Lovemychoclab

What a great idea I'll set a trap up.

It's hard when you can't put bait out. And there's so many little slimy suckers out in our yard ????????????

So as far as I know - rat lungworm comes from eating infected snails or slugs or stuff that snails and slugs have been sliming.

So if you can reduce the snail/slug population or teach your puppy not to eat them that might help prevent it.

My dog doesn't like slugs for some reason. The magpies are pretty happy to dispatch them and I suspect the population gets severely reduced during summer but - get a good rain storm and out they come.

So what my mum does is put saucers of beer out (snail trap - might need to put this under a milk crate so the dog can't drink it) and she also goes out on damp/dewy nights with a torch and hand collects them.

Myself - I don't bother unless they get into my vegies or things I don't want eaten.

Thank you ????

Hope your pup improves soon :)

Not sure where he is being treated but I know that the clinic and faculty at the University of Sydney has several clinicians that have particular interest and expertise in lungworm (both canine and feline) and many of the recent papers have been written by vets there. If you have any ongoing concerns it might be worth contacting them.

Thanks so much for the useful read ????

Puppy has been on medication for a week now. They prescribed predisolone. He has movement in his Bach legs. While he has improved a lot I feel he is still definitely recovering.

Thank goodness he is going to be ok

I haven't actually experienced this in dogs but it is not uncommon in native owls (particularly Tawny Frogmouths) and brushtail possums who have eaten the intermediate host (slugs and snails, who are infected by eating the faeces of infected rats.) It is also not unknown in flying foxes.

The only information that I could find on treatment in dogs in Australia was this snippet from an elderly Wildlife Health Network paper (2009 is my copy) which stated:

" In puppies,betamethasone (1-2 mg/kg orally or by injection) was effective in reducing the severity ofclinical signs in the initial 2-16 days after developing paresis and was also very effective inlessening the residual damage left at 32 days (Mason 1987)."

If your vet wishes to source the base papers by Mason, they are quoted as:

Mason KV. Canine neural angiostrongyliasis: the clinical and therapeutic features of 55natural cases. Aust Vet J 1987,64:201-203.

Mason KV, Prescott CW, Kelly WR, Waddell AH. Granulomatous encephalomyelitis ofpuppies due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Aust Vet J 1976;52:295.

But one would hope that more recent studies have been done and are available.

Have just found a 2012 paper which cites 2002 - 2005 studies on this parasite in dogs in Australia (comparing their survey with Mason's earlier study) and , cutting to the the chase, it looks as though success rate is quite good and turning point will be observed within a few days of treatment commencing although the treatment may need to continue for a few months.

So this is the paper to check out (which I found online here):

Twenty two cases of canine neural angiostronglyosis in eastern Australia (2002-2005) and a review of the literature.

The only odd note is that it seems unusual for cases to occur outside of the time slot April to July, although nowhere is it stated that other times are impossible.

Hope this helps and I hope your pup recovers well.

I haven't actually experienced this in dogs but it is not uncommon in native owls (particularly Tawny Frogmouths) and brushtail possums who have eaten the intermediate host (slugs and snails, who are infected by eating the faeces of infected rats.) It is also not unknown in flying foxes.

The only information that I could find on treatment in dogs in Australia was this snippet from an elderly Wildlife Health Network paper (2009 is my copy) which stated:

" In puppies,betamethasone (1-2 mg/kg orally or by injection) was effective in reducing the severity ofclinical signs in the initial 2-16 days after developing paresis and was also very effective inlessening the residual damage left at 32 days (Mason 1987)."

If your vet wishes to source the base papers by Mason, they are quoted as:

Mason KV. Canine neural angiostrongyliasis: the clinical and therapeutic features of 55natural cases. Aust Vet J 1987,64:201-203.

Mason KV, Prescott CW, Kelly WR, Waddell AH. Granulomatous encephalomyelitis ofpuppies due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Aust Vet J 1976;52:295.

But one would hope that more recent studies have been done and are available.

Have just found a 2012 paper which cites 2002 - 2005 studies on this parasite in dogs in Australia (comparing their survey with Mason's earlier study) and , cutting to the the chase, it looks as though success rate is quite good and turning point will be observed within a few days of treatment commencing although the treatment may need to continue for a few months.

So this is the paper to check out (which I found online here):

Twenty two cases of canine neural angiostronglyosis in eastern Australia (2002-2005) and a review of the literature.

The only odd note is that it seems unusual for cases to occur outside of the time slot April to July, although nowhere is it stated that other times are impossible.

Hope this helps and I hope your pup recovers well.

Hi there

We have had our 10 week old Labrodor puppy for 2 weeks now. We are very In love.

On Saturday morning we took him to the vets to get his 10 week injections that afternoon he went "lethargic" in his back legs.

We called the vet and they said it may be a reaction from the needles and to keep an eye on him over the next 24 hours.

The condition did not improve and we took him to the vets on Sunday morning to get examined.

The vet maybe thought he had hurt his back legs by a fall or twist. He searched for ticks two times and ruled out tick .

He recommended to get X-rays the next day to rule out hip dysplasia and prescribed medication ( anti inflammatory )

Monday we took him to the vets in the morning for X-rays , they noticed his condition had worsened over night and they were more neurological. They cancelled X-rays .

they suspected tick and treated him for a tick. Let me just add there was no fever , no vomiting , no saliva at the mouth , eating property . Only his back legs were not working properly. Everything else what seemed "normal".

They ran blood tests to cover all basis and they came back that night, and there was strong evidence to suspect " lung worm" .

We opted not to go with a spinal tap to 100 % confirm lungworm as there was risks involved. So they have started treatment for this this morning. It's only early days so no results yet. Just crossing our fingers .

But just wanted to get opionions of other owners that have had the same experience. I can't find much info on lungworm in dogs

What treatment was used ?

The success rate ?

Symptoms ?

How long for medication to work ect

Thank you in advance

From a very worried puppy owner , I hope I haven't left anything out.