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Cocker Specific Discussion => Health => Topic started by: SkyeSue on June 09, 2009, 05:00:56 PM

Title: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: SkyeSue on June 09, 2009, 05:00:56 PM
I did a search on here and see that there's been a few threads about it, but just wanted to highlight it again. I just heard this awful news this morning and have been doing a bit of researchin on the internet. Apparently slugs and snails are the culprits; which is a bit of a worry, as I regularly have slugs crawling around my house  >:D I'm not sure that Chloe would eat them, but she does tend to have a go at any creepy crawlies  >:D Apparantly, the vets here are so concerned about the increase in cases here, that they're sending out info to all their clients about the dangers and what to look out for in terms of symptoms.

Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: Hurtwood Dogs on June 09, 2009, 05:05:46 PM
Oh gosh, that's a worry for you  :-\ I use Advocate on my two which I know does heartworm, but I'm not sure about lungworm?

Hope there is something you can give her just to be sure  :-* :-*

Hannah xxx
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: SkyeSue on June 09, 2009, 05:10:47 PM
I'm not sure either Hannah...looking at previous posts, some folk have said that normal wormers don't work for lung worm, but others have said they do, and that treatment actually consists of several days of taking panacur. Chloe is going to the vet for her op next week, so I shall ask him what he thinks. Meanwhile, I shall be watching her like a hawk  ;)
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: joanne_v on June 09, 2009, 05:55:03 PM
Oh gosh, that's a worry for you  :-\ I use Advocate on my two which I know does heartworm, but I'm not sure about lungworm?

Hope there is something you can give her just to be sure  :-* :-*

Hannah xxx

Advocate and Panacur are the only ones I know of that DO treat lungworm. I used advocate on my lurcher foster pup who came riddled with lungworm. Wont be long before every dog in the UK needs preventative treatment for it  >:(
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: SkyeSue on June 09, 2009, 05:57:43 PM
Oh gosh, that's a worry for you  :-\ I use Advocate on my two which I know does heartworm, but I'm not sure about lungworm?

Hope there is something you can give her just to be sure  :-* :-*

Hannah xxx

Advocate and Panacur are the only ones I know of that DO treat lungworm. I used advocate on my lurcher foster pup who came riddled with lungworm. Wont be long before every dog in the UK needs preventative treatment for it  >:(

Jo, does that mean Advocate and Panacur act as a prevention, or just as a cure iyswim?
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: bajoleth on June 09, 2009, 06:11:12 PM
When Belle had her 2nd vacs the vet gave me advocate and before I could ask him he told me it would protect her from lungworm, as we live in wales apparantly there is a high incidence here, I was going to ask him about it as it worries me to death especially as the lovely Belle will eat anything ph34r. So as far as I am aware Advocate is a preventative so they shouldn't become infested should they eat a slug or snail ph34r
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: Nicola on June 09, 2009, 06:13:17 PM
Advocate and Panacur both work against lungworm, they can be used as a preventative - it doesn't stop the dog actually getting the lungworm but should kill them off if present - and as a treatment if a dog is diagnosed as having an infestation (most cases I've heard of are given Panacur but this may vary depending on the vet). I think that the case may often be that the regular monthly dose is sometimes not enough to prevent an infestation which is why if a dog is diagnosed they are given higher doses of the preventative over a longer period - usually every day for a week - in order to get rid of it.

The 'lungworm' ingredient you're looking for is called fenbendazole, or ivermectin also works. Milbemax can be used to treat lungworm and as a preventative but vets don't usually prescribe it as such as I don't think it's officially licensed for use against lungworm. If you do use Advocate you need to use a separate wormer for tapeworm as it doesn't work against that.
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: LizH on June 09, 2009, 06:31:33 PM
It is quite worrying - Pebble had this (or so the vet said ph34r) when she was about 7/8 months old. It started with a cough which they initially treated as kennel cough but then they said oh it maybe lungworm and she had Panacur for a couple of weeks. She still struggled though and eventually had to have X-rays and a swab which revealed a bacterial infection (which they believed was as a result of the worm which had by then gone as a result of the Panacur). Eventually due to the swabs they could isolate the nature of the bacteria and importantly the antibiotics to treat it with. As you can imagine I was glad I had insurance  :shades:

