AN Altrincham vet is warning dog owners in Altrincham to be careful after a family almost lost their beloved pet to a rare and deadly disease linked to slugs and snails.

Vet Dylan Payne, of Willows Veterinary Group, which runs Clarendon Veterinary Surgery, Altrincham, is part of the team helping eight-year-old black Labrador Boo recover from lungworm.

The condition is linked to parasites found in common garden slugs and snails. Ingested, the tiny parasites make their way to a dog’s heart and lungs and can prove fatal.

With very few reported cases of lungworm in the north west, Mr Payne is now urging all dog owners to be aware of the symptoms of the disease and to consider a preventative approach through regular worming.

He said lungworm is usually found in the south of England but it is thought that with weather becoming warmer in the north, more incidents of lungworm have been found.

He added: “Lungworm is not very common and only affects dogs and not people, but as the climate gets warmer, we do expect to see more cases.

“Typical symptoms of the infection in dogs include coughing, loss of appetite, losing weight and becoming generally unwell. Fortunately, lungworm is a preventable disease and prevention really is the best approach.

“The best thing to do is to talk to your vet about methods to protect your dog through regular worming and if you are concerned in anyway about your dog’s health, do get them checked out.”

Boo’s owner, Mike Cockburn, 51, from West Kirby, on the Wirral, believes she may have picked the condition up by eating windfall apples which she is known to scavenge while out on a walk.

Mr Cockburn said the first he really knew there was a problem was when he took Boo to see Mr Payne and his team at Acorn Veterinary Centre after she started to rapidly lose weight.

He said: “We have had Boo since she was a pup and like all Labradors, she has an insatiable appetite. But she suddenly couldn’t eat properly which was strange – she was just licking her food and couldn’t seem to chew or crunch anything hard. We changed her food to chicken and rice, and whereas she would normally wolf this down, it took her two or three goes to eat it.”

The team at Acorn organised for her to have a full scan and noticed what they thought was a spot on her lung and referred her to specialists at Leahurst Veterinary Hospital for more tests.

At first, it was suspected she had thoracic cancer but further tests detected the spot on her lung again and lungworm was later diagnosed.

Boo was immediately put on a two-week course of strong wormer and to the relief of Mr Cockburn and his family, was allowed home to recover under the care of the Acorn vet team.

He said: “Within a few days Boo started to eat properly and get back her strength. Over the past six weeks she has pretty much put most of her weight back on and is almost back to her old, playful self.

"She can still get a little stiff after a walk and has regular check-ups at the surgery, but she is definitely on the mend.”

Having seen the impact of lungworm first-hand, Mr Cockburn is now urging other dog owners to check their pet’s worming programme.

“It is so important to stay up-to-date with your dog’s regular worming as prevention is better than trying to cure. We were worming Boo regularly but I would definitely urge dog owners to speak to their vets about all the worming options which are available to guard against this awful disease.”