Garlic: Excellent Deworming Agent

We'll share with you everything we know about garlic and how to use it to win the fight between your pet and parasites.
Garlic: Excellent Deworming Agent

Last update: 21 February, 2018

The immense health benefits of garlic are well known. It can be used to prevent sicknesses as well as treatment for other anomalies. Likewise, this food is also beneficial for our pets, as it’s an excellent deworming agent.

Can we use garlic with our pets?

Some think that garlic is toxic for animals. And this is not a lie. This food has a toxic component that it known as allyl propyl disulfide. Nevertheless, this doesn’t cause damage as long as it is consumed in moderation.

Otherwise, cells in the body could be damaged other anomalies could be triggered. For example: anemia. A study carried out in Zurich, Switzerland set out to determine the appropriate dosage.

So, after various analyses, they arrived at the conclusion. Basically, garlic could become toxic if a pet ate 5 or more grams per kilo of body weight. In other words: normally one clove of garlic weighs between 2 and 3 grams. Therefore a medium sized dog would have to ingest at least 5 cloves per day to be in danger.

Excellent deworming agent

With this in mind, we now know that we can use this vegetable with our pet. But, we must use it in moderation. Let’s see how.

Many people believed that garlic is vermifuge. This means that it is able to work against intestinal parasites. And, this happens because even after being ingested, its huge anti-bacterial properties remain in tact in the stomach.

On top of that, it can filter the blood, has a digestive healing effect and helps the body clean itself. It also strengthens the immune system and serves to prevent even more parasites in the future.

How to use garlic with our pets

While garlic exists in thousands of forms, the most effective one for our pets is fresh. Adding 1 or 2 cloves of garlic each day to our animal’s food will help him win the fight against parasites.

This is recommended to be done for at least a week, and later on, even if there’s no evidence of parasites, repeating the process. What’s recommended is doing this at least once or twice per year to make sure that our animal is parasite-free.

Reviewing the study from Zurich, the dosage should not exceed 4 grams per day, in other words, two cloves per day maximum. This is with a medium sized animal in mind. So if it’s bigger, the dosage could be increased, or if it’s smaller it could be decreased.

However, this is a home remedy that may not be good for every dog nor effective with all parasites. That’s why, as we always say, don’t forget to ask your veterinarian if this treatment is right for your pet.

Other home remedies like deworming agents

cat licking paw

Homemade remedies are chosen by many to be used before medicines and toxic products. These days we want everything to be the most natural possible, and the good thing is that natural things work.

These are some remedies for parasites:

  • Ticks and fleas: mint tea, eucalyptus, apple vinegar and lavender water.
  • Stomach parasites: pumpkins seeds, lemon seeds, wheat germ oil or cod liver oil.

Almost all homemade remedies work most effectively when you give them directly mixed in with the animal’s food. Nevertheless, if your vet has given you approval to use them and your pet doesn’t tolerate them, look into another way of administering it.


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.