Lungworm???

[Vanilla_Rat]

I just found out that my foster dog ~Andy~ may have lung worm,but he don't have a vet appointment till the first week in December.They are all booked.

My question is,is lungworm contagious? Will it affect humans or even my small animals? What about if a friend is over and petting him and whatnot,will they bring the lungworm back to their pets???

I looked online and couldn't find anything!!!
He may not have it,but there is a very big possibility!

[Jade]

Companion Animal Parasite Council

It looks like it is shed in feces and maybe while they cough, so make sure you clean up after Andy goes potty and wash hands and such thoroughly, along with keeping him isolated from other dogs.

Quote: Public Health Considerations Most of these nematodes do not infect people. There have been rare reports of human infections with E.S aerophilus in Russia and Morocco.

[Vanilla_Rat]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jade Companion Animal Parasite Council It looks like it is shed in feces and maybe while they cough, so make sure you clean up after Andy goes potty and wash hands and such thoroughly, along with keeping him isolated from other dogs. [/list]

Thanks.
I have to keep him away from other dogs anyway,as he doesn't get along with others.He likes to be the only dog.

As for the picking up after him,don't worry...thats a law here in the city! We have to clean up after our dogs,so I am used to that anyway.

Thanks for the info.
I should be fine till he gets to the vet then.

[Vanilla_Rat]

So Andy definatly has some kind of worm.This morning when he did his buisness,there was a white worm that was very alive in his poop.

I have no clue what kind it is though,but when I just looked online to try and figure it out...the only thing that looked somewhat like it was a hookworm.

Are there any other worms other than hook,lung,round and heartworm? This thing was white,only about 2-3inches and fat...it was not skinny.It also had a weird shaped head that looked like a hookworm.I am not so sure tho,as the pictures of hookworm were skinny,except for the head.

Andy has been coughing alot too,which is a sign of lungworm.So I am super confused.


Anyway I contacted Beagle Paws right away,because his vet appointment isn't till the first week in December,but maybe they could get him in a little early.

[Jade]

This site is pretty comprehensive:
Intestinal Worms in Dogs and Cats at ThePetCenter.com

I don't think lungworms are visible to the naked eye in stool, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

[HappyDancer]

when I was looking it all up last night the article said that alot of the time if they have lung worm they have other worms as well...I hope the poor boy is ok, and that they can get him into a vet soon give him much love from me

[Vanilla_Rat]

Thanks for the link Stephanie.
I am waiting to hear back from BP to see what can be done and about collecting a stool sample.

Poor Andy,has been coughing all day.That cannot be a good thing...whether worm related or not!