Lungworm

[Sowa]

Zeke has been coughing a lot lately, and I'm worried. I had him to the vet recently and they weren't too sure. We got medication for lungworm and nasal mites. I started him on the medication maybe 2-3 days ago. I think he's getting worse, not better. I'm calling the vet tomorrow but I'm worrying like crazy right now so does anyone know if it just takes a while to treat if it's lung worm? I'm not sure which meds are for what...but I have 3 bigger tablets that he takes once a week for 3 weeks. And smaller tablets which he gets once a day.

I was looking on this website:
http://www.lungworm.co.uk/scripts/pa...worm/index.php

He does seem to be depressed lately. Not eating as much, and normally he can run and keep up with Clover but I took them both out the other day and he just got really tired and stopped running. I thought it's just cause he's older. (9)

I don't think the vet was too sure it was lungworm, but wanted to treat just in case. I don't think it's kennel cough. He usually has "fits" for maybe 10-15 seconds. Then he'll be ok for a while. It just seems to be lasting longer.

I'm trying to get a video of it but of course now that I'm trying he's not doing it. I don't know how to explain it other then he's coughing a lot. I'm praying it's nothing but since I've lost 2 pets in the last 3 months I'm thinking the worst. When I took Kiba in a couple weeks ago I was thinking she'd be fine and she wasn't.

Sorry to panic.

[chocolatepuppy]

I don't know anything about lungworm, but am sending pawsitive thoughts and prayers for Zeke to be better soon.

[luvofallhorses]

I don't think I heard of lungworms..are you sure it's not heartworms? Either way I hope he feels better soon.

[cassiesmom]

Big prayers and well wishes for Zeke!

[Karen]

Does he eat slugs or snails? That's how they get lungworm ...

[Sowa]

That's what the vet says. There are a lot around here...well there were. I've never seen him eat them but I really don't know for sure. The vet told me it would be at least a week before I'd notice a difference in his coughing. The meds he's on should fix kennel cough too if he has that. If he's not better next week I'll need x-rays done...I've had so many vet bills lately it's crazy. I'm still paying off Kiba's bill too. It was a great time to lose my job lol. I just hope he get's better. That's all that matters.

[Varga]

I don't want to freak you out. But did your vet listen carefully to your dogs heart? Coughing can be a sign of heart disease. The coughing is what finally made my vet realize that my old dog, Tiki, was suffering from heart failure. I have no idea why he couldn't pick up on that earlier. Shortly before he finally discovered the real cause for the coughing, he thought the coughing came from damage to the throat caused by a collar, so basically his treatment was "buy a harness"... So yeah. I don't know if my vet was grossly incompetent or if heart failure really is that difficult to determine. The earlier it's detected however, the easier it is to treat.

Prior to that (some months before the coughing got bad) she was often restless but not knowing why, the vet and I just assumed it was arthritis making it difficult for her to settle down at night because of pain. Reading about heart failure later on, I realized that restlessness can be a symptom of that, since lying down and putting pressure on the chest causes the dog discomfort. Being out of breath and less energetic is also a sign of heart failure but with Tiki that didn't really show until at the very end, which is pretty unusual. But she was always a very tough and energetic dog, so I suppose she just didn't show signs of slowing down until the problem had progressed as much as it did.

Again, I don't want to paint the devil on the wall and scare you unnecessarily but I just wanted to mention the possibility of heart disease, so you can make absolutely sure that your vet checks for that.

*hugs to Zeke*

[Karen]

In the quick research I did, lungworm is very common in Atlantic Canada, though I'd never heard of it down here. I do hope Zeke feels better soon, and all the medicine does the trick!

[Sowa]

If he's not better next week I'll have to take him in, I'll ask the vet then about heart problems. I hope it's not that.