Eating Slugs and Snails

[janeandy]

Google is getting some hammering since we brought Ryman home last week! The vet mentioned letting him out in the garden but with all this rain we have lots of snails/slugs and snail trails...can someone please let us newbies know what we should be doing to prevent our puppies getting ill from accidently eating one? I've read some form of tablet they can take to stop is it Lungworm? sorry if I've got the wrong diagnoses...perhaps someone can put us right? Thanks in advance!

[MY OSCAR]

Originally Posted by janeandy

Google is getting some hammering since we brought Ryman home last week! The vet mentioned letting him out in the garden but with all this rain we have lots of snails/slugs and snail trails...can someone please let us newbies know what we should be doing to prevent our puppies getting ill from accidently eating one? I've read some form of tablet they can take to stop is it Lungworm? sorry if I've got the wrong diagnoses...perhaps someone can put us right? Thanks in advance!

IT IS POSSIBLE YOUR DOG CAN GET SICK FROM EATING SLUGS.
THE EASIEST WAY TO PREVENT THIS IS TO FENCE OFF THE GARDEN SO HE CAN'T GET TO IT OR FENCE IN A SMALL SECTION OF THE YARD JUST FOR RYMAN.
SLUGS CAN TRANSMIT LUNGWORM TO YOUR DOG AND MAKE HIM VERY ILL.
. YOU MAY WANT TO SPEAK TO YOUR VET IF YOU SUSPECT RYMAN HAS EATEN THE SLUGS.

I FOUND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE :

Dogs do eat the most disgusting things and the majority of them don't cause too much of a problem. Your dog however does seem to have become quite sick, whether its from eating slugs, eating something else or even perhaps another cause entirely.
Eating the slugs and snails themselves doesn't often cause too many problems. However, if you or your neighbours have used slug bait then this may be toxic to dogs. The one that springs to mind immediately is one with the ingredient Metaldehyde which can cause extreme signs of vomiting and seizuring in dogs at toxic doses.This is often a characteristic green colour in nature. Check with your neighbours and your family to make sure no-one has been using any poisons or baits in the surrounding areas.
Another concern about eating slugs is that they can harbour the parasite lungworm which can pass through your dogs body into the lungs where they can cause severe problems, even leading to bleeding disorders and death.
Whenever your dog is showing severe signs of persistent vomiting or diarrhoea then I would always urge you to get your dog checked over by your vet. They might ask you questions about which parasite or worming treatment you regularly use, this is so that they can rule out a diagnosis of lungworm. They might also ask you about any slug baits, pellets or other chemicals you might have used on the garden. If you have used such compounds then its important to take the packet with you so that your vet can see the compound it contains and what concentration it is present in.
They might also want to check that the signs of sickness aren't related to something else entirely and do further investigations.
Keep us updated as to your dogs progress.

[Harrysmum]

I agree with MY OSCAR....please be very, very vigilant.

I know we've got a real glut of slugs and snails over here at the moment, it's a bit of a battle

If I were you, I'd only take your Littlie out into the garden on a lead - until he thoroughly knows the 'NO' command.

If, while on the lead, he tries to head towards one, say 'NO' and lead him away. I did this with our Harry....he now takes one look at them and actually skirts round them, gazing at their little poke-y faces all the time! Good luck! Sally + Harry x

[gracielove]

I can sympathize with the problem. Gracie seems to always have her nose to the ground looking for something unusual to put in her mouth. It's nice your getting rain since so much of our country is in drought conditions right now.
Until things dry out you might want to keep your little guy in a harness and on a leash. They slurp things up so quickly. If there is a way to fence off the slug areas that may be an option. I know when we had an unusually wet spring the slugs got huge and seemed to be every where. We live in kind of a wild area and we have cats that love to go out at night and catch things. I have to go out and check the back yard to make sure it is free of dead bodies before I let her out in the yard even on a leash. She loves bugs too so I am on honey bee look out at all times.

[janeandy]

OMG my back garden looks so inviting too.....who would think it harbours such killing machines...those damn slugs! your so right about them just scooping everything up and just running off with whatever it is! we have let him out this morning to sniff around after we'd checked for snails/slugs.I dont want to be over sensitive with him but then again I dont want him to be in any pain....the garden is such a safe place for a little dog I just have to stop being so jumpy I think otherwise I'll make him a nervous little thing! He even did a poop outside today! whit whoo....Thanks everyone for the replies!