Health Warning For Owners Of All Breeds

[just a rascal]

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Hello please refer to our earlier posting regarding Tommy's recent illness. He hasn't responded to the antibiotics so yesterday my wife took him to see his regular vet. Heart OK, lungs noisy again recomended x ray if no improvement after few days. Overnight his condition worsened so first thing we took him to Swansea for an x ray. Thank God we saw an experienced clued up vet (David Roberts) whose first question was ," Has he eaten any slugs or snails?" My wife and I both confirmed that we had seen him eat dead slugs. Disgusting I know but as both my neighbours and I are organic gardeners we weren't concerned about slug pellets. Anyone who owns a whippet will tell you that their dogs are walking dustbins that will eat almost anything. We have for sometime enjoyed feeding foxes in our garden taking pleasure from the fox cubs' nightly visits. The foxes carry lungworm, they poo in our garden, slugs eat the poo, Tommy eats the slugs and thereby ingests the lungworm larvae. So we now hopefully know whats wrong with Tommy. The vet is going to x ray him anyway (concious) but he is confident that he will make a full recovery with no lasting damage.What is annoying is that I with absolutely no vetinary knowledge suggested Lungworm to my wife at the onset. I would have thought that a trained vet should have considered lungworm as a possible cause! If your dogs should present similar symptons and your vet doesn't suggest lungworm please mention it to him. It may not be the case but it doesn't do any harm to consider all the options!

 

[Cornish]

I am pleased to hear that you now know what if wrong with Tommy and I hope he gets well soon :huggles:

 

[maja]

Glad that you eventually know what is wrong with Tommy...hope he will get back to normal soon... :luck: :luck: :luck:

Thanks for posting this on K9, it is always good to know...

 

[~elizabeth~]

That must have been such a worry for you, so glad you've got to the bottom of it now. I worry about it too as the foxes use our garden as a toilet :x Would that be David Roberts of the St James's practice? I remember him when he was just starting off many years ago. St James's group are the vets we used to be with and still occasionally see if we are in Swansea.

Hope Tommy makes a full and rapid recovery :luck: :huggles:

 

[littlenell]

:luck: Get well soon Tommy :luck: Thankyou for your warning :thumbsup:

 

[Karenhb]

Many Thanks for the warning :thumbsup: ...hope Tommy`s better soon :luck: :luck:

 

[wild whippies]

There was another dog on here a few months back with lungworm and apparently it is on the increase. I wondered if the nematodes infesting dogs are of the same species as the ones used in organic gardening? It may be why there is an increase, but I can't find out if this is the case?

There was only one dog wormer I could find which is supposodely effective against nematodes, that being Panacur. I used to use Drontal but have changed solely for this reason.

Helen, if your reading this, I think it might be worth adding it to the FAQ?

Wishing Tommy a speedy recovery. :luck: :huggles:

 

[~elizabeth~]

I wondered if the nematodes infesting dogs are of the same species as the ones used in organic gardening? It may be why there is an increase, but I can't find out if this is the case?

I wouldn't have thought so - the species used for slug control are Phasmarhabditis sp, where as the nematodes that cause lungworm in dogs are Angiostrongylus vasorum and Crenosoma vulpis :unsure:

We use Drontal, but think I'll change to panacur too :thumbsup: