Advice on wormy horse

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LauraL23

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I posted a few months back for some advice on worming as i did a routine wormer for tape worm (pramox) in october and found my horse had actually got a fair worm burden of a mixture of worms. I had been using worm counts throughout the year which had all come back clear at 0 so was very surprised when i found his field riddled with wormy poos the day after i'd wormed :o

On vets advice i re wormed a few weeks later with bimectim, and there were still worms coming through but no where near as many. I thought i had managed to sort it and as the whether turned cold i didn't think it would be as much as a problem. This was around november time and he was sharing a field with other horses, i have since moved him on his own.

Last week whilst poo picking i noticed more worms in his poos so wormed again with pramox and surprise surprise was greeted the next day with a hefty amount of visible worms in his poos. He is starting to lose condition which could well be due to time of year (he is by no means skinny just skinnier than he was!) his coat also looks dull, though again this could just be time of year. He does not seem himself though and has got very fussy with feed/hay/haylage etc so i have called the vet to come out Monday as i'm getting worried. The lady at the vets seemed surprised that i wanted a vet to come out for worms, as did people at the yard but i know he isn't right and don't know what else i can do.

Does anyone have any advice? Or have any views on what you would do in this situation?

Thanks
 
I'd be very careful about trying to clear out all the worms in one go. We had a horse given a wormer by injection - our farrier is convinced that is why she developed laminitis and we lost her. I'm still livid that the vet didn't diagnose the laminitis for months.
 
Have you identified which type of worms are in the droppings? According to the labs tapeworm does not show up routinely on faecal egg counts, which is why you're supposed to worm for it every year.
Is it another type of worm?
 
Sorry i didn't make it very clear, there was a small amount of tape worm but it was mostly a mixture of what i believe is round worm at the moment, there was a fair amount of pin worm after the first wormer but i am aware pin worm is not picked up on counts and is difficult to get rid of with wormers. I took some pictures on my phone and from pictures on the internet i believe it is round worm.
I did some research into round worm but was surprised as it does say it is mostly in younger horses and my horse is 15.
 
The worm count lab I use will do a free ID check on worms found in poo, perhaps yours does the same? I'd certainly send them a sample of the suspects if you get any more. That way you can be sure what you're dealing with. I think you're right to seek vet advice now.
 
Your Vet may well want to do a blood test to check for anaemia or any other problem that may be lurking, your right to have them check your horse out. Poor boy, he may need some feeding up now and it may take some time for his condition to improve. If he does need some feed then the Soft and Soak range, Ready Mash Extra is great for putting on condition, some of the oldies at my yard use it.

Hope your horse feels better soon.
 
Get your vet to worm count and take bloods for tapes then youll know what you need to target. I had a horse who was getting low grade colic and bloods showed a moderate tapeworm burden, i think it was a double dose of equi tape i gave and so far no more colic. If its an equine vet you have its worth speaking to your vet.
 
Double dose strongid p is good for tapeworms and that cleared my horse out. But poo picking is still one of the best ways to keep worm burden down. I also would be careful overworming as you can cause problems ie colic etc. So go a bit easy. I agree get vet to check for other issues if horse is losing condition. Just make sure you do poo pick too.
 
indie999 said:
Double dose strongid p is good for tapeworms and that cleared my horse out. But poo picking is still one of the best ways to keep worm burden down. I also would be careful overworming as you can cause problems ie colic etc. So go a bit easy. I agree get vet to check for other issues if horse is losing condition. Just make sure you do poo pick too.
Click to expand...

paddock is poo picked daily :)
 
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