By Anna Sexton
Blood tests reveal parasitic worm
Lungworm may not be a familiar or pleasant-sounding term but a Bletchley couple know only too well how the parasite causes a life-threatening illness in dogs.
Terri Wyley and husband Sam took their Jack Russell cross Bono for a routine castration but on his return became worried when his wounds would not stop bleeding.
Terri, 59, said: "We rushed him to Walnut Tree veterinary hospital. He needed a transfusion and it didn't look good."
After examination vets first suspected a canine form of haemophilia – a disease which causes failure of the animal's blood clotting ability.
But tests proved the 16-month-old dog did not have the illness, leaving the vets more confounded.
"After a few days of close supervision one vet suggested lungworm – a long shot because they had never seen a case of it in Milton Keynes. But they tested his blood again and found he had it," said Terri.
"They gave him a topical treatment on his neck and he gradually stopped bleeding. Three more monthly treatments on and he's back to his normal self."
