Spotlight on lungworm - Are you putting your dog's life at risk?

For many people the loss of a family pet can take years to get over yet despite this, a new study has found that many dog owners could be putting their precious pup at risk by failing to recognise the signs of a fatal disease which is on the rise in the UK.

Lungworm (A. vasorum) is a parasite that dogs can become infected with through eating slugs and snails carrying the larvae of the parasite. Once inside the dog’s system, the parasite travels through the lungs, ending up in the heart. If the infection is left untreated, the dog’s health can rapidly deteriorate, even resulting in death.

According to the “Be Lungworm Aware” study, vets have noticed an increase in diagnosed cases. Worryingly many pet owners don’t even know what the disease is or how to keep their dog from becoming infected.

So what is lungworm and what can you do to prevent your dog from picking it up?

Watch our web TV show where TV Vet Luke Gamble gives you the most up to date information on protecting your dog from this killer disease and TV presenter and animal lover Jenni Falconer on the consequences of not doing so.

For more information visit www.lungworm.co.uk

H: Vicky Letch, host

A: Luke Gamble, TV vet

B: Jenny Falconer, TV presenter and pet lover

H: Your dog plays a crucial role in your family and I’m positive you would do anything to ensure its health and its happiness. Well, keep watching because coming up on the show today we’ve got some top tips on how you can keep your pooch in tip top condition

Break

H: Hello and welcome to Pet Talk, I’m Vicky Letch. Research shows that vets across the UK have seen cases of the lungworm disease have doubled since 2008. Lungworm is bought on by a parasite which lives in your dogs’ lungs, and if it goes untreated it could result in death. Joining me today to tell us how we can best protect our pets is TV vet Luke Gamble and TV presenter and pet lover Jenny Falconer. Both of you, thanks for being here

A: Thank you

B: Thank you

H: Do you like Brutus?

A: Love him, love him

B: I do, I do

H: Now coming up on the show today is – what is lungworm and how can you recognise it? We’re also going to have a look at how you can prevent lungworm. And then of course all of your questions will be answered live. So don’t forget we are totally live so if you do have any questions or comments for our guests all you have to do is pop them on the box on our screen, click submit and we’ll get to them and if you’re tweeting then use the #tag studiotalktv. So let’s get underway then – what is lungworm?

A: Lungworm is a bit of a silent assassin. It’s a nasty little parasite that lives in slugs and snails, and dogs go out there and stick their noses everywhere, you know they pick up bits and bobs on their walks and they often accidentally or on purpose eat these slugs and snails

H: Yes

A: That goes into their tummy, the slug and snail gets digested and the larvae then survives, it crawls through the gut wall – it’s not very nice – and it crawls through the gut wall of the dog, works its way up to the heart, ok, grows up into an adult. The adult worm then lays eggs. Those eggs go to the lungs, the eggs hatch and the baby little larvae then work through the lungs, causing often you know quite a nasty inflammatory reaction before they crawl up the windpipe, they get swallowed, goes back through, out the other end, that’s where the slugs and snails come back into it. And yes it’s nasty business

H: I mean that’s gruesome actually

B: Do you know what I wish that dog knew that story before it went –

A: I know

H: Save yourself!

B: Don’t do it!

H: Careful. And so it is slugs and snails, that’s the only ways that these animals can get lungworm, is it?

B: Yes but you know those slugs and snails, they can be in foxes, they can have been transferred around, so actually when your dog goes down the bottom of the garden they might find a little tiny slug inside mud or something like that or water, in a water bowl, in a pond

A: Yes but it needs to go into a slug or a snail

H: Right

A: Because there’s different larval stages. Gets a little confusing, I get a bit muddled with it sometimes but basically there’s various life stages, lifecycle stages that the parasite goes through so it moults into a different larval stage, so when it goes into stage one into the slug or snail, it then morphs to larval stage 3 which is the one that can get across into the gut of a dog, so it has to go into the slug or a snail

H: My goodness me. And heartbreaking for someone who has a pet because we are a nation of pet lovers aren’t we, we love our animals, they’re part of our family

