hi i just got my puppy from resuce and she 6 months old,i had her for 5 weeks and she been great and healthly eating well,but she had the odd cough and like she trying to get something out of her throat but really not very often 6 or more hrs could pass and she hasnt coughed,anyways took her to the vet and he said it more likey being the area and high fox population to be lung worms then kennel cough,so am treating her a worming gel for the back of the neck once he gets it in on friday , i forget what th ename is but it does the same as strong hold as well and he suggested i could use this every month instead.
Are these gels like stronghold safe and do u use them every month for the rest of the dogs life and is there anywhere cheaper to buy them other then the vets , i looked online seems u need a prescpiption, is there any other treatments any one uses   thks

Hi Tony
Make sure your wormer kills french heartworm, angiostrongylus vasorum. This is what causes our lungworm. The other is dirofilaria millitis. I use milbemax for the lungworm and stronghold for worms/fleas. My vet has offered program for lungworm/fleas but it does not kill a. vasorum. Check out http://www.parkvets.com/patients/disease_info_library/french_heartworm.html and http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=13&t=25895 ( cant do links, sorry might not work:( ) or google lungworm or french heartworm. A. vasorum is found in fox poo, snails,slugs and frogs and their slime, shells, frog spawn etc. You must read up about the wormers and their ingredients - some cant be used for certain breeds/crosses eg. ivermectin based drugs with collie breeds. Vets often only prescribe for d.immitis the wrong one. Look for moxidectin or fendendazole I think it is. Research :) Lungworm can kill!!

Yes, if you live in a lungworm hotspot, you must worm monthly for life.

> The other is dirofilaria millitis.

Whoops, meant dirofilaria immitis!
YAY my link works :)

Panacur contains Fenbendazole and has directions fort treating Lungworm.

Hi Tony could it be Advocate the vet has prescribed for your dog ?

Tony if you get a perscription off your vet, like you do for people you can get it filled wherever you want to! So you can mail it to pet meds and fill the perscription cheaper there.

hi thks for the replys this lung worm really worrys me ,i phoned the vet and am off to pick up the gel advocate today , i had lacey for 5 weeks and she a min pinscher cross from the dogs home ,she 6 months old now and since i had her i seen her sucking on slugs and snails and which i taken off her soon as i could ,i definate got foxs in my area even seen them in the other part of my garden which she hasnt access to, now am sure she might have lung worm,
so if she has will this treatment kill all the worms ,and could there be any lasting damage ,and why did the dogs home only give me stronghold and not advocate when london and surronding area very higly poipulated with foxes ?  in some ways now am hoping she got kennel cough  , this is worring me    thks

Tony, advocate is for dirofilaria immitis and not angiostrongylus vasorum as far as I am aware. You definately need something for a. vasorum. D. immitis is spread through mosquitos not fox, slugs and snails.....

if this is the case way is the vet giving me advocate when stronghold treats this anyway , this is starting to get to me and am off to the vet to pick this up if it does the same whats the point can see a row happening now .

The problem is, this is a relatively new parasite over here, and because its called heartworm disease they associate it with the cause of heartworm disease, d. immitis. Angiostrongylus is FRENCH heartworm causing the disease commonly called lungworm, this is being seen much more frequently now. If you live in a lungworm area, you should worm as a preventative measure predominantly as most lungworm wormers will only stop infestation and not kill infestation already there. Also, it is riskier to kill a heavy worm burden than to prevent it in the first place. My lungworm hotspot is Croydon :)

http://www.emea.europa.eu/vetdocs/PDFs/EPAR/advocate/029703en1.pdf

Just found this Tony - seems Advocate can be used for it, hope you didn't punch the vet on the nose :(

thks  for your reply killickchick but for some reason i cant read this link, have to  get my computer m8 around ,yeah and it does say for treatment of angiostrongylus vasorum so does this mean if she has got them this be the end of it then ? or should i maybe take a poo sample to send off to check after a week or so ?  just found out one of my m8s dog locally died of lung worm not spoken to him personally yet but i will use this treatment evry month from now on .i aslo brought her a little red harness yesterday maybe this ease her throat , anyways thks

http://www.emea.europa.eu/vetdocs/vets/Epar/advocate/advocate.htm
http://www.stmarysvets.co.uk/infoa4.html#lungworm

found this one, may change mine to Advocate too, milbemax only reduces level of infection - have to look into it further

As long as you are on a monthly worming program you will be fine. Did the vet say why she was coughing? and have they given you anything for it?
Good idea with a harness - stopped my pup gagging when he was out walking, but make sure it fits properly and doesn't fit too close under the armpits and rub. See if you can find one that fits further back from the armpits - you might have to try quite a few!!

hi yeah she really isint coughing much at all really ,very just now and then mainily when she was on the lead and excited and pulling, but also other times when she wasnt so i dont reallly know where am at am going to give in a stool sample next week for the sake of 30 quid i rather be safe then sorry,the vet just gave me advocate and he said simialer things as the paper u sent me , hopefully all be ok i let u know.  the advocate was 20 quid from him for the 4kg to 10 kg  we have to shop around see what we can save else where  .thk again

> the advocate was 20 quid

WOW! try www.petmeds.co.uk should be about 13-14 quid :)

Remember that you'll need a vet's prescription to buy Advocate over the net.