Sick as a dog
Parasite found in local dog
Darlene Maclean took ownership of Cooper last October, saying he was too cute to pass up.
Maclean noticed he had a cough and decided to call the vet.
“The coughing would happen when he wasn’t even active. I knew something was wrong.”
Dr. Rebecca Korven, of the Celtic Creatures Veterinary Clinic, decided to test Cooper for fox lungworm and after several fecal tests, Cooper had been diagnosed positive.
Fox lungworm is parasite that builds up oils in the back of the throat and can cause the dog to have chronic coughing.
In some cases it will cause animals to cough out phlegm and build-up.
Korven says the worm is not fatal.
“From all cases of lungworm, none of them have lead to a death by my knowledge.” Korven also said the parasite cannot be transmitted to humans.
The worm goes through many steps before it gets to the dog.
It begins when a fox will cough on grass from a lawn. That makes the grass or anything around it contaminated with the worm.
Once the dog goes out on the lawn and eats the grass or any slugs around the area, the dog contracts it.
The worm lives in the dog for a few months before symptoms begin to show, said Korven.
“A lot of the time symptoms begin in the winter, but the dog will get the worm sometime in the fall or summer. Foxes are all around Cape Breton especially during that time.”
Cooper was the first dog screened by the clinic in the Bayer Lungworm identification program.
The program is to help distinguish how common it is in certain areas.
They recently did the same study in P.E.I. where 21 per cent of dogs that had a chronic cough screened positive for lungworm.
“The program will also give us a better chance to fully understand everything about this parasite.
If your dog has had a chronic cough for at least two weeks and hasn’t taken a de-wormer during that time, Bayer is offering free screenings for their studies to see if your pet has it or not.
Maclean is happy to report Cooper is doing great after getting the de-wormer treatment.
Because she lives in the country, she continues to apply the medicine just in case.
“Living out in the country he’s so prone to catching it again. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Maclean.
And Cooper is back to his old self, she said.
“He’s such a sociable little guy. Everyone falls in love with him the moment they meet him.”