B: I know I have a dog, he is my little baby, I love him, and the thing is, if he does eat rubbish, everywhere we go – he’s always trying to pick food up off the ground, it’s like we don’t feed him. When we go out he’s always eating anything, people say don’t you feed your dog? I go yes we do, he’s just greedy. But he eats anything, he eats mud, he would probably eat slugs and snails if he found them because he just wants to eat everything, and you can’t kind of stop them from doing that because they have their own minds, but you can protect them against the evils of these parasites by just giving them treatment and to make sure that these parasites don’t harm them in the long run

H: Absolutely and do you think lungworm is just something that somehow slipped under the radar, because I would absolutely class myself as a dog lover, but I had never heard of lungworm before

A: Yes you’re not alone. Loads of people haven’t

B: It’s about 40% isn’t there?

A: Yes about that I think

B: If dog owners

H: Yes

B: Haven’t heard of it

H: Which is huge actually

A: It’s quite a lot but it’s not really just the public, the Month Awareness campaign is also for vets, it’s also geared up for us to so there’s some key note lectures at some of the vet conferences about it and it’s just –

B: Well because what amazes me is for years people might have thought it was kennel cough because there’s so many symptoms – ok they might have a cough, so that people might think oh they’ve got kennel cough when in actual fact they’ve got lungworm. They might just have gone off their food which you think oh they’re not hungry but actually they’ve got lungworm. There are I mean loads of different symptoms which could be something else and I think for a long time people did assume it was the other thing as opposed to lungworm

A: Yes. No I mean that’s another big factor, I think the fact that the number of cases diagnosed over the last couple of years in the UK has doubled is in part because we know what we’re looking for now, we’re aware of it, you know vets in my practice and at home we’re all sort of a bit sharper on it, but also the fact that it is spreading, and this time of year when it’s sort of wet and warm, it’s a perfect environment for loads of slugs and snails in the garden, and you can’t whack down slug bait or anything because if they eat that they’ve had it, you know it’s going to kill them, and dogs have to be dogs and they’re all part of the ecosystem, but it’s the – the key thing is we can now do something about it, there’s stuff out there that can prevent it and this is the big take home message, and it’s not a huge scare factor, although it can present in different ways, so a dog that’s losing weight, that’s just a bit dull, depressed or just you know sort of going off his food a little bit, all the way through to fitting or the really scary signs where it can cough up its own blood, you know that’s the really awful stuff

H: Yes

A: I mean we can treat it but we just need to be on top of it and make sure we use a product that does work against it

H: Better to prevent than treat

B: Better to be safe than sorry

A: Exactly yes

B: The thing is as well you know for the last few years, ever since my dog’s been old enough to take all the medication, because when they’re a little puppy there’s certain things that you’ve got to look after them

A: Yes you’ve got to be careful

B: But ever since he’s been old enough to have these regular treatments, every 3 months I give him worming tablets

H: Yes

B: And every month I do the kind of – I always put it on my neck but it’s not my neck, you put these little drops on the back of their neck and it’s just second nature, it’s not a big deal, it’s just something that happens and that will protect him

A: Yes it will, that’s good

H: So let’s – well actually before we move on I just want to note this question from Carol Conner, thank you – you have touched on it, it just ties in with what you were saying that Carol said “is lungworm very common because my vet has never mentioned it to me before?”

B: Do you know I don’t remember my vet mentioning it to me, I think it’s just something that as a dog owner sometimes you become aware of and you maybe have to look into these things a bit more. I think these campaigns are making dog owners more aware of it

A: Yes it might be that Carol’s dog is being treated and protected anyway and her vet you know knows he’s covered. You know we don’t often talk about every disease going that’s there as a big factor, I just think the thing is that we don’t want to create a huge sort of scare thing, but equally it’s just telling everyone, look, watch out, make sure you’re using stuff that does work against this, because ordinary worming tablets and a lot of the spot-ons won’t touch it, there’s only certain product that can get on there and actually work against this

B: But in saying that, you should use a product for this, but you still should use the worming tablets as well

A: Yes the product actually, the product that does kill this lungworm does kill a lot of other stuff so it’s great against fleas and other bits and bobs, but yes you’ve got to remember the whole package, you want to protect against other parasites you know

H: So let’s go back to the symptoms which we have touched on. If your dog were to eat a slug or a snail how long from that – eating the slug or the snail – would these symptoms start materialising?

