Anybody else had issues with Intelligent Worming?

[charlimouse]

I've had my yard of 8 horses on the Intelligent worming program since May. In July I got another horse so rang to add her onto the program. Worm egg count was duly sent out, sent it back, heard nothing. Eventually after lots of chasing up last week I finally had a phonecall from them to say they had got the results (couldn't tell me why it had taken 4 months to get the results !). Apparantly the horse has a very high worm egg count, so now is starting on a agressive worming program costing me nearly £200 !!!!!!! This was organised last Monday, with the promise that a Panacur 5 day guard would be being sent out next day delivery immediately, so I would have it asap. Gave them the benifit of the doubt when it didn't arrive on the Wedsnesday or thursday due to the weather, but when it didn't come on friday I gave them a call. Intelligent Worming then told me it had been sent out on the Thursday, which I was livid at as I had been told on Monday morning it was being dispatched immediatly, and gaurenteed for Wedsnesday. Woman on the phone couldn't tell me why it hadn't been sent out straight away, but promised me I would have it today.

Guess what, it didn't come today . This is now completly taking the pi$$, i'm going to have to chase them up again on Monday. I got all my wormer through from them for my other horses today for January, so it obviously isn't a problem with the delivery service. And I have had no issues using them for the other horses, so can't work out why the service is so poor now .

Another problem I have is with 9 horses on the program it is costing me a fortune (£16 per horse a year fee, then all wormer, egg counts etc on top). All of my original 8 horses had a 0 egg count, but are all being wormed what seems like every other week. When I joined the program they said it would reduce unneccessary chemicals being put in my horses, but i'm just putting in more. 2 of my horses had been wormed 4 times since September, and I got another one through for them today ! They both have an egg count of 0, this just seems completly unnesasary!

I'm going to have a chat to them on Monday, but at the mo i'm feeling like i'm being taken for a complete ride! The people on the phone seem worse than useless, and don't seem to care that a horse under their program has had a high egg count for the past 4 months, yet they have done nothing about it ! I pay so much money for peace of mind, and i'm just not getting it .

Rant over, anybody got any bright ideas on how to tackle them on Monday, I hate argueing with people, and am useless at standing up for myself .

 

[MillionDollar]

Just don't bother with it. Worm with Equest Pramox in April and October and Worm Count in Januray and July...........simples and cheap They are a complete and utter con!!!

 

[CBFan]

I don't know anything about 'intelligent worming' but the fact that you are wrming your existing horses when their worm counts are clear doesn't sound very inteligent to me!!!

As for your new horse... £200 to treat him for his burden seems a bit steep to me... I'd personally worm him (with equest pramox) and then, when he's due again, send off a sample to westgate labs and see what the results say... The way they say to manage a horse's worming really makes sense to me...

 

[charmeroo]

I think that these people are playing on peoples' worries that 'they don't know anything about worming' and their need to 'get it right'! Quite honestly, a worm count by someone like Westgate or Virbac twice a year, and acting on their recommendation is quite sufficient. Alternatively speak with your vet! And yes - having looked at their website I'm really not too sure what exactly you pay the annual fee for!!!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

My vets send out a worming reminder every time it needs doing and they'll either send the relevant wormer out or you can pick it up from the surgery.

Saves me the hassle of remembering, plus its the right wormer for the job, for the time of year.

Simples!

 

[Ella19]

speak to your vet and do it through them. We use abbey diagnostics, they charge £12 a sample or £10 per sample if more than 2 sent at a time. The results come direct back to us as vets and the vets then call the owners with the results and discuss the relevant worming programme. They then either get myself to put up wormers for the owner or the owner is free to source their own elsewhere. It sounds alot cheaper than doing this intelligent worming malarky!

 

[CBFan]

A yearly worm count kit from westgate labs costs abou £30 which works out at about £7 per count if you do them every 3 months... the idea being that after a year of low counts you cand move onto doing them twice yearly.

You then only work in spring and Autumn for tapeworm and encysted redworm... and at around about £12 a wormer thats only £24 on top of your £30 for worm counts...dont know where they got £200 from????

And as for buying what your vet tells you... thats fine if your horse needs worming but if it doesn't have worms you're wasting your money!!

 

[FairyLights]

I use my vet, I collect a sample in a plastic bag, take it to the vets.They ring me back later the same day. So far I've only had to worm my weanlings once since buying them in
october. Excellent service from the vets and they have all the latest most up to date info re what drug [wormer] to use.

 

[custard]

Never used them but seems like money for old rope to me. I poo pick my field March to November and worm count them twice a year usually spring and autumn just before they get done for tape worm with Equimax. I also use Equest in January and their counts are always really low, total cost about £66 per year for the two.

 

[abina]

Had the representative from Intelligent worming - left a glossy brouchure and promises of saving me money and take the worry (What Worry??) out of worming etc - said she would email more details and have heard nothing - just as well as not really convinced as my general plan seems to be working and costs me £700 for the entire yard (average 20 beasties) and each count always comes back low. I'm happy

 

[vonno]

Agree with MillionDollar. I use Abbey Diagnostics for worm counts, and cost is £6.75 per horse (first time users get a discount - think it's about £6.00 per horse)

 

[Theresa_F]

As said above, a worming programme really is easy.

I have my two in their own field. Field is cleared nearly every day in summer and when on winter paddock, weekly until it gets too wet and muddy to get round with a barrow.

I have done this for over six years successfully. I worm for encysted red worm with Equest early January, worm count in late April before they go onto the summer fields in early May and if necessary will worm with Equest again if anything other than a low/clear count. They are then worm counted late September and either wormed with Equitape to kill tapeworm, or a combination wormer like Pramox if the count is not clear/low.

I rarely need to use wormers other than in January and October.

For the first two years I did a third worm count in July, but now find two wormers and two worm counts annually are all that I need to have healthy horses.

It does sound like they are getting money for old rope. I use Abbey for my counts and get my wormers off the internet.

 

[CMMB]

Slight variation. Poo-pick fields as much as possible all year round with a real effort May to first frosts. Worm egg counts June & September (mainly very low except one horse) - worm if necessary (we use >400 eggs per gram as the cut-off point) rotating wormer family annually for this.

Worm with Equest Pramox or Equimax/Eqvalan Duo in December (we only do Tapeworm once a year).

Horses fit and healthy, limited spending, but lots of hard work shovelling s...!