Efficacy of Emodepside plus Praziquantel Topical Solution against Immature Stages of Nematodes (Ancylostoma sp. and Toxocara sp.) in Cats

To evaluate the efficacy of emodepside against immature stages (L4) of Ancylostoma sp. 18 healthy kittens less than six months of agewere orally infected with approximately 300 infective Ancylostoma sp. larvae each, over two successive days. On day 7 after the first infection, ten kittens were dermally treated with emodepside 1.98 % w/w plus praziquantel 7.94% w/w at a dose rate of 3.2 mg/kg emodepside and 12.9 mg/kg praziquantel. The kittens were necropsied at the end of the prepatent period (21 days), and the intestines examined for Ancylostoma sp. The efficacy was calculated by using the average Ancylostoma sp. counts against the average of the untreated controls. Untreated kittens had an average count of 254 worms. Treatment on day 7 after the first infestation was 99.65% effective against immature stages (L4) of Ancylostoma sp. In a second experiment to test the efficacy of emodepside against immature stages (L3) of Toxocara sp. 18 healthy kittens less than six months of age were orally infected with approximately 100 infective Toxocara sp. eggs. On day 7 post infection, ten kittens were dermally treated with emodepside 1.98% w/v + praziquantel 7.94% w/v at a dose rate of 3.2 mg/kg emodepside and 12.9 mg/kg praziquantel. The kittens were necropsied at the end of the prepatent period (42 days) and the intestines examined for Toxocara sp. Efficacy was calculated by using the average Toxocara sp. counts against the average of the untreated controls. Untreated kittens had an average count of 37 worms. Treatment on day 7 after infection was 100% effective against immature stages (L3) of Toxocara sp.