I haven't worried about lungworm prevention up here in Scotland till quite recently, it has been moving up the country and I knew the time would come when I had to start preventative treatment for it, that time is now. A neighbours dog had lungworm so I treated all the family dogs, my 3 and my nieces 2, as if they had it too to be on the safe side, so they had a week of panacur and now I'm giving a milbemax monthly.

I'm okay with the 5 milbemax tablets a month but usually there is a more cost effective way than buying from the vets so I've been googling

Had anyone used ivermectin as a lungworm preventative? Or even a regular wormer for their dogs? All our dogs are MDR1 clear by dna so I'm not worried about that side of it. It seems a very low dose of ivermection would do the same job as the milbemax, anyone any experience?

I feel your pain.  Vet tried to charge me nearly £28 for 2 doses for my whippet in the summer.  (milbemax)   I managed to get a different vet to charge £24 for 3 doses which although I still think way over odds was better.
I think I will be buying it abroad when visiting family in future. Looks like its a lot cheaper on mainland Europe websites and they aren't asking for a prescription.

I'd forgotten about this one ... although we have tons of snails in the garden here.

I'll have to ask my local vet about local cases.

I thought this link might be of interest re foxes spreading this.....

https://uk.mypetandi.com/parasites/lungworm/does-lungworm-foxes-pose-risk-your-dog/

I don't believe you can ptevent it as duch, the available chemicals will yrest what may be there to help avoid levels of infection that will cause illness.

The main vector is the snail.

I wonder if using the nematodes that kill snails and slugs might help, reduce their numbers, and help reduce the infection risk?.

Agree Barbara that's what I have always understood. U can't prevent only treat if present .by using chemicals every month .the theory is u would.get it early .
Makes sense getting rid of slugs and snails.would help at least in your own garden
Vets often do snap.test before surgery as if present there could.be serious bleeding

I would just test your dogs using a faecal lungworm test rather than give them those meds every month - look at Wormcount.

If you want to be extra sure, then give them the wormer every 3-4 months and do Wormcount in between...

There is no way to 'prevent' it, we just have to treat if it happens - or check poop, although sometimes the poop test misses things which is why I think worming every 3-4 months is a good idea too.

> I would just test your dogs using a faecal lungworm test

Not only is it expensive, £100 a month instead of £25 for the wormers for the 5 dogs it's not as reliable as worming, there may not be any lungworm present in the sample but they could still be infected, or they could get infected the next day.

> then give them the wormer every 3-4 months

That wouldn't work for lungworm, my vet explained that milbemax only kills one stage of lungworm, I think it was the immature ones, so must be given every 4 weeks to prevent them breeding. Panacur is the treatment for them if they actually are infected, but it has to be given daily for 7 days. I'd rather give them one milbemax a month and prevent adult lungworm/damage than let them breed and treat with panacur for 7 days every 3 or 4 months, with whatever damage the worms have done inbetween.

The problem with lungworm as opposed to round worm or tapeworm is that they can do irreparable damage to internal organs before you know your dog is infected, my neighbours westie has significant damage to her heart from the lungworm.

My dogs often drink out of puddles in fields, they eat grass and they're all mad about eating sticky willy plants (galium aparine) wherever they find them on walks so simply treating slugs and snails in my own garden wouldn't solve the problem either.

So back to my original question, and I'm guessing the answer is no Has anyone used ivermectin for lungworm prevention?

> I think I will be buying it abroad when visiting family in future.

Ooh good tip, I've just ordered froma  dutch site, no prescription, around £4 a pill

Interesting! Do you have a link to the site?

I thought this was a useful para in a lungworm article.

Risk-based approach
Regular worming has been an issue of much debate. It is reasonable to use preventative measures including anthelmintics against A. vasorum, particularly in endemic areas. Available evidence indicates, that monthly administration of combination products containing a macrocyclic lactone is effective in the prevention of A. vasorum infection (Willesen et al, 2007; Schnyder et al, 2009; Lebon et al, 2016). However, before prescribing any preventive anthelmintic therapy, a full risk assessment should be performed. It is important to tailor treatment strategies to the prevailing lifestyle, ecological and epidemiological conditions that put the dog at risk of infection. This includes considering the dog's lifestyle (indoor vs. outdoor; hunting vs. non-hunting), travel history (especially to known endemic areas), chance of interaction with wild canids, and frequency of encounters with potentially infected dogs from the same region.

>Not only is it expensive, £100 a month instead of £25 for the wormers for the 5 dogs it's not as reliable as worming, there may not be any lungworm present in the sample but they could still be infected, or they could get infected the next day.

You do realise that your dog could get infected the day after you worm them, right?

