Efficacy of two anthelmintic treatments, spinosad/milbemycin oxime and ivermectin/praziquantel in dogs with natural Toxocara spp. infection

•The treatment with spinosad/milbemycin oxime had a higher reduction in Toxocara spp. positive dogs.•Spinosad and milbemycin oxime are safe and have effective control for the treatment of Toxocara spp. infection.•This study showed treatment of female pups with ivermectin/praziquantel was significantly less effective than treatment with milbemycin/spinosad at 14days post-treatment. Toxocara canis is one of the most important zoonotic parasites of dogs. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of spinosad/milbemycin oxime and ivermectin/praziquantel in dogs naturally infected with Toxocara spp. We studied 200 dogs with a positive diagnosis of Toxocara spp. Through coproparasitoscopic analysis, two study groups of 100 dogs each were assigned: spinosad/milbemycin oxime at a dose of 30–60mg/kg and 0.75–1.0mg/kg, respectively, or ivermectin/praziquantel administered at a dose of 0.2mg/kg and 5mg/kg, respectively. Both groups received a single dose. Three stool samples, one at day 0 before treatment, and at 14 and 28days post-treatment were examined using concentration-flotation techniques. In both treatments, the number of Toxocara spp. eggs decreased; with spinosad/milbemycin oxime treatment, eggs decreased by 87% at 14days (P=0.008) and 94% at 28days after treatment, compared with 71% at day 14 and 88% at day 28 in dogs medicated with ivermectin/praziquantel. The spinosad/milbemycin oxime treated group showed a greater decrease in the number of Toxocara spp. positive dogs compared to the group receiving ivermectin/praziquantel.