Lungworm Prevention

Lungworm has become more common in recent years and has spread throughout London & the South East. Dogs can become infected through eating small slugs and snails that carry the worm larvae.

It is possible for a dog to be carrying the worms without any sign of being ill. Unfortunately, one serious effect can be to interfere with their blood clotting. This may not become apparent until either the dog injures themselves or they have surgery or dentistry.

We recommend a regular parasite program designed to control lungworm. If, however, your pet is not on such treatment, we would like you to be aware of the risks and actions you may take to
minimise them:

1. If surgery is to be carried out in the future treatment should be given to remove any existing infection. 

• An application / tablet dose of Advocate Spot-On®, Stronghold, Credelio Plus or NexGard Spectra® TWICE within the 2 months prior to your appointment 

OR

• Milbemax/Milbevet/Milpro weekly FOUR times within the 4 weeks prior to your appointment. These products are the only ones licensed to kill lungworms and are available on prescription.

2. If surgery is to be carried out at short notice (e.g emergency surgery), we are able to test our patients to look for the lungworm parasite. Whilst a negative test does not rule out the presence of the parasite fully, it means that we are much less likely to encounter issues with blood clotting at the time of surgery or dentistry.

• The cost for this test is £58

Please ensure your dog is up to date with lungworm treatment prior to the date of your surgery appointment. If your dog doesn’t have cover, we will discuss the risks and strongly recommend that a lungworm test is performed (see above). We may also offer to postpone the procedure until after your pet has had an effective lungworm treatment, or, rarely, will ask you to sign consent to treatment proceeding with the acceptance of the risks. 

If you have any questions, or want to check that your pet is covered, then please contact our reception team on 02082992388 or via email at info@theneighbourhoodvet.co.uk

For more information about lungworm, please visit mypetandi.com