My dog has lungworms. What's the prognosis? Can humans get them?

Dogs can become infected by ingesting infected slugs or snails or by coming in to contact with the saliva or stool of infected dogs. Depending on the severity of the infection, treatment may last as long as 2 months. Repeated doses of the dewormer may be indicated. You will know the infection is resolved after a fecal exam comes back as "negative" or containing no parasites or parasite eggs.

What you saw is not a lungworm, you saw a snail/slug that could potentially carry a lungworm. it takes several months for this worm to develop so even if he got infested it can still be treated with Ivermectin or Advocate spot on for example.

Any change in breathing warrants a trip to the vet for a recheck. While it’s possible that there’s nothing wrong, you could also be noticing the beginning of a complication of heartworm treatment. Pulmonary thromboembolism can occur when dying worms become lodged in the small blood vessels of the lungs. Your vet might want to take a chest x-ray.

Coughing can occur from the damage the worms are doing to the lungs. It could also be caused by the worms dying off and causing inflammation, although I'm not sure how likely that is with the slow kill method. I would recommend keeping him crated and resting (no walks, no running, no excitement -- basically no getting his heart rate up) until he can get to the vet for evaluation, which will likely include chest x-rays and a discussion of if he needs anti-inflammatory medication and cage rest to get through this treatment. Wishing you and Bug (love his name!) the best of luck.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Ziggy loves the snails and slugs huh? Advocate is labeled to treat lungworms outside of the US. We have Advantage Multi and if I'm correct I don't think it's labeled for that here. So it appears that one of the active ingredients (imidacloprid or moxidectin) treats lungworms. Other than being a gross habit hopefully you won't see any problems with his odd taste in treats. It is possible that the medicine doesn't kill 100% of anything that it is labeled for so keep a close eye on him for coughing or other signs related to vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Good luck with Ziggy. Maybe he will grow out of this.

Lungworm larvae do not live in the slime of a slug. Your dog would need to eat the slug to get infected with lungworm (angiostrongylus spp) and the slug would need to be infected as well. I would not worry about it.

Usually not, even though those in the picture can be tapeworms. A check up could easily confirm this clinical suspicion and treat appropriately. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.