Tommy's Progress

[just a rascal]

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Hello again.Tommy is slowly improving I'm glad to say! The vet is treating him with steroid injections, anti inflammatorys and antibiotics. Last night I spoke to a breeder who lost 3 pups and got 1 pup through it. The danger for us now is as the worms in Tommy's lungs are killed they release a lot of toxins. One of the effects of this is that his blood will not clot so you have to be careful to avoid injury. Yesterday we bought him a baked bone to keep him occupied. We had to take it off him because even the smallest cut in his mouth could be very serious! Another symptom is abnormal gait and yesterday we noticed that he was having trouble walking on our wooden floors. I asked our vet about treatment to help Tommy cough up the dead worms as I had seen it on a website. The impression I got was that he didn't appreciate a layperson telling him his job. I expect he hears the internet from his customers several times a day. All I can say is his other practices might benefit from the occasional glance at the internet themselves. You might detect some bitterness creeping in here and you're absolutely correct. Early diagnosis and treatment is the key. A 4 day delay is unacceptable in an area where lungworm is rife! Despite this I am optimistic we can get Tommy through this and my thoughts are now shifting to how we can prevent reinfection. Slug control is impossible as is keeping out the foxes. I'm thinking of getting a microscope and checking his poo on a weekly basis. Any suggestions will be welcomed. Many thanks

 

[hellybobs]

I don't want to question what you've been told/read about lung worm but one of mine had it and it went undetected for over 6 months and she was about 6 months of age when she would have contracted the lung worm.

She had numerous courses of AB's, homeopathic remedies, immune system building stuff and steroids before she was diganosed and it was only the steroids that helped slightly with the symptoms.

The overall treatment was a very strong course of AB's that cost the earth, for a month and a very cheap wormer that was repeated a month after the first course.

She was also on heart tablets for 6 months.

I very nearly lost Dippy from lung worm, as her heart had increased to 3 times its normal size and her lungs shrunk to less than half the size they should have been (she is a whippetxgreyhound), she also stopped eating and drinking and lot weight, lost alot of her fur and developed strange skin problems and had a cough that sounded like nothing else I'd ever heard before.

Not once was the worms dying/leaving her system an issue and she didn't suffer any from it either and the non clotting of blood would be to do witht he steroid, I would imagine.

To prevent reinfection is basicly to make sure your dog is thoroughly wormed and not with the basic broad sprectrum wormer but one that states it kills the lungworm species.

Can I ask where you are from, as you say it is rife where you are??

I've just read through your other posts and you mention about vets not picking up on it, my vet is great and did mention lung worm and this is why he tried many AB's and did many xrays but he could find anything to pin point it. It was a heart/lung specialist that made the discovery and then treated her, so although it is becoming more common not all vets are as clued up as maybe they should be.

 

[just a rascal]

I don't want to question what you've been told/read about lung worm but one of mine had it and it went undetected for over 6 months and she was about 6 months of age when she would have contracted the lung worm.
She had numerous courses of AB's, homeopathic remedies, immune system building stuff and steroids before she was diganosed and it was only the steroids that helped slightly with the symptoms.

The overall treatment was a very strong course of AB's that cost the earth, for a month and a very cheap wormer that was repeated a month after the first course.

She was also on heart tablets for 6 months.

I very nearly lost Dippy from lung worm, as her heart had increased to 3 times its normal size and her lungs shrunk to less than half the size they should have been (she is a whippetxgreyhound), she also stopped eating and drinking and lot weight, lost alot of her fur and developed strange skin problems and had a cough that sounded like nothing else I'd ever heard before.

Not once was the worms dying/leaving her system an issue and she didn't suffer any from it either and the non clotting of blood would be to do witht he steroid, I would imagine.

To prevent reinfection is basicly to make sure your dog is thoroughly wormed and not with the basic broad sprectrum wormer but one that states it kills the lungworm species.

Can I ask where you are from, as you say it is rife where you are??

I've just read through your other posts and you mention about vets not picking up on it, my vet is great and did mention lung worm and this is why he tried many AB's and did many xrays but he could find anything to pin point it.  It was a heart/lung specialist that made the discovery and then treated her, so although it is becoming more common not all vets are as clued up as maybe they should be.

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Hello, we live in the Neath/Swansea area. Thank you for your reply