Dog owners unaware of deadly disease across the UK

Lungworm is a deadly disease in dogs

Millions of dog owners are unaware of a deadly disease spreading across the UK, according to new research. 
 
While half (52%) of dog owners are aware of lungworm, 39% admitted they didn’t know exactly what it is, and a further 1 in 10, mostly younger respondents, were unaware of lungworm entirely.
 
Thousands of cases of the potentially fatal disease have been reported across the UK, with a fifth of the dog owners saying that their own dog has had a case of lungworm, while a quarter know a dog who has had a case of it.
 
A fifth (19%) of dog owners whose pet has actually had a case of lungworm admitted they still weren’t entirely sure what it is, while 5% didn’t know at all.
 
Dog owners in the north east of England (40%) and in London (39%) are most likely to have directly experienced lungworm in their pet.
 
Vets4Pets, who carried out the research, is now working with Bayer to help inform owners of the dangers of this deadly parasite.
 
Dr Huw Stacey, vet and director of clinical services at Vets4Pets, said, “Our research has discovered that awareness, and particularly knowledge, of the parasite lungworm is still pretty low amongst UK dog owners.
 
“It appears that many people still don’t fully understand how their dogs can contract it, what threats it poses and how important, and easy, prevention is."

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