Intelligent worming - anyone used?

Yes I use a firm called abbey diagnostics .It saves me money and I only dose if needed.They have a website.
 
Yes our yard uses it. We get regular reminders for poo samples and then get the relevant wormers sent out when necessary. I'm still quite new to it, but I think know what goes on!! :p
 
I use westgate labs, they do an annual pack for the worm counts. Id rather source the wormers myself and judge whether they need it, tho I can see why its easy to have the whole package. eg I prefer to have blood test for tapeworm, so they dont get tapeworm wormer unless they need it.
 
KatB said:
Yes our yard uses it. We get regular reminders for poo samples and then get the relevant wormers sent out when necessary. I'm still quite new to it, but I think know what goes on!! :p
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Thanks for that. So will i be sending poo samples, they will be looked at then the right wormer sent out?
What about tapeworm? Do they tell you to worm at right time or do you have to get blood samoles taken?
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
I use westgate labs, they do an annual pack for the worm counts. Id rather source the wormers myself and judge whether they need it, tho I can see why its easy to have the whole package. eg I prefer to have blood test for tapeworm, so they dont get tapeworm wormer unless they need it.
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You answered one of quiries whilst i was writing the other. I was wondering about tapeworm.
 
I'm pretty sure they dont ask for blood samples for tapeworm. Yes, thats right re. the poo samples, they send back an egg count thing... and then will send out the relevant wormer
 
I hope that they will send you some information that means you will understand what is going on :S

for tapeworm you have 2 choices. Either a blood test which will be done by your vet, as they have to take the blood anyway or you treat it once or twice a year regardless (spring/autumn)

faeces collected should be fresh and preferably from a 'clean' surface off concrete is ideal, this prevents contamination by naturally occuring none pathogenic worm eggs that are present on pasture. and if me I would take a big sample, mix it up (food blender is ideal ;) ) and then fill the pot.

You should, I imagine then receice a faecal egg count, this is presented as the number of eggs seen per gram of faeces, if it is over 300 epg (eggs per gram) then treatