I've only been a dog owner for 5 years, but I've looked back in all of my 'so you think you want a dog' level of books, and even my 'so you really think you want a dog' and ' so you've got a dog, here's what they didn't tell you' type of books.... and I've been a lurker on several dog forums for the whole time... and only in the past month have I heard anything about Lungworm!  Have I missed some vital part of responsible dog ownership knowledge??

I find it particularly worrying as my first pooch was a real fan of the more French-stylee cuisine, and would eat a snail at every given opportunity.  My only concern with this (besides the gross factor) was slug pellets.  Now I'm worried I've been terribly neglectful and not treated my boy for lungworm (although he grew out of this habit 4 years ago...)

So, with a new pupster, who judging by today's antics of eating a live, wriggling earthworm may well go down the same slimey cuisine road as my oldest dog, I thought I'd just find out a bit more.  And where else would I look :-) 

I noticed that there isn't a post on here before the end of 2008 about lungworm.  The cynic in me wonders if this may be  a vet's way of ensuring people buy wormers from them, as I can't help but notice that this campaign has coincided with proper wormers now being so readily available elsewhere. 

So anyone's thoughts/experiences/comments would be very much appreciated :-D

Clare

Hi Claire I have no experience but did look on the website that is advertised on the posters in the vets and it didn't actually have much info on it.

Lungworm has only become a problem in the UK in recent years - at one time it was only found in certain areas, down South mostly, but recently there have been cases as far as Scotland - my own dog was treated for it last year, and we are in North Wales - he eats snails and slugs - so I was suspicious when he started coughing (and it wasn't kennel cough).  When I spoke to someone at Bristol Uni, he said they are currently working on developing a blood test, which will make it a lot easier to diagnose. 
If your dog is all right, I wouldn't worry about feeling guilty that you haven't treated him for lungworm - you would know if he had it, he would have symptoms, the first is usually a cough, and he would become ill quite quickly. 

Hi

Went to the vets today for my pups 2nd vaccs and i asked the about lungworm because it was on the vets tv, just concerned as it says that normal wormers dont kill it. Apparantly it lives in the pulmonary artery of the heart but is classed as a lungworm (pulmonary going to the lungs). The advocate stuff reduces the numbers of these worms and so does milbemax but not all wormers, panacur and drontal were not listed. My pup eats everything atm and i noticed shed got a snail the other day but i managed to get it off her.

The signs are rasping, hard to breath and a cough. I imagine similar to KC. I wondered if i could buy it from viovet.com or whether id have to fork out for the different wormer at the vets. She did say its probably more common than we think and unless thier are symptoms dont worry about it too much.

We will have proper heartworm over here soon i imagine

Louise

I posted the end of last year about lungworm not having really read about it before.  My dog had a funny little cough that didn't clear up for weeks and weeks - treated it as kennel cough to begin with.  After treating for lungworm it went - although this could have been coincidence.   I frequently had a fox visiting the garden - my dog drinks from water everywhere outside and eats grass.  I did read the notice on the wall at the vets but I was busy searching on the internet about coughs too - I was getting very frustrated at having to keep my dog away from other dogs - it seemed endless - especially as she had had kennel cough just 3 months earlier.  I don't believe it is a campaign by vets to get us to buy more products.  I asked my vet for treatment.

Panacur liquid will treat it, and I buy it online - the dosage is a bit different than for normal - if treating for lungworm, it is a once a day, for 7 days, treatment.  It tells you on the bottle how to work out the dosage according to your dog's weight.

Thanks for all the info.  I worm my lot with Milbemax anyway, so perhaps they are safe.  I'll ask the vet today when Mr. Pupster has his second jab.  It sounds pretty nasty though, and the thought of us getting heartworm over here is very scary indeed... I spent too much time in my uni days watchin 'Animal Cops', so have seen some real horror stories about heartworm :-(