Rat Lung Worm

[Katdogs]

Poor Maggie paralysed at 11 weeks old.

Tele story from last week

TWO months since farwelling their beloved family dog Scout, Lisa Wilkinson has had a scare with their new boxer puppy Maggie.

On Sunday, Wilkinson, 56, posted an image on Instagram telling how the 11-week-old pup became infected with a deadly parasite and has been left paralysed.

“A lot of you have been asking since we lost our beautiful Scout a few months ago, how our new #boxerpuppy Maggie is going,” Wilkinson wrote.

“Sadly, not well.

“Four weeks ago, it seems, she ate a slug in our garden that infected her with lung worm ... a disease I’d never heard of, but one that strikes animals quickly and left her paralysed — most particularly in her back legs.

“It has been touch and go for Maggie ever since, but a week ago we brought her home from the vet — at our request when the best advice was that we should probably prepare ourselves for the worst — hoping that enough physio, love, medicine, cuddles and around-the-clock care from us would bring our mischievous little girl back to us.

“Well, on Friday she started dragging herself around on the grass and we saw the merest hint of movement in one of her back legs. And today she actually started wagging her tail! I swear you could have heard our screams of delight from three suburbs away.

“She’s far from out of the woods yet, but what’s clear to us — and our cocker spaniel whose ear she is constantly trying to bite and is eyeing off in this photo — is that our Maggie is a fighter.

And we all have our fingers crossed!

She finished her post by offering some advice to fellow pet owners.

“PS. So if you have pets AND slugs in your garden, one word — salt!”

Latest post on FB:

Hey everyone...

I can't thank you enough for all your beautiful messages about Maggie.

The great news is, the vet is amazed at her progress, and feels really confident that she is going to make it. There's still a very long road ahead but her fighting spirit is strong...as you'll see in this video.

Her biggest aim right now is to get her baby puppy teeth into the ears of her big brother cocker spaniel, Bourke. She is trying SOOO hard and hasn't got there yet - and Bourke is wise to her - but hey, it's a goal! And we've all got to have them...

GO MAGGIE!!

Lisa.xx

Accompanied by a video of a paralysed puppy doing her best.

Previous DOL topic when I knew nothing about it:

Pick up your bowls and watch out for slugs and snails.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Katdogs

[Kirislin]

I used to be guilty of sometimes leaving dog bowls out overnight but after the other thread about rat lung worm I've changed my ways. I dont have nearly as many slugs and snails here as I used to anyway now because the chooks eat alot of them. I dont know if they can be affected by rat lung worm though.

[suziwong66]

is it enough to wash your dog's bowls each day? I don't bring their bowls in each night, but i wash them with hot water and detergent each night before they eat.

[Eza]

I have metal food bowls and Id wash them in the dishwasher (with out our dishes in it) before I did the clean cycle. My dogs ate inside though unless they had bigger bones.

[Tootsie Roll]

I met a cat at a vet that had this,and it shocked me as we get horrible slugs coming under our back door. I take my pets bowls up as soon as they finish eating and supervise them whilst eating.

[Tint]

I watched an extremely informative doco about this disease several years ago, had never heard of rat lung-worm before. Can't remember if it was on free to air or Foxtel. It is a horrible disease in humans and animals alike, and I have never let my children pick up a snail since. Good to hear Lisa's pup is slowly recovering.

[Willem]

..no need to panic http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/Rat-Lung-Worm.aspx

[Tint]

Yes, just something to be alert to, not alarmed. It's always the worst cases that you hear about and unfortunately give you shivers. Good to be aware though.