Equisal tapeworm test

I used one last week, horse thought I was going to kill him at first and then realised it wasn't an injection/wormer etc. Just held it in his mouth were he couldn't bite it and job done.
Still waiting for my results, not so sure how long they take...
 
Have just read about this on H&H and it sounds like a great idea, not sure I know enough about it though and feel a little put off by the remark 'some vets are sceptical' and 'concerns over whether the samples will survive effectively in the post', although I assume it's probably better than just worming them anyway.
 
Took samples from our 2 today, was trickier/took longer than I expected, our Welshie was not impressed! My ISH was easy & had far more saliva - indicator changed to pink far quicker, than for the pony.
Just wondering how long the results will take? Am expecting to have to worm tbh but am very curious about the results as we have had clear egg counts ( know the tests are different) for over a year now - probably cursed myself as posted the poo samples today too :)
 
It's a really useful test. I think H&H were irresponsible to write that 'some vets are sceptical'. Of course they are, they won't know much about it yet. The company who have developed this test have thorough validation of all aspects available to back it up when those sceptical vets get round to reading it.
I have used the test with my herd and discovered an unsuspected problem with one pony. He had praziquantel against tapeworm in March yet still returned a 'high' result and needed worming. He is being closely monitored now as part of a special trial.
Taking the samples gets easier as the horses get used to it. We only have one three year old who is still suspicious and did manage to bite the end of the swab last time. Luckily it fell out of his mouth and was ready so I just popped it into the tube to send. Even if the horse swallows the swab by mistake (hopefully not) they are safe and have been designed to pass through.
It takes about a week to get the results through at present but well worth waiting. We (at Westgate Labs) have been to meet the people at Equisal and they are lovely genuine folk as well as good scientists. They really are out to promote good worm control for all horses as we are at Westgate.
 
I sent the sample last Thursday and recieved my results today.
I'm wondering if I should be concerned though as he had several double doses of strongid p back in April (under veterinary advice) and yet he's still returned a mod/high result..
 
Mine came back as moderate/high as well which was interesting as he has been tapewormed twice in the last 6 months and had two elisa blood test after he got a bad tapeworm infestation {long story but he was on approved worming program including 2 tape-wormers a year and regular worm counts which goes to show even if you think you are doing everything correctly it can still go wrong}

It was very easy to get the sample.

I however am having some difficulty understanding what the classifications are. It appears from their website that low means no tapeworms, moderate 1-20 and high more than 20. No idea what borderline means. They group moderate and high together so it appears that a result of moderate/high will only tell you that they have at least one tapeworm.

So it could mean the horse has one tapeworm or it could mean hundreds which I think could be confusing, certainly for me I am wanting to know if he has loads as there is a big difference.

It would be better if it was more like normal worm counts with medium and high in separate groups so that you know if you are dealing with a moderate or high results.

I am also doing a bit of a self trial with using the blood test at the same time so will be interesting to see what his Elisa blood test will be to compare with his equisal test.
 
Re the comment about vets being sceptical - I was at BEVA Congress last week, and spent a bit of time on the Equisal stand. All the equine vets I heard talking to the stand staff were very interested and very positive about it. I believe that there was token resistance in the early days, until it became clear that a; it worked, and b; it could potentially be offered as an additional service by practices!

I think its great - I've been speaking to the person who developed it for quite a while now, and have published an article about it. I think its one of the most interesting new products to hit the market in a long time
 
Had never heard of it, so thanks for this thread!

One of my ponies needs annual elisa test as he is always high, but we can monitor the level precisely - he is already insurance excluded for anything tapeworm related, and presumably resistant to the wormers :( But for the rest of the herd, this sounds like a wonderful idea to keep an idea of what's going on overall/
 
Mmmm.. mixed reviews on here about it,...so I think i'll just go ahead and Equitape my boy anyhow.

He's worm counted through the year, treated for tapes twice a year and for Encysted worms December time, so I'm happy to give him this wormer considering how lethal tapeworm can be!

Just my thoughts/opinion on this test for the time being you understand:)
 
Not really mixed reviews Janovich, just a bit of irresponsible reporting from H&H. This test has been thoroughly researched but is new so some vets haven't read it up yet. Those who have, and any journalist worth their salt who has will know that it is thoroughly reliable. Those at the BEVA congress last week were very enthusiastic.

My boy had Equitape in March yet his summer Equisal test showed a high burden. Who would have thought it? On the other hand most of our horses do not need to be wormed for tapeworm as they don't have it.

I would urge everyone to practice routine testing rather than routine worming, especially now that we can also test for tapeworm
 
Borderreiver said:
Not really mixed reviews Janovich, just a bit of irresponsible reporting from H&H. This test has been thoroughly researched but is new so some vets haven't read it up yet. Those who have, and any journalist worth their salt who has will know that it is thoroughly reliable. Those at the BEVA congress last week were very enthusiastic.

My boy had Equitape in March yet his summer Equisal test showed a high burden. Who would have thought it? On the other hand most of our horses do not need to be wormed for tapeworm as they don't have it.

