Raising Awareness Of Lung Worm

[SarahJ88]

I remember when I first got Ava, the breeder (who coincidentally is also my boss) was telling me at work one day about one of the puppies they bred and that it had ended up getting rat lung worm and had died. Fast forward maybe a year later and it was on sunday night. I definintely think it's not as widely known about and should be address when you go to the vet, all vet's should ask you questions like do you have a garden, risk of snails etc

[Alyosha]

The link to the Bayer site seems to cover a lung worm of canine derivation. Rat lungworm is is lungworm of the rat species, transmitted by snails that have come into contact with infected rat faeces. I wonder whether the Bayer drugs would cover rat lungworm.

Edited to add: I just read the old DOL thread on it and I see that Bayer say that their drug is not effective for rat lungworm

That's because that site is international.

As I posted earlier, there are no currently registered vet products in Australia for lungworm treatment in dogs. So if anyone is concerned, they will need a vet to provide dosage of a suitable product "off label".

[Katdogs]

Australian Advocate for Cats specifically mentions Lung Worm

It has the same active ingredients as Advocate for Dogs: 100 g/L Imidacloprid, 25 g/L Moxidectin for dogs; 100 g/L Imidacloprid, 10 g/L Moxidectin for cats.

I don't know much about Rat Lungworm but I'm learning now and won't forget it!

Here's a site that seems to be sponsored by Bayer in the UK

Edited November 28, 2012 by Katdogs

[Quickasyoucan]

My father in the UK was only asking about lungworm at the weekend. I said I had not heard of it in Australia - obviously I was wrong! It is quite a problem over there. I guess it does rain more so they get more slugs and snails :laugh:

All jokes aside a serious problem. A friends cocker over there was gravely ill with lungworm - luckily he did recover eventually

[Rappie]

The species of lung worm are different in the dog and cat - the one being discussed as being of concern to both dogs and people is Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Never eat snails or slugs as a party trick - neural angiostrongylosis can be fatal in people and can be a cause of neurologic disease in dogs. It's not uncommon in the Northern Beaches and surrounding suburbs in Sydney.

(Lung worm in cat is caused by Aelurostrongylus abstrusus - which is a completely different species and can be a cause of chronic respiratory disease.)

[Katdogs]

Thank you for clearing that up Rappie!

Have you ever seen a case in a dog? How does it present?

[k9angel]

I too remember seeing something about this on 60 mins or today tonight?

Scary stuff.

[LisaCC]

So I just got a call from my mum saying my 11 yr old Lab just caught and ate a bird for the first time in his life, good time to do it.

Does this mean that even though he is regularly wormed via a generic all wormer from the vets, should go out and buy a wormer that treats lung worm just in case?

[tarope]

Didn't know that but ours are always fed inside, even the water is inside as I don't want my dogs drinking water that birds wash and poo in.