You can't avoid infection. Your dog WILL get infected with lungworm if you live in a lungworm hotspot and they ingest the eggs or larvae. There is no preventative, test or medication which will prevent your dog getting infected. Whatever medication you use, ONE DAY after using it, your dog could get reinfected.

The correct approach is to routinely check or worm your dog at a point before any worms grow to cause health problems. Frankly, I don't think a worm is going to go from being ingested as a tiny larvae to being a lung-blockage stopping risk to life in even 2 months - but you can check that because the info will be out there.

I prefer to check or worm regularly to nuke anything the dog has picked up. (Just like roundworms, tapeworms etc - worming medications kill what the dog has picked up, they don't prevent the dog picking it up again the next day...).

Yes, it is more expensive to test instead of worm but personally I wouldn't test every month either, I would probably treat or test every 2-3 months

>That wouldn't work for lungworm, my vet explained that milbemax only kills one stage of lungworm, I think it was the immature ones, so must be given every 4 weeks to prevent them breeding.

I don't use milbemax, I use Panacur when I worm. It is effective whatever stage of development the worms are at, it's non-prescription and it actually has cancer-preventative properties and is currently in research as an anti-cancer medication. Pregnant bitches are given it every day from day 42 of pregnancy and it's no prob to give a bit of it every day with food.

>but it has to be given daily for 7 days. I'd rather give them one milbemax a month and prevent adult lungworm/damage than let them breed and treat with panacur for 7 days every 3 or 4 months, with whatever damage the worms have done inbetween.

I think you're overestimating the timespan that it takes for an ingested worm larvae to develop into large adult worms and cause incredible damage to internal organs.

But - that's just my take on it. There are many things it's not possible to completely eliminate all risk of, with dogs, we just need to take sensible precautions to reduce risk IMO.

I do the 7 day Panacur course every Spring and Autumn for my two. There is no way of avoiding snail trails and slug excrement on the herbage that they nibble, so the possibility of lungworm infection must always be there.
In response to 1234.
Co-incidentally, although she is exceptionally fit for her 11 years, and at present the only symptom is a small lump on her lip, my girl has been diagnosed with a rather nasty T-cell lymphoma, and staging shows it is present throughout her lymphatic system. The vets are not able to offer any treatment other than the palliative use of steroids and AB's, and have advised us not to have any flesh-saving operations as her cancer progresses. I have been told that we have nothing to lose by experimenting with alternative treatments and, after doing a lot of reading, I have decided to try to slow the progress by using fenbendazole. She is having a low dose of Panacur suspension mixed with her breakfast yoghurt. As FenBen is supposed to work better in the presence of oil, we are also giving her organic safflower oil, which also seems to have performed well in the only published trial that I have come across.
Most of the evidence comes from the USA, where human cancer patients have also been attracted to using Panacur to attempt remission. I would love to know if anyone on here has any experience of using Panacur to treat cancer, and if so, how effective it was. PM's welcome.

Carol yes, there's lots of info online about it for both dogs and humans and a lot of research ongoing with some mixed results.

Interestingly, dogs which have been wormed and treated for ticks regularly in their lives appear to have a reduced cancer rate, research shows. This is totally counter the whole idea of tick meds causing cancer or being carcinogenic.

There are a few possible causes - it could be just that owners who are so proactive with health care as to use tick and worming meds also go to the vet more often if they notice something and generally seek out better healthcare for their dogs in all other ways.

Or it could be that parasites affect the immune system, making cancers more likely to develop - there's a sign of this with tick borne disease already - and dogs treated are less likely to get the parasites and so the cancers.

Or it could be that there are some anti-cancer effects in some of these medications (like fenbendazole). Either way, it's a more complicated picture than meds = bad and natural = good.

> You do realise that your dog could get infected the day after you worm them, right?<br />

Yes, that's why I'm worming monthly, so if they eat infected foliage at any stage it will never get the chance to progress.

It's also easier with my very picky, not really food orientated, hounds to shove a pill down their throat once a month than to attempt to squirt panacur down their throats for 7 consecutive days ever 3 or 4 months. I appreciate that the latter may be easy with most dogs but mine inspect everything before they eat it they noticed and refused when I tried to hide the panacur in yoghurt, sardines in oil, steak and gravy, anything, it had to be squirted down their throats. 1st day was easy but it got increasingly harder and messier every day

Carole this was discussed in our silken group recently, where most members are American. A couple of people and several dogs have been taking panacur for cancer. Just 3 days a week seems to be the consensus. Not sure why the gap is important.

> I don't use milbemax, I use Panacur when I worm. It is effective whatever stage of development the worms are at

If you want to eradicate lungworm with panacur you need to give a half dose daily for seven days, not just the usual one off.

