conversation and why it is also the most misused product on this page. Calcium syrup starts at around $39.95 for 250ml with a litre bottle available for a busy programme, and seaweed calcium powder at around $35.99 suits a bitch who will not take syrup. Timing and dose are your vet's call rather than ours, because supplementing at the wrong point in a pregnancy can do more harm than leaving it alone. The detail is in calcium for pregnant dogs and calcium for whelping dogs.

Gut, joints and condition

Probiotics earn their place after worming, after a course of antibiotics, and through the upheaval of a move to a new home, where a settled gut is the difference between a good first week and a worried phone call from the buyer. Joint chews and powders are for the older dogs in the house and the heavier breeds that feel it sooner. High calorie supplements such as Troy Nutripet at around $24.99 help a bitch who is losing condition while feeding a large litter, alongside proper pregnant dog nutrition.

Ear, eye and wound care

Ear cleaners and flushes handle the routine maintenance that stops a minor irritation turning into an infection, and drop eared breeds need it more often than most owners expect. For everything else there are gauze swabs, self adhesive bandages, skin closure strips, wound gels, gloves and gowns, plus styptic powder for a nail clipped past the quick. Much of it also sits in dog first aid, and a prepared kit beats assembling one at eleven at night.

A note on advice

Nothing on this page replaces your vet. Labels give you dosing, but your vet knows your dog, your region and your programme, and that is who to ask before starting anything on a pregnant or nursing bitch, or on a pup under twelve weeks.

Restocking the health shelf? Everything here ships Australia wide from an Australian owned business, orders over $99 go free, and every purchase puts something back into breeder education through Responsible Pet Breeders Australia.