My puppy spit out a snail after deworming. Is it lungworm? What now?

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.

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.

Unless you have slug bait down in the vicinity i would not be immediately concerned. Slugs and snails can carry lungworm and monthly prevention should be considered to prevent infection in any dogs which may be exposed in affected areas, your vets office can advise on local infection risks

Poor guy. Prognosis for lung worms can be favorable if treated early and if there are no other complications such as a thromboembolism, severe allergic reaction to the worms as they die off, or other underlying condition occurring simultaneously. Therefore if you notice your pet ever getting worse (breathing gets worse, not eating, vomiting, etc) then you should have him re-evaluated by your vet right away. Lung worms are not transferable to people. A full recovery is possible if all goes well with the medication and no other complications arise. Best of luck with your pet and I hope he gets well soon.

I would wait 2 weeks prior to applying advocate which has a month retrospective action on lungworm ingestion. If you wish, you have it exchanged with a tablet for lungworm, I think your vet will probably exchange it for you without any problem. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach !

If refused frontline protection has been effective for fleas and ticks, i recommend you add a separate oral worm tablet which covers lungworm such as milbemax. Speak to your vets office to determine if lungworm is present in your area as you may be a very small risk