A: Yes I mean different dogs will react slightly differently all the way through, there’s a bit of a lag time, the variable life stage cycle sort of – you know does depend. It’s got to get through the gut wall, it’s got to migrate to the heart, it’s got to morph into an adult, and obviously the reaction that dog’s going to see, you’re going to need a few eggs, it’s not just one egg hatching, there are often quite a lot of them that will hatch, so variable time lag, the onset could be a couple of weeks beyond that, and younger animals tend to get it worse than older ones, the older ones can still get it and again can just be – you might not notice, if your dog’s just a bit dull, a bit you know lost a bit of zest

B: Yu might just think they’re in a mood or something

H: Yes because dogs can get like that, they can have their off weeks just like us, so it’s just being slightly more aware that actually there could be an underlying more serious issue going on

A: Exactly yes

B: There are some really, there are some forums out there, some really sad stories that people kind of share with other people in the forums and say what happens when their dog got lungworm and oh there are some really sad stories of puppies that have got it

H: Which would just be heartbreaking

B: Yes

H: Awful

B: The worst thing is as well, I don’t want to see my dog in pain so I don’t want to see him suffering either, so I just want to make sure that he’s not going to get this parasite in his system because I just don’t want to see him upset in any way either

A: Yes but we can sort it, I think that’s the big thing is that although we’re all about prevention, you know no one is to panic. Their dog gets lungworm, as long as we diagnose it –

B: It can be treated

A: We can sort it, and in actual fact it’s another good point that you raised Vicky that although they might come in fitting or we might take blood tests and things, we probably wouldn’t see it in the blood test at all, you only get it from certain analysis and that’s why the vets – we’re sort of being educated about it as well, to know to look for it, and in fact treating it is very easy and quick and simple and you just get on with that

H: Well let’s talk about that then; let’s talk about how you treat it. There are some – poo things going on?

A: Yes well it’s poo samples, there’s no messing around with this, that’s what it is. You do them on 3 consecutive days, and there’s a technique you use, a bend flotation technique where you can spot the eggs and then you can crack on with it really, spot the larvae and do the job. And then the treatment’s very easy, you just go for gold really, get the stuff on there

B: Yes but that’s if your dog doesn’t have it you don’t have to collect these poo specimens.

H: Ok

B: I would just like to stress that

A: There would be just loads of bags of poos going into various vets now all over the shop. Nightmare. Save some money as well, you know prevention is the ticket, absolutely

B: And also it will save you money in the long run because if you do buy these little drops and give them to your dog every month then you won’t have the massive vets bills at the end of it, you know I look at you as I say that

H: Yes absolutely, prevention, prevention, prevention but also the message is not to panic because there are ways that you can turn the situation around

A: Yes I’m being economical. You can use stuff that covers this and also covers fleas and you don’t have to double up on endless amounts of product, you know we’re not going to ask people to spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds, it’s ok, there’s a way we can do it

B: The thing is our dogs, they love us and they look to us and we should look out for them – look at them, he’s stupid he doesn’t realise what’s out there

H: No he just thinks he’s having fun

B: You’ve got to protect them and so it’s our responsibility to make sure that our pets are in the best health possible

H: Absolutely. Let’s have another question then – keep your questions coming in because we’re live for a few more minutes yet. This one’s from Sharon Wright, thank you Sharon; Sharon says “I’m a mum of 4 and I’ve got 2 dogs” – busy then – “I have a feeling that one of my dogs has lungworm because of his poor health.” Ah. “Are my children at risk if my dog is infected?” See that would be a worry

A: It’s not – it’s not – don’t worry Sharon, don’t worry Sharon, don’t worry

H: Don’t worry Sharon, good

A: We can’t get it. Foxes actually can get it, dogs get it obviously but we can’t

