What is lungworm? I have seen adverts about it and warnings. But where does it come from? And how do dogs get it? Are all breeds at risk too ?

Janette

http://www.lungworm.co.uk/

This may help give some explanation. ALL dogs can be at risk pedigree or non pedigree..it is not something which only 1 breed can get...

Thank you Lexy. The site is most helpful.

Lungworm is pretty bad where I am - vets recommend advocate for flea & lungworm prevention - I don't know of any other products for lungworm so if anyone knows of alternatives to advocate I would be interested too - since advocate stains my white dogs hair quite badly and it would be nice to find an alternative.

I use Advocate too must admit thou I was unaware of lungworm and it's causes/problems. Has lungworm always been about and only now is it being made aware to the wider public?
Which one breed does it only affect?

All dogs can get it saxonjus. All breeds or xbreeds. Some areas of the country have a worse problem than others. I live in an area where lungworm has recently become common - other parts of the uk have not had a significant outbreak (for want of a better word) - you have to find out if you're in a high-risk area.

Our vets have run an awareness campaign as soon as the problem hit our region. I have to take it seriously as in my area there are frequently slugs and snails and their trails around and I have foxes at the embankment at the back of our garden (cubs came straying into our garden in broad daylight last year) and we also have a badger set just off the bottom of our drive - so there is no way I can take a risk and the only preventative I know of is advocate at the moment which is wormer/flea/tick spot on solution that also covers lungworm.

> Which one breed does it only affect

It can affect ALL dogs irrelevant of their breed, pedigree & non pedigree & yes even crossbreds ;)

> Has lungworm always been about

Yes, cattle can be affected too

The site lungworm.co.uk is owned and made by Bayer.  Who manufacture.... Advocate.  So when they suggest you go to your vet and ask about a 'spot-on' for it - manufacturing as they do, the only one - they are recommending their own product.  This wouldn't be so bad if they didn't try to have the site masquerade as a factual site, unaffiliated to any company - unless you read the small print.

There are 2 alternatives to Advocate.  One is Milbemax, which is also a round and tape wormer and a prescription med as well.  Or there is Panacur - also a round and tape wormer, but non-prescription.  Both are oral meds, no spot-ons.  Panacur is a bit of a pain because you have to give it over many days, but you just add it to the food. 

Study showing that Panacur (fenbendazole) is at least as effective as Advocate (imidaclorid or whatever spot-on):  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17544583

If you live in the US there was also until recently Interceptor - which is an oral monthly heartworm preventative, but works on lungworm as well - since it is the active ingredient against lungworm which is in Milbemax (milbemycine oxime).

> One is Milbemax, which is also a round and tape wormer and a prescription med as well

For anyone reading this that has Collies DO NOT use Milbemax.

Yes, sorry, forgot to mention that bit!

> and we also have a badger set just off the bottom of our drive

Anyone having badgers at this close a proximity, when in a heavily infested Bovine TB area be extra, extra vigilant. 

Dogs can, and do get infected with Bovine TB carried by badgers. 

tinar, you are in such an area.

Cats can die from this as well.

My dog had lung worm when I got her. She was a rescue and we thought she had kennel cough but when I took her to the vets they were not happy and decided to Xray. They found large black areas in her lungs due to the lung worm. She had massive amounts of Panacur ( I think ) followed by Advocate monthly. She is now clear but it took a long time.
Before being rescued she had been living rough so this didn't help, but the lung worm was very advanced so she must have had it for a long time. My vet said that another couple of months and she would have been past curing.

I am always careful with kennel cough symptoms after this scare and always have a cough checked out with the vet ( paranoid)

It is a problem that has been imported to the UK, and when it first started appearing it was often called 'French heartworm'.

Parasites carried by snails as an intermediate host, such as liver fluke have been known in farm livestock.

> tinar, you are in such an area.<br />

I know

The thing is I actually live in a built up area, although on the edge of the town  - however our house is over the bridge (the drive is actually the top of the bridge itself) of what used to be a Victorian railway line and canal. The line and canal have gone and now it is a beautiful path that takes you from my driveway straight into countryside for a nice 3 mile walk - great for dogs. Unfortunately the wildlife build sets up on the sides of the path on embankments and they are now coming up the embankment, to the top of the bridge and building sets etc there which is actually park of the bottom of our drive. Whenever I am out at night and drive home you see badgers and foxes scuttling to get out of the way of the car and diving straight into the bottom of my drive.  Worse still is that I have had several injured foxes and badgers stagger back to my driveway it seems to die :( I have tried to save them and seek help for the ones I've found but so far only two were picked up and taken for treatment before they died.

I have to be massively careful with it all - our back garden we did up last year to have brick wall boundaries to make it harder for any fox or badger to get in the back and I dont let the dogs out in the driveway/front or side garden unless on a leash while on our way for a walk. Still - it is definitely a problem around here. :( :(

On getting out my summer chairs the weekend I was amazed at the amount of snails around, I gave little thought to them. Now I'll be more vigilant and check garden for them.If a snail is eaten by my dog should I watch out for any ill effects? What are the signs for Lungworm?

Copied & pasted this from literature for you:-

What are the symptoms of lungworm?
For the most part after infection, the worm causes progressively worsening signs of cardiac and respiratory disease. This could be seen as things such as a chronic cough, exercise intolerance, difficulty breathing and weight loss. Initially symptoms are only seen at ‘extremes’ of exercise, gradually becoming more obvious as the disease progresses. If you have any concerns about your dog’s health, please speak to your vet.

How is lungworm diagnosed?
An absolute diagnosis of lungworm is often difficult as it relies on finding evidence of worms in either the trachea or faeces of your pet. Perversely, not finding the worms does not mean your dog is not infected. In general diagnosing lungworm infection is based on the history, compatible clinical signs and response to treatment.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and info. I would never have thought a little thing like a snail or slug could cause such a devastating condition.