I would urge everyone to practice routine testing rather than routine worming, especially now that we can also test for tapeworm
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Fair play Borderreiver.. :).....The Media are a vital part of life, but can also be blumin' dangerous too!! see you've got me thinking about actually getting a test now from Westgates!! LOL
 
I'm off to test my lot today too. We are part of a special study with Equisal and hope to learn much more about good tapeworm control by looking at how infections develop and behave within herds. For instance how quickly the antibody levels drop after treatment, how soon re-infections occur, will some horses never carry tapeworm, are worming products doing the job well...there is a lot to know and it's all very exciting!
 
Westgate Labs will be at 'Your Horse Live' as usual, so will Equisal for the first time this year. We will be collaborating to bring you special offers and the best current worming information available. In the meantime there is lots of information on the new test on Westgate's website, also on Equisal's. Equisal developed the test and run the laboratory where the tests are done but Westgate have the SQPs to advise on results and other worming queries. You can buy the tests from either.
 
Borderreiver said:
I'm off to test my lot today too. We are part of a special study with Equisal and hope to learn much more about good tapeworm control by looking at how infections develop and behave within herds. For instance how quickly the antibody levels drop after treatment, how soon re-infections occur, will some horses never carry tapeworm, are worming products doing the job well...there is a lot to know and it's all very exciting!
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That sounds really interesting, please keep us posted with the results :-)
 
I used it a couple of weeks ago pre a yard move. The thing I didn't think about was +ve on that meant worming so I could have saved on the poo test. Next time, without time constraints, I shall do tapeworm test then FEC if negative.
 
I'm not sure I understand the benefit as I don't worm just for tapes.

Even if the tapeworm results were clear, wouldn't you have to worm for bots and redworm anyway unless you do a separate test as well. That would mean £60 to test 2 horses and then possibly have to buy wormers.
 
Don't you do worm counts for redworm already MerrySherry? The tapeworm test is an extension of the principle of only worming when you need to.The idea is to stop giving drugs to horses who don't need them and only give them to those who do. Also you may discover a particular worm problem in a horse you had wormed and thought was OK.
Thus the only essential dose of the year becomes the winter moxidectin for encysted redworm and also covers bots, providing your test results are good. This may save you money in the long run but the main reason for doing tests is to better control worms and slow down the development of resistance to the wormers. If you find you are having to worm every time you test then worms are not being well controlled in that horse. Knowing this will enable you to do something about it and future tests will be clear and the horse not need dosing.
 
So all these people who have had moderate or high tape worm counts even though they have been wormed for tape - what do you do? Doesn't it show there is resistance to that drug and therefore you shouldn't use it in your horse? There are only two drugs for tapeworm aren't there? Praziquantel and pyrantel. What happens if you've been using these every 6 months but you still test high?
 
Borderreiver said:
Don't you do worm counts for redworm already MerrySherry? The tapeworm test is an extension of the principle of only worming when you need to.The idea is to stop giving drugs to horses who don't need them and only give them to those who do. Also you may discover a particular worm problem in a horse you had wormed and thought was OK.
Thus the only essential dose of the year becomes the winter moxidectin for encysted redworm and also covers bots, providing your test results are good. This may save you money in the long run but the main reason for doing tests is to better control worms and slow down the development of resistance to the wormers. If you find you are having to worm every time you test then worms are not being well controlled in that horse. Knowing this will enable you to do something about it and future tests will be clear and the horse not need dosing.
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Years ago, I used to do worm counts and had the blood test for tapes but that was when I had my own horses in a small herd and I poo picked daily. Now that they are in large herds and the fields are harrowed instead, I found doing the tests for 3 horses and then having to buy the wormers on top, too expensive when the results were less likely to be clear.

If you worm with something like equimax it covers the encysted red worm, bots and tapeworm without the added cost of doing both tests and still worming for bots anyway even if the results were clear.
I'm not being contrary, just trying to work out the advantage of having the test done if I was able to control the horse's grazing in the way I used to be able to.
I do agree that its preferable to avoid giving chemicals whenever possible, but if you still have to use an annual wormer (?) why bother testing for tapes ?
 
I'm not sure worm counting etc is ever going to work out as the cheap option though - I only did it when I had access to the equipment myself but it is good for a lot of other reasons (and BR knows I'm not always the biggest advocate of FEC ;) ) and there are enough horses for whom worming is detrimental (one on my livery yard colics every time) for whom to know everything but encysted redworm is covered would be v. helpful.

(it would have to be pramox/equest to do encysted - and when you want to do encysted isn't usually the best time for doing tapes)
 
ester said:
I'm not sure worm counting etc is ever going to work out as the cheap option though - I only did it when I had access to the equipment myself but it is good for a lot of other reasons (and BR knows I'm not always the biggest advocate of FEC ;) ) and there are enough horses for whom worming is detrimental (one on my livery yard colics every time) for whom to know everything but encysted redworm is covered would be v. helpful.

(it would have to be pramox/equest to do encysted - and when you want to do encysted isn't usually the best time for doing tapes)
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I didn't think tapeworm was seasonal though and many vets think (or so they've told me) is that treating for tapes once a year is fine. So, my question is, if you have to worm at least once a year, (assuming egg counts were clear), then why not use one wormer like equimax that targets tapes and red worm etc and not bother testing for tapes at all?
 
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