We all want to keep our dog safe. As extended members of the family we can become very attached to them. We want what's best for our pet and may think we do everything we can to keep them from harm, but many dog owners are unaware of a potentially fatal threat which could be lurking in our gardens, or out on a favourite walk. 

A deadly infection caused by a parasite is making its way through the British Isles. A significant number of dog-owners admit they that don't know anything about lungworm (A. vasorum) and half have never heard of it. The life-threatening infection is carried by slugs and snails which can then be eaten by dogs, either on purpose or by accident. Symptoms of the disease can be many and varied and can be confused with other illnesses, so it's important to be clued up on this spreading threat.

So what can you do to protect your pooch? Fortunately we have pet veterinarian Joe Inglis who will be live online in our web TV show to answer all your questions on protecting your dog. So submit a question now or tune in on the day – your puppy will thank you later!

For more information visit www.lungworm.co.uk

H: Mark Rise, host
A: Joe Inglis ,vet

H: Hello and welcome to the Petcare Show, I’m Mark Rise. Dogs have been man’s best friend for centuries and for many of us it’s hard to imagine life without them. After all we do treat them as part of the family, and just like human members of the family keeping them healthy and safe from disease is a priority. One growing threat to our dogs health is lungworm which has been spreading across the country over the past few years. Well joining me today to tell us all about this disease and more importantly how to protect your pet from it is television vet Joe Inglis. Joe, thank you for joining us.

A: No problem

H: This is quite worrying because lungworm is on the rise but I don’t think many people have even heard of it

A: No it is, and it’s actually a situation that quite a lot of vets haven’t heard of it. It’s been in the country for probably 30 or 40 years or so, but in quite limited areas and the prevalence has been very low and it causes quite vague symptoms so a lot of vets don’t necessarily – it doesn’t feature on their radar of things to think about, and the same with a lot of dog owners, you know surveys show that you know only about 50% of dog owners have ever heard of lungworm, yet this condition is probably the most serious of all the parasitic conditions that we have in this country because it can be fatal

H: Well we’ll find out more about lungworm in just a moment but Joe has bought a friend with him today – this is Rolo, there he is, look at that, aah

A: There you go

H: And we’ll talk more about Rolo in just a moment’s time. But we are live today, so you can add your question to our chats today. You’ll notice that on the box you’re watching us live on you will see a little box to put your question in. Pop your name in there as well and it will come up there on the screen in the studio. So a little later, Joe, we’ll talk about general care for your pet, because we’ve got a few questions in about that, but let’s go back to lungworm – you said it was difficult to spot, you said that vets find it difficult to spot as well. So what should we be looking for?

A: Well there’s a range of symptoms it can cause – I mean basically what happens with the parasite is that it’s harboured in slugs and snails and then when dogs eat slugs and snails – and that’s often an accidental ingestion, so if they’re sort of licking round their dog bowl and a little tiny slug has got on there, they’ll eat it up -

H: To be fair my dog runs into the garden at night time and will actually come in with a worm or a slug in her mouth. She actually quite likes them but they’re horrid things

A: Yes I mean some people obviously will say my dog is a slug eater, but a lot of people won’t be aware that their dogs are accidentally eating them, whether it’s on a toy that’s left in the garden for example. So then the parasite gets ingested and in a dog it then spreads out with lavae inside the dog – spread out and they go to the lungs, they go to the heart, and they go out through the body, and they cause a range of symptoms, and probably the most serious are respiratory symptoms because it gets to the lungs it can cause coughing, shortness of breath and so on, and that can potentially be fatal. And it can also cause bleeding problems, and one of the things you would look out for, if Rolo will demonstrate – if you get clotting problems caused by this parasite, it little haemorrhages on places like the gums, so if you see Rolo hasn’t got any but what you’ll see will be little red blotches in there which are little bits of bleeding underneath the gums, and that would be a sign that your dog’s got a problem clotting blood, and one of the causes of that – there are lots of causes – but one of them is lungworm, and apart from those specific symptoms, it causes a sort of general lethargy and weakness, depression, weight loss -

H: Which of course can be a lot of different things as well, so we’re talking check-up time

A: Yes I mean I think - well obviously if your dog is unwell and lethargic and so on, you’d want to take him to the vet anyway, and hopefully your vet would feature on his list of diagnosis would be lungworm, especially if they’re in an area where there’s been a lot of cases, and they would look at either diagnosing that, doing some tests to diagnose it, or just treat it straightaway on suspicion. I mean obviously if your dog’s got the more serious symptom such as the bleeding or the respiratory symptoms then you know treatment is a real priority because if it’s left untreated, it’s a fatal disease, and that’s the very important thing to get across -

H: Exactly. We’ll talk about treatment in just a second, but we have a video prepared for you, it’s a little animated video of an animated worm and an animated dog. Take a look at this, it will explain a little bit more about lungworm

