It’s spring and this morning in the garden I found several large slugs crawling about.  Shortly after that I moved a rock in my garden and a frog came darting out from beneath it. Both send chills up my spine because I know they may carry A. Vasorum or lungworm.  It’s a dog killer of the worst kind and this is how we lost Petal, my beautiful bullie pup. http://mssint.com/petal/

I try to eradicate slugs in the garden. I don’t use slug pellets  as these cause many dog deaths (even if they claim to be pet safe).  I use a liquid slug killer that I pour around area’s and plants that slugs are attracted to. But it’s a losing battle. Each year they are back again.

I can’t kill frogs…I just can’t.  I catch them and relocate them to our local canal.  But again - each year they arrive again.

I have HUGE anxieties about losing another dog to this. I deworm my dogs religiously.  However, recently when Ruby possibly picked up a mycotoxin I thought it might still be Vasorum. So fearful am I.  I asked my vet if it could possibly be?  He said could not guarentee it was not.

I have thought on that because it truly floored me. Why can it not be guarenteed?  I deworm - to the point that I often wonder what longerterm repercussions might be despite assurances I have had that there won’t be any.  I clean my garden of dog poop, I discourage foxes in my garden, I try to safely eradicate slugs (but fail), I relocate frogs…what can I do to protect my dogs further?  Even a blade of grass with snail slime on it may infect them. It is impossible to watch them all the time. I feel so powerless.

I ran a google search to see if it is possible for animals to build resistence to the dewormers I use. I was very  unhappy to discover that it seems this might be possible.  No one has ever told me this.  I am not sure what I have read is true - this is internet stuff - but I want to know this from my vet…is it possible?  I admit I am panicking, because if this is true, where do I go to find something to protect my dogs - short of leaving Surrey altogether and relocating to an area that still seems Vasorum free (and is not a rational solution as the bugger is spreading throughout the UK anyway) - but what to do?

All these thoughts because I’m still not 100% happy with the mycotoxin theory - although it does seem highly likely. I noticed today Ruby has some small bruising around her mouth & bruising might just be Vasorum related. Yes, I know I am overly vigilant and yes, I am neurotic, but I always say it’s the natural outcome of holding a dying dog  in your arms watching as the vasorum does horrendous, almost unspeakable things moment by horrible moment to it’s beautiful body. I have a pit of grief in me that can never go away about my pup’s loss.

That said, Ruby-girl is a rough player so it might just be she just banged her mouth, but I can’t take any chances.  I learned through losing Petal that it is vital not to discount the smallest things with lungworm. The slightest cough, the slightest bruising, the slightest changes might mean it is active in a dogs system. It can be so so subtle one could convince oneself it’s just this or that and it will go away. Problem is with Vasorum, things don’t always blow up into clearly visible signs - until it is too late.   I’m taking Ruwbs  to the vet to get this latest thing checked out and to ask my questions…until I have explanations I can hopefully work with.

I am also going to think on using Milbemax this time to deworm her. It’s one I have not used before so if there is a resistance in her - hopefully this will take care of it.

All these thoughts have made me realise if I thought staying on top of this worm just meant regular deworming - I might just be very  mistaken.

I keep tabs on what vasorum is doing around the UK in as much as I can. I see it is still being described as rare. Please tell me - what is with this RARE thing????  Is this the way we describe anything we don’t really understand or summat?  Or perhaps it is that no one wants to scare anyone, kind of like trying to provide a sheltered environment to shield them from the ghastly ever encroaching truth?  Or is it that it is so unpleasant that if we just call it rare instead it might go away?  I honestly get perplexed and frustrated  by this ‘rare’ thing over here in the UK.

It’s not about ’scaring’ anyone it’s about enlightening them, warning them to watch their dogs the best they can,to encourage them to notice anything that might be symptomatic & to deworm (it’s all we have got to fight this thing).

This ‘rare’ nonsense might also mean that research about it is regarded as low priority, which is not a good thing at all. Frankly I don’t buy ‘rare’  for a nano-second.  It may not be all pervasive, it may not be in certain areas (yet) - but it is dangerous. It is life threatening to the dogs we love, and in the UK we need to get real about it now.

We need more research and exposure.  We need to know if the drugs we give our dogs each month are going to help them, how fast they may become resistant to them,  where it is spreading, where it is currently, how many dogs have recently died in an area that has it. We need to know if there is anyway to safely stop it spreading aside from what we already know and to develop much better diagnostics that are affordable for all dog owners. Stool testing is not reliable enough. I’ll still try to do it, but at the end of the day anything not 100% accurate does not fill me with confidence. And it’s very  difficult to do if like Ruby, one’s dog conceals her poop time and her poop area. Lung x-rays are unaffordable for many and it would certainly stretch us heavily this month.

We need to inject money into Angiostrongylus Research like there is no tomorrow -  I know of a  unit in the UK doing amazing work but they need funds desperately.  Right now we have stool testing and 3 drug possibilities and that’s it.  For a nation of dog lovers,  it’s actually appalling. :-(

I think I am going to look at what I can do to raise money to help the research unit.  Please if you have lost your dog to A Vasorum, or if you are willing to  donate anything for research purposes,  I’d be very grateful to hear from you.

Please write to me: jane@weightloss-surgery.com

Here is a website with some basic info about A Vasorum:

http://www.lungworm.co.uk/scripts/pages/en/home.php