She is fine now and as a result of all the visits so early in her life absolutely loves the vets and tries to pull me in there everytime we walk past - she also gives snails and slugs a wide berth - which I do realise is because she doesn't like the taste of them as opposed to knowing they are bad for her!!  ;)
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: JohnW on June 09, 2009, 06:43:08 PM
here is an informative site in what to look for if you suspect lungworm i.e script and pictures and recommendation on treatments. ;)

http://www.lungworm.co.uk/scripts/pages/en/home.php
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: johndoran on June 09, 2009, 07:23:53 PM
I agree it is a worry especially in warm and damp conditions. Evening time when i open my back door there are often quite a few slugs and snails on the slabs and last night there was the biggest snail halfway up my door which Bonnie Boo was very interested in.Managed to get it off and into the bin but am going to more aware now.
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: Helen_Marsden on June 09, 2009, 09:22:54 PM
Yes we use milbemax on ours dogs, a friend of mine dogs died the other year from lung worm, she is an equine vet and was beside her self, she recommended we use it to prevent it happening to ours.
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: Spanielsmum on June 09, 2009, 09:59:32 PM
Is this all over the country or just specific areas? we have loads of slugs and snails in our garden, but fortunately Norris leaves them alone. He is a monkey for drinking from muddy mucky puddles though.... ph34r
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: lindseyp on June 09, 2009, 10:04:08 PM
So very sorry to hear this skyesue. I'm reading this thread with great interest as this could turn out to be what Purdeys suffering from.
Does anyone know how long they can have lungworm before it proves fatal? Hopefully, if Purds has it, it's been caught in time!
Yes we use milbemax on ours dogs, a friend of mine dogs died the other year from lung worm, she is an equine vet and was beside her self, she recommended we use it to prevent it happening to ours.


Did your friend loose more than one dog to lungwarm? How tragic  :'(
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: SkyeSue on June 09, 2009, 11:23:50 PM
The problem is, that it can be caught from the snail trail, the dog doesn't just have to eat or be in contact with the snail to be infected. Scary stuff. 
Yes, I read that on one of the websites...I can wake up in the morning to at least two or three of these in various places in the house. Not noticed Chloe being particularly interested in them so far though.....says she with all fingers crossed  :shades: ::)
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: joanne_v on June 10, 2009, 08:41:16 AM
So very sorry to hear this skyesue. I'm reading this thread with great interest as this could turn out to be what Purdeys suffering from.
Does anyone know how long they can have lungworm before it proves fatal? Hopefully, if Purds has it, it's been caught in time!
Yes we use milbemax on ours dogs, a friend of mine dogs died the other year from lung worm, she is an equine vet and was beside her self, she recommended we use it to prevent it happening to ours.


Did your friend loose more than one dog to lungwarm? How tragic  :'(

A normal adult dog in good health is very unlikely to die from lungworm. Its older frail dogs or young pups that are mainly at risk. The runt of a litter of lurchers (I fostered his brother) nearly died from it but he was only 7 weeks old and had been kept in terrible conditions and he pulled through and is fine now.
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: Karma on June 10, 2009, 08:53:01 AM

Milbemax, when given as you would to worm your dog, would not prevent Lungworm... Honey reacted badly to Advocate when we tried that and, as I had read that Milbemax could be used for Lungworm prevention, I specifically asked at the vets, and they checked the manufacturer's guidance... I think it has to be given every week  :o to be effective (it is definately far more often than you would give on a normal worming schedule).

From what the vets said, only Advocate spot-on is effective at preventing an infestation.... panacur can be given (again in very regular doses) to treat an infestation.

Obviously, the vet might be completely wrong here, but I just thought I should share what we have been told!  ;)
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: Helen on June 11, 2009, 02:30:44 PM
I don't believe any normal wormer is actually an effective preventative - unless you are worming your dog for 7 days at a stretch which TBH I would never do.

Panacur granules as a 7 day course is the most commonly used course to kill Lungworm once the dog is infested.  I think Pupdaddy's Jarvis was given this treatment and he's fine now  ;)
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: LurcherGirl on June 11, 2009, 04:01:02 PM
Oh gosh, that's a worry for you  :-\ I use Advocate on my two which I know does heartworm, but I'm not sure about lungworm?

Hope there is something you can give her just to be sure  :-* :-*

Hannah xxx
Advocate is fine. I believe heart and lungworm are just two different names for the same thing...
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: LurcherGirl on June 11, 2009, 04:04:57 PM
From what the vets said, only Advocate spot-on is effective at preventing an infestation.... panacur can be given (again in very regular doses) to treat an infestation.

Obviously, the vet might be completely wrong here, but I just thought I should share what we have been told!  ;)
Your vet is right! Obviously Advocate can only work on present worms too (so isn't really a preventative as such), but it is the only effective treatment, other than Panacure which has to be given over a long period (Advocate is just a spot on). Advocate used on a monthly basis as advised by the vets and manufacturers will take care of lungworm.

Vera
Title: Re: Lung worm, my neighbour's dog died last week.
Post by: LurcherGirl on June 11, 2009, 04:10:36 PM
Here's a website with further explanations:

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

And another one:

http://www.greendale.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=34 (http://www.greendale.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=34)