Video Footage

Slugs and snails act as intermediate hosts for the lungworm, Angiostrongylus vasorum, harbouring the third stage larvae in their tissues. If a dog eats an infected slug or a snail, the worm larvae are freed by digestion of the mollusc in the dog’s intestine. The larvae penetrate the gut wall and move to the regional lymph nodes where two further molts take place. The fifth stage larvae then migrate via the liver and cordal vena cava to the right ventricle. Ten days post-infection the larvae have reached the right ventricle and pulmonary artery, where they develop to maturity. The adult females produce eggs in which the first stage larvae develop. These eggs travel via the bloodstream to the lungs, where the presence of the parasite causes its pathogenic effects. The first stage larvae hatch out of the lung capillary beds and penetrate the connective tissues. This results in a marked inflammatory reaction with the development of granulomas, haemorrhage and fibrosis. The larvae cross into the alveoli, and migrate to the trachea. Then they are coughed up and subsequently swallowed. The larvae travel along the intestines and are excreted with the faeces into the environment. Slugs and snails that come into contact with the faeces are infected with these first stage larvae via oral exposure. Inside the mollusc development to the infected third larval stage occurs and a new cycle begins.

H: So a new disease but not necessarily completely new and we’ll find out more about the treatment of it. Joe, this disease has been around but it’s not necessarily been one that people have been aware of?

A: No, it hasn’t and I think it is a disease which is on the rise. It’s spreading across the United Kingdom in particular so it used to be confined to sort of hot spots in and around the south east and south Wales and so on, but now I think with warmer, wetter weather, with climate change, it’s actually spreading across the country and we’ve had cases reported as far north as Scotland now. So really dogs across the country are at risk of this disease, and it’s in a lot of other countries as well, and it’s hard to gauge the exact prevalence of it, but there are certainly thousands of cases every year and about 16% of vets report that they’ve seen a case, definitely, and another 10% say they suspect they’ve seen a case, so you’ve got a quarter of vets up and down the United Kingdom saying they’ve probably seen a case of this, and there’s probably a lot more which are undetected, so those dogs which are perhaps, you know a bit unwell and a bit lethargic but don’t go on to develop the full-blown disease, perhaps because they’re already treated with the treatment which is a flea product. You know I think the actual prevalence is probably much higher than we think

H: Jane sent us a question, thank you for your question Jane, live into the studio, saying “should I take my dog for a check-up even if her gums look ok?”

A: Definitely should yes because the gums, you know as we demonstrated earlier with the haemorrhages on the gums, that’s only one of the symptoms you know, there’s lots of other symptoms and like many conditions, every dog is an individual and some dogs probably won’t show the problem with the gums and some will have more breathing trouble and some will just be lethargic so no, definitely even if it is just the gums look absolutely fine, if you’re worried, take your dog to the vet

H: Indeed. You were talking about climate change and the way that our soil and our gardens are actually growing at different times. We’ve had one comment it from Thomas Whitman who says “as a gardener slugs and snails have to be eradicated”, and we are saying that’s the best way of actually keeping your dog safe, to eradicate them

A: Yes

H: But it’s a question of the best way. Thomas actually says he reckons to pour some ale into a flower pot drip tray and leave it by the edge of your vegetable patch. The snails and slugs are attracted to it, and then you can get rid of it.” That is quite a good tip

A: We’ll just have some alcoholic slugs and snails running around in your garden don’t you – yes but that’s obviously a gardener’s issue but it is definitely part of a multi-prong prevention program and we’ll come onto treatment shortly but really what you want to be doing is minimising exposure, so making sure your dogs don’t have the chance to get hold of slugs and snails, and obviously if they’re like your dog who runs out looking for them –

H: Loves it

A: It’s hard to do but if you can try and prevent there being a build-up of slugs and snails in your garden, don’t leave toys and food bowls and water bowls outside where slugs and snails can get into them, that’s important. Yes and if you’ve got some spare beer kicking around that might be quite an effective way of doing it

H: Absolutely. A lot of people are wondering about treatment, and fair enough. Now my dog has worming tablets anyway, and has flea treatment anyway, but that’s not enough is it?

A: No because the worming treatments for traditional intestinal worms, you know tapeworm, roundworm, things like that do not work against lungworm, so it’s really important to get that across. They’ve got no effect against it, so if you think well I’m worming my dog every month or whatever, you know my dog should be safe from lungworm –

H: I have to say –

A: That’s not the case

H: When I knew I was coming in to do this, that’s exactly what I thought, I thought oh my dog’s probably protected then, but she’s not,

A: She’s not protected

H: This is something completely different

A: There is a completely separate treatment which is a prescription drug which actually also treats fleas, so it’s one that people are probably aware of, but there’s a specific one that your vet can talk to you about, which also does lungworm, it’s the treatment for lungworm, so if you’re at all suspicious then it’s worth treating for that and your vet’s the person to talk to about that

H: So it is actually – there is a relatively effective treatment out there

A: Oh yes, yes

H: So you can tackle this problem. Is that only when your dog actually has the disease or is this a prevention as well?

