Dog near snail: Lungworm risk? Should I switch parasite prevention?

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.

The dog should be heartworm tested and then started on a prevention, if negative. Heartgard, Interceptor, and Sentinel are all oral medications that work well with preventing heartworms. You should also treat him with a flea/tick prevention. I like oral NexGard, Bravecto, or Credellio instead of the topical spot on solutions.

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.

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.

You are quite welcome for the help! Unfortunately, the flea, tick, and worm medication does not protect against heartworms, that requires a different medication. Signs of heartworm include a dry cough, lethargy, weight loss, anorexia, difficulty breathing, bulging chest, and collapse. Your vet can do a blood test to diagnose if she does have heartworm or not. Have a great day :-)

Flea and tick products: Spot-ons: Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) Heart worm : Here is a comparison chart: https://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=580 Usually there are no long term side effects.

The dewormer i usually recommend is called Drontal plus, bear in mind that unlike the flea/tick products, dewormers do not protect your dog from future infestation, it only kills the worms on spot. for fleas and ticks i usually recommend Bravecto tablet or Advantix spot on. all these medications are considered to be high quality and safe.