• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

Does my dog need heart worm preventative in the UK? In Europe?

Soushiruiuma

Well-known member
Having come from the tropics, I worry when the monthly dose is a day late. But Guinness' babysitter has never heard of heart worm (?), and has some experience with dogs. So is it safe to let a dog go without heart worm medication? He's in south/west-ish England, in a small town south of Bristol.
 
Do they have mosquito's there? If so.... I certainly would. LOL... I honestly don't know of any place that doesn't ! Personally.. I like to keep my dogs on it year round for zoonotic parasites..just to be safe.
 
I feel like they must have mosquitoes, at least a little. But if the mosquitoes aren't carrying heart worms then he won't pick it up.
 
I feel like they must have mosquitoes, at least a little. But if the mosquitoes aren't carrying heart worms then he won't pick it up.



Well you're going to need a vet there anyway, seem like that's a good question for one. I have no idea. Heck I didn't know some countries were rabies free until I read someone on CT nervous about there dog getting a vac to travel. Living in the US rabies is required by law in most places so I was confused.

I hope things are going well and you are working on getting settled alright.

Melissa
 
No we don't have heartworm in the UK, so no need for monthly preventatives like you would give in the US.

Melissa,

Most countries of the world have rabies and there are only a few, including Britain, the Antarctic and Australia, which have been declared rabies free.
But anyone bitten by a bat in the UK should still seek medical advice.


The last case of rabies in the UK was in November 2002, when a conservation worker was bitten by a rabid bat.


But there have been no cases in the UK of rabies being transmitted by a dog over the last 100 years.



Yes we do have mosquitoes [but they don't carry heartworm], in Scotland we also Midges - tiny swarming insects that occur across large portions of the globe. However, the particular sub-species of the midge that is found in Scotland is known as the Highland Midge, or "Culicoides Impunctatus": and it has a reputation for being more ferocious than most.. |They can occur in huge clouds which go into your eyes, mouth, nose etc - extremely unpleasant.

IN the middle ages, they used to tie people naked to a tree and leave them out to be bitten - it drove people insane :( [they still do it to really irritating visitors - just joking!]


We do now have lungworm http://www.lungworm.co.uk/ in some places.
 
Nicki- That is totally cool about rabies in dogs in the UK!! In my area, we have a few mostly wild animals pop up acting weird and are caught and tested (unfortunately there is no way to test unless the animal is dead) but sure enough is rabies positive. Last summer we had a few cases with foxes and raccoons. This is in my local area. One fox last summer bite several people leaving their homes in the mornings in the same neighborhood. Scary!!!! Those Midges sound awful... nice to know if I come to Scotland I will be sure to pack my Bee Keepers clothing :)

Melissa
 
in Scotland we also Midges - tiny swarming insects that occur across large portions of the globe. However, the particular sub-species of the midge that is found in Scotland is known as the Highland Midge, or "Culicoides Impunctatus": and it has a reputation for being more ferocious than most.. |They can occur in huge clouds which go into your eyes, mouth, nose etc - extremely unpleasant.

IN the middle ages, they used to tie people naked to a tree and leave them out to be bitten - it drove people insane :( [they still do it to really irritating visitors - just joking!]


We do now have lungworm http://www.lungworm.co.uk/ in some places.

Nicki... we have those in the U.S. too. We have a slang term for them ~ " No-See-Um gnats .
They are nasty little bugs!!
 
I thought the last case of rabies in the UK was just a few weeks ago? Someone had caught it abroad, and then became symptomatic while in the UK.

There hasn't been a case of rabies in southeast Louisiana in over 50 years. But distemper is extremely common, and shares many of the same symptoms (except hydrophobia). In most of the US rabies is endemic.

While an undergraduate in Colorado I wrote public health pamphlets about rabies, it's a very interesting disease; the vaccine was originally developed by Louis Pasteur.
 
Soushiruiuma wrote: I thought the last case of rabies in the UK was just a few weeks ago?

Yes, but that was contracted abroad. As Nicki said, a dog contracting rabies (usually abroad) has not passed it on to humans in the UK for a very long time, though there have been cases of rabid dogs in quarantine. This may change, of course, if people continue to try to smuggle animals into the UK because they can't be bothered to go through the Pet Passport procedure. Interestingly, the concern when the Channel Tunnel opened that rabid foxes and other wildlife might use it to enter the UK never seems to have been a problem. It helps being an island, and our anti-rabies action has always been pretty draconian - six months quarantine, and I can remember in my teens a rabid fox or dog (can't remember which) being found in, I think, Surrey, and the local wildlife was culled, as well as the affected animal, over a wide area. Effective vaccination has made all the difference.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
I haven't heard of a rabid dog in ages, in our area. Our local skunks often test positive for it, along with possums. For that reason, when I have to trap (with Havahart trap) one or the other, our local animal control will come get it and euthanize solely for the rabies problem. I think because not as many dogs run loose in our urban settings, there is less transmission from the wild animals.
 
We have found these absolutely invaluable http://www.midgejacket.co.uk/

It's only really June to September that the midges are a problem and mainly mornings and evenings, still warm, conditions are best for them :)

midgejacket.jpg
 
I haven't heard of a rabid dog in ages, in our area. Our local skunks often test positive for it, along with possums. For that reason, when I have to trap (with Havahart trap) one or the other, our local animal control will come get it and euthanize solely for the rabies problem. I think because not as many dogs run loose in our urban settings, there is less transmission from the wild animals.

If it is in your wildlife then rabies is endemic in your region. If a dog were to fight with a rabid skunk, raccoon, fox, etc they would be exposed. Vaccination would be absolutely neccesary in your area. Bats are also a common carrier of rabies in some regions of the US.

Rabies can infect all species of mammals, although very small mammals (mice, chipmunks, squirrels, etc.) are rarely found positive. They believe this is simply because these animals are unlikely to survive an attack from a rabid animal.
 
Soushiruiuma - don't worry, we are ALL required by law to have our dogs vaccinated against rabies.
 
Back
Top