A: Technically the treattment is not a – is not a preventative measure, but effectively if you’re using that say every month, you’re very unlikely your dog’s going to get any symptoms from lungworm because effectively you’ll be treating it – as soon as they become infected they’ll be being treated, so if you keep up with that treatment, if you live in an area where there’s a lot of cases then it’s probably worth using that specific treatment for your general flea control and that will effectively, in conjunction with other measures that we’re talking about with slugs and snails, prevent your dog getting infected

H: You’re right in saying that we’ve had a fairly slow start to the spring, but now that we’re – spring is here –

A: Spring has sprung, yes

H: In the UK, the snails and the slugs are much more and we’ve got a plate of – fortunately dead snails, they’re not actually crawling around the place at the moment, and if you think about that actually that’s just from one night in the garden this week, so at the end of the day you can actually – you’re talking about a lot of snails in a relatively small space aren’t you?

A: Yes and I remember last year trying to do some gardening in our garden, small vegetable patch and it sort of it was fine and then one morning sort of came out and just decimated by slugs and snails, so you know they can breed very quickly and you don’t necessarily see them or aware of them, you know they’re there in the soil. They quite often inhabit places where dog walkers go as well, so the boundaries of fields and footpaths is very common site for them, so it may not just be in your garden but your dog’s out rooting about in the undergrowth, and you might not know that they’re actually picking up a snail and they might as I say do it accidentally as well, so I think more dogs than perhaps people think are at risk from this problem

H: Matt has sent us a question saying “I know my garden very well and I know that snails like hanging around the wet areas” – especially on plastic, yes they like moisture don’t they – “almost worth having a sweep every spring to stop their numbers increasing.” Yes I would have thought that’s a preventative measure

A: Yes everything you can do to prevent them, you know building up, in the environment where your dog is, whether it’s in your garden or you know if you’re out on a walk and things the better, definitely

H: Let’s turn to general dog care now, can you give us some tips on generally keeping our dogs in tip top condition?

A: That’s a wide subject isn’t it? Yes well there’s lots of things – I mean personally you know I think good dog health starts with diet, so make sure you’re feeding them a really decent diet and try to avoid those diets with sort of artificial additives and things like that and to go for a nice, natural diet. Make sure they get regular vetinary attention, so you know annual check-ups to have their vaccinations, general worming treatments and then obviously treatments for lungworm, you know if that’s appropriate as well, flea treatment. Os making sure they’re under regular vetinary supervision because your vet, the vaccination visits will not just be to vaccinate your dog against things like distemper, they’ll also be – your vet can check-up your dog and spot problems such as dental problems or lumps and bumps and so on

H: And as an owner, is there anything – I mean we spot when our dog is lethargic, we spot when they’re not eating – is there anything else we should look out for as a general sign of – maybe needing to take them to the vet?

A: There are an awful lot of them but I mean certainly the coat – I mean Rolo whose sort of out of sight down here, you know he’s got a lovely, shiny coat and that’s quite often a sign that things are not well with a dog, if their coat goes dull, and we call it stary coat, so it’s not all sleek and smooth, it’s kind of clumpy and just doesn’t look brilliant. Dull eyes, you know the classic of a dry nose

H: So the old adage, bright eyed bushy tailed –

A: It’s true

H: Is absolutely right

A: Very true yes, and you know I think most people, if you suspect there’s something wrong with your dog there probably is, and it’s worth a trip to your vet’s because people are so in tune with their dogs, and you’ll know - something silly if the dog hasn’t eaten his dinner or something you just think he’s not quite himself, you know it’s always hard to know whether you should rush the dog to the vet or not, but you know it’s generally better to be safe than sorry, and if you think there’s something wrong then it’s worth a check-up

H: Oh Rolo’s off

A: He’s heard the word “check-up” and he’s off! Actually he’s heading towards the tin of chocolates which is not a great idea

H: Not good for you, but chocolate’s bad for dogs

A: Chocolate’s bad for dogs, yes

H: Let’s just go back to lungworm just for a second, so the things that we ought to be looking for, if we have a garden that is prevalent for slugs and snails, watch out for –

A: Yes

H: Watch if your dog is actually eating them, and then in terms of symptoms

A: So the main symptom to look out for are breathing problems, so it might be a cough, it might be breathlessness, blood clotting problems, so we talked about haemorrhaging on the gums, and other parts, unexplained bleeding. General lethargy, weakness, depression, weight loss – all those kind of symptoms. And you can find out a lot more about the whole condition and a more detailed list of symptoms at the website lungworm.co.uk and that will give you all that kind of information.

H: So for preventative and treatment your dog should go to the vet if you’re in any way worried. I think I will take mine and I will go and talk to lungworm – talk to my vet because I know that my dog eats slugs, so you know –

A: Yes

H: So at the end of the day I hadn’t realised that was the risk

A: No and I think in your case and other dogs like it, they should be talking to the vets and probably having the treatment, which isn’t a preventative, it’s a curative treatment, but having that regularly and that will effectively prevent any risk of problems

H: Joe Inglis thank you very much indeed for joining us

A: Pleasure

H: As Joe says, for more information you can go to the website t find out more, it’s www.lungworm.co.uk. Thanks for joining us and we’ll see you again very soon