Lungworm

[BillyMalc]

Lately I've seen more and more warnings pop up against dogs getting lungworm - apparently it's a horrible parasite. However, the first link I saw about it, was a page by Bayer, the pharmaceutical giant who, of course, produces the treatment against lungworm. That causes my alarm bells to ring; up till this year I'd never heard anything about the threat of lungworm, now it all of a sudden is something to be alarmed about and there is a pharmaceutical multinational who provides your answer to all your worries. Of course I want to be aware of potentially dangerous diseases etc, I'm just wondering if other people think we should take this sudden warning about lungworm very seriously or be also very aware of the potential financial benefits for Bayer, cashing in on worried owners wanting to do what's best for their dogs?

[lester]

They were not so quick to get on the bandwagon. I blame people who cant be bothered cleaning their yards properly and the spread of decking . Of course the weather doesnt help.

[Karen]

One of the first dogs to sadly die from lungworm was treated at my vets in Surrey. There have been other cases locally too. Rescue Remedies had a dog die from lung worm in our area this year. Once you realise your dog has lung worm it's usually too late to treat successfully.

 

So all in all, I feel that it's a real threat. There is no way in a million years that I could get rid of every slug and snail in my garden and even if I did the fields where we walk are full of them. Rosie is the sort of dog to eat grass and carry a toy which has rolled around in the grass, so she gets treated with Advocate each month.

[Anne Grose]

I like you Billie am very cynical about this. We have lived with slugs and snails for millions of years and lungworm has been carried by them for that amount of time too. It isn't any more of a threat now than it has ever been. The odd dog has no doubt died from them in the past but it isn't the rampant disease that it is made out to be.

 

We now have another wonderful money spinner for our vets. All my dogs have eaten grass and rolled in it, played in it and generally been dogs and in my last garden in Derbyshire - we had thousand's of slugs and snails - have I ever had a problem, no - more to the point Karen in the ONLY person I have spoken to that actually has first hand experience of lungworm. The only time I have ever heard of this disease before is from vets pushing the vaccination and the Bayer information.

 

Am I worried, am I rushing off to the vets to stuff my dogs full of more poison - good gracious no.

 

Anne

[Anne Grose]

I like you Billie am very cynical about this. We have lived with slugs and snails for millions of years and lungworm has been carried by them for that amount of time too. It isn't any more of a threat now than it has ever been. The odd dog has no doubt died from them in the past but it isn't the rampant disease that it is made out to be.

 

We now have another wonderful money spinner for our vets. All my dogs have eaten grass and rolled in it, played in it and generally been dogs and in my last garden in Derbyshire - we had thousand's of slugs and snails - have I ever had a problem, no - more to the point Karen in the ONLY person I have spoken to that actually has first hand experience of lungworm. The only time I have ever heard of this disease before is from vets pushing the vaccination and the Bayer information.

 

Am I worried, am I rushing off to the vets to stuff my dogs full of more poison - good gracious no.

 

Anne

[one.eyed.dog]

My vet told me a couple of years ago that the drug companies start a rumer when they develop a new drug to scare people into buying it. He said the wormer Lottie is already on treats lung worm anyway. He also told me that it's dogs under 18 months who are more likley to try a slug or snail as they are still learning.

[Fee]

My vet has an article about this on his website which I think is quite sensible and balanced. He definitely feels that a lot of the panic about lungworm has been stirred up by the drug companies.

 

 

http://www.purtonvets.co.uk/purtonblog/2011/04/lungworm.html

 

 

He reckons he hasn't seen a case of lungworm for five years in this area, so I don't intend to start changing my dogs' worming routine.

[blackmagic]

Thanks for that link.

 

Puts it into perspective

[BillyMalc]

Thanks for posting that article, Fee! It definitely puts it all in perspective - I wondered why I'd had dogs in the UK for the past 10 years without ever having heard of it as much as I've heard of it in the last few months. I've also wondered what, while lungworm might be a risk to a dog's health, the risks of giving a dog Advocate every month for the rest of his life might be? I guess I need to be convinced that there is a damn good reason for me to give my dogs any medication on a regular basis.

[Careli]

However, a vet friend of mine based in West Sussex will now not perform planned surgery on a dog without it having a course of Advocate. This decision was made following the loss of 3, otherwise healthy dogs which 'bleed out' on him on the operating table due to unknown Lungworm infestation.

 

It is something I worry about as one of my dogs love to graze on grass and could easily ingest a snail carrying Lungworm

[khanu]

However, a vet friend of mine based in West Sussex will now not perform planned surgery on a dog without it having a course of Advocate. This decision was made following the loss of 3, otherwise healthy dogs which 'bleed out' on him on the operating table due to unknown Lungworm infestation.

 

It is something I worry about as one of my dogs love to graze on grass and could easily ingest a snail carrying Lungworm

 

Yep 2 of mine have had suspected lung worm infestations -we live in west Sussex. Both had a cough like kennel cough, one treated with advocate the other with intense course of panacur, both coughs cleared up immediately after treatment. Think it is probably more prevalent in south currently. I have a spaniel with a nasty habit of munching on snails and slugs, all of them munch on grass. I don't habitually treat with advocate, but at the first sign of coughing they will get treated, by the time you can confirm infestation, irreparable damage can be done. I know a spaniel who now has heart and lung damage following infestation - he was very lucky to survive.