Lungworm: are pets protected?

National Pet Month coincides with the start of the gardening season, and with that in mind, pest control supplier STV has issued a reminder of the importance of protecting pets, as well as plants, from parasitic damage, by using pet-friendly slug and snail control.

Lungworm is a growing threat for Britain’s dogs, and with 84 per cent of owners unable to identify the symptoms, now is as good a time as any to get protection.

Equally as predictable as the summertime showers are the slugs and snails that they bring out, which, for the nation’s dogs, could mean bad news. Garden slugs and snails can carry the disease, which STV says “has become so widespread it cannot be controlled using worming tablets.”

Pets only need to come into contact with a lungworm host to be at risk of infection, which could result in coughing, breathing problems, weight loss and, if it attacks the heart and lungs, death.