Deworming = worming.

Tralfaz got himself another routine worming, or deworming---apparently this is like one of those inflammable/flammable things where people think the word (worming) means the opposite of what it means (getting rid of worms), so they use or remove a prefix that makes it the opposite (de-) and wind up with two opposed words that mean the same thing. Whatever it is, Tralfaz got it, in spades.

As I say, it was routine, meaning we had no symptoms of actual worms in him before treatment or after. But the possibility of those revolting parasitic worms attacking our sweet giant fuzzball is more than I can tolerate.

However, there seem to be side effects.

Three doses of Panacur over three days have left all of us wiped out. The stuff seems to act on him like a triple espresso with a Red Bull chaser in a time-release capsule. He's hardly slept. I've dragged him all over the neighborhood and worn out the backyard trying to tire him. And he will crash, for five minutes, then POP! back at it. If no one's around to play, it's Whine Country.

I'm sure Panacur is great at killing the little worm bastards that can destroy an animal, so this is a small price to pay. It's actually used for cows and pigs and horses and turkeys too, and for all I know everything else that came with your Fisher-Price Little People Fun Sounds Farm Set. Nothing I've seen says it makes the animals freak out---not sure you could tell with the turkeys anyway---but it sure seems to get to this guy. So did the other wormer we tried, Drontal Plus, which also had the fun bonus of diarrhea. Maybe it's just him.

Hey! What about the dog?

Just to give you an idea: Between that last paragraph and this one I was dragged to the floor and had to wrestle my way back to the laptop. Ten minutes gone. This dog is ka-RAZY right now.

The name of the drug seems to come from pan, meaning all (as in pandemic) and cur, for cure---not for what it turns your dog into. It also sounds like panicker, which may be a little unfair---Tralfaz is unmanageable, ungovernable, and loopy, but he's not running around scared.

The vet thinks we're nuts when we tell her about this. I guess the prescribing information does not say anything about such adverse effects. There's some reassurance from the Internet. We go online and see other dog owners share the same experience. But the Internet being what it is, if I said a wormer turned my dog green for three days and made him poop cotton candy, someone would say "Yeah, mine too!"

Anyway, we're all wiped out now, and thank God he's old enough to not need another treatment for at least six months. Wake me in February, okay?