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Lungworm

Ingesting a slime trail from snails can be enough for dogs and cats to develop lungworms that can cause a serious pneumonia. The animals cough and have

difficulty breathing, sometimes so severe that death follows.

However, the parasites are difficult to recognize for both veterinarian and owner. The extent to which lungworms occur is

 underestimated. The diagnosis is often

 made too late because it is not thought of earlier.

Thus the most important lungworm in dogs in the Netherlands is called the French heartworm. That name is a corruption of the Latin name Angiostrongylus

vasorum; a worm of which several cases are known in France. We now know that this worm also occurs with us. It is being investigated how that happens.

Lungworms are parasites and need the body of a dog or cat to be able to reproduce. They are in snails and in animals that eat snails such as rodents, birds or

frogs. If dogs and cats eat those, they can ingest live lungworms.

Lungworms cannot be seen on an X-ray. Therefore, in case of pneumonia, a faecal test is routinely performed.

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