B: But it’s not necessarily contagious between dogs either is it? Let’s –

A: No it’s all about the slug and the snail, everything, even the foxes, it’s all about the slug and the snail. They’re essential for its lifecycle and that’s the –

B: Although they do say don’t they that if you have two dogs then the chances are if one’s got it then the other one’s got it because of the contaminated garden –

A: They’ll mess in the garden, slugs and snails get on that and there’s a higher risk – they’re – exactly like here where he’s on the chew, you know imagine a tiny little one on a ball or something like that, they’re playing first thing in the morning or having a drink out the pond or the bowl or –

B: Yes just make sure the bowl of water that you put in the garden is changed and that bowl is washed regularly because that’s where the slugs and snails kind of gather

A: Yes

B: Just keep everything clean. But it’s good that your family won’t catch lungworms

A: Cats won’t get it

B: And it’s unlikely that it will transfer from one dog to another so if your dog goes out and meets another dog in the park who has lungworm it’s unlikely they’ll get it

H: Thank goodness and actually Dimelza, thanks for your question, Jenny you’ve just answered it “Should I be worried that my cats might go snail hunting?”

A: Your cats – no –

H: No

A: Look I think the thing about this is we’ve got to let the animals do their thing, they’ve got to have freedom to express their natural behaviour, enjoy life, and the slugs and snails need to do their thing and play their part in the world as well and there’s not sot of mass paranoia about it, it’s just you know look this is a problem, there’s plenty of problems round and about, this is a –

H: I’ve got to see I’m really rocking the vet vibe that’s going on

B: I know

H: Just do your thing animal kingdom, just play safe. Stay where you are because coming up we’re going to have a look at all of your questions so I’ll see you in a minute.

Break

H: Ok it’s Pet Talk today and we are talking lungworm and we’re trying to build some awareness on lungworm so if you didn’t know about it hopefully well in the next few minutes you will be fully aware of the dangers and how you can prevent it. It’s time now to have a look at your questions, thank you very much, and comments. This one’s from Tracey Keys, Tracey says “one of my dogs is 3 years old and has already had lungworm but luckily it was treated. Is there any way that it could come back again?”

B: Yes it doesn’t mean you’re immune does it?

A: No

B: It’s not like chicken pox

A: You’re going to have to keep on top of it so sadly crack on, you know keep putting the prevention on, can still get it

B: So if they’ve had it and they’ve got rid of it just keep doing those monthly drops and they shouldn’t get it again

A: Yes

H: Perfect. This one from Andy Jones, thanks Andy – “I take my dog on a walk daily and I want to know if there’s anything I can do to prevent my dog from getting the disease in case he catches it from any slugs”

B: The thing is you can’t, look I’ve tried, I’ve tried to follow my dog and see what he does and lift him out of puddles and get his nose out of mud, it’s impossible and it’s ridiculous and the more you do it the more your dog wants to do it, so you have to let your dog do your own thing and the only thing that you can do to stop him kind of infecting, being infected by this parasite is to protect him

H: Yes exactly and as you were saying again the message throughout the show today is your dog’s going to be a dog, you can’t stop it from behaving a certain way. Brutus I have to say as a companion is so well behaved

A: He’s very steady isn’t he?

H: Yes. I feel slightly guilty that I haven’t taken him on daily walks now you mentioned the daily walking thing, but if I want to continue having Brutus in the health that he is in now which is perfect, give me some top tips

B: I think you need to put him through a washing machine every now and again, oh that’s awful

H: Don’t listen to her. Top tips, how can we keep our pets safe?

A: Regular vaccinations, regular worming, regular parasitic treatment to prevent horrible disease like lungworm is key, good exercise, good food and good company

B: Yes it’s like a case of you know, sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind even though your dog loves eating, don’t over feed him, don’t give him loads of tit bits, don’t give him chocolate, you know look after your dog’s health and in the same way make sure they’re treated with the right medication as well to protect them

H: Excellent both of you thank you so very much. For those of you watching if you want more information, you can have a look on the website it is lungworm.co.uk

A: It is, correct

H: Great, you get more information on there and I’ll see you all next time. Bye bye