> Interesting! Do you have a link to the site?

Here you are :)

Yes, I know the Panacur has to be given for 7 days. I guess as I've given it for far longer with pregnant dogs, that's not a prob for me.

I don't have to deal with fussy eaters who refuse to eat it though, that might be harder!

One good thing about GR’s eating everything and anything, they are so easy to give medication to. If the pill is spat out all I've got say is ‘I’ll have it’ and it promptly vanishes.

> One good thing about GR’s eating everything and anything, they are so easy to give medication to. If the pill is spat out all I've got say is ‘I’ll have it’ and it promptly vanishes.

I'm so envious More and more pills are marketed as palatable now and are therefore bigger, everything has to be chopped up and shoved down my dogs throat, they refuse to eat anything that is remotely medicine like. Bravecto, worming pills, yumove tablets, even metacam, I can't hide anything from them. They inspect every meal and gingerly pick bits out to be nosed around before eating, whether raw, cooked meat, cheese or kibble, even liver cake!

Sorry Chaumsong but your comment about them inspecting & picking things out made me laugh as mine are the same especially when trying to worm them.

@Chaumsong and 1234.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. This is the first week so I am pre-loading for 7 days, after that it will be the 3 days on and 4 off. I think the safflower oil will be daily though. I have read several studies and it certainly seems worth a try. If you do hear of any one with personal experience of doing FenBen, I would love to hear their experience.
I am still struggling to understand how such a tiny rubbery mark could be the only indicator of such a serious condition. My girl is so fit and looks so well.

Thank you!

Carole, you should also check out the ketogenic diet - for dogs with cancer. There are groups on FB for people using it with dogs. Google the KetoPet Sanctuary and follow their guidelines.

Dr Becker also has a DVD series called the Dog Cancer Series which I think you can purchase (or used to be able to).

Thank you 1234, I will check out those. We are in the Facebook Dog Cancer group, and the Fenbendazole group. She has supplements - Salmon oil, milk thistle, boswellia, YuMove, VetVits Senior multivitamin and VetVits probiotic. She gets turmeric and black pepper in a multi veg stew.

I have just ordered a pack of 10 milbemax for my whippet from abroad as just struck me might not be able to go abroad for a while & Brexit may well cause issues with delivered shortly so best stock up.  I had been going to leave it till spring as got a few but not worth taking chance.

> I have just ordered a pack of 10 milbemax

They're a good price aren't they. I ordered 10 of the 4 packs as they work out slightly cheaper per pill than 4 of the packs of 10 Before I completed the order I asked my vet for a price for a similar number, my vets are doing a buy 3 get one free offer so actually worked out a similar price but before they could dispense them they would need to see 4 of the 5 dogs for a health check as they haven't been to the vets in over a year. The 5th had a video consult during 1st lockdown. By the time I paid for the consultations the dutch pills with postage are a lot cheaper.

excellent price. I have to admit to being a little lax about worming previous adult dogs and never having an issue but this lungworm is a nasty thing .  I spoke to a PDSA vet a while ago and they were convincing its an issue round here-Birmingham - I don't use pdsa but it was an interesting conversation as I feel they have less of a motive to push pills then the private vets I do use. Made a believer of me at any rate so pills it is.    My own vet is keener on prescribing all in one flea & worm spot on but I think the milbemax is the gentler of the options and being as my dog does not have fleas/ticks etc I was not convinced by spot on. If we lived in a tick area then would be but not here.

>My own vet is keener on prescribing all in one flea & worm spot on but I think the milbemax is the gentler of the options and being as my dog does not have fleas/ticks etc I was not convinced by spot on. If we lived in a tick area then would be but not here.

Advocate (the all in one wormer and flea treatment which is effective against lungworm) does not treat ticks. So it's even more bonkers. Really it treats obscure things your dog isn't going to get very often, lungworm and fleas.

Advocate treats both types of Mange.

Most dogs don't need monthly treating for both types of mange!

No I wasn't suggesting it only pointing out it treated more than obscure issues.

A friends dog had to use it monthly for Demodex as her immune system had collapsed, and she also had Pacreatitis and Under.Active Thyroid.

Due to the demodex/thyroid issue she was virtually bald, and the Advocate helped ease symptoms.

Yes totally, I think it has its uses. I've ordered some to use on our pup with pink feet/allergy symptoms incase fleas or mites are a factor there, but we're going to the vet tomorrow about it anyway so will see what they say.

> anyone on here has any experience of using Panacur to treat cancer

Carole I've messaged you a link to a public post on my friends facebook, an update on their dog who is being treated with panacur for cancer, you might want to follow her or add her as a friend.

Have replied by PM. Thank you so much. I will let her know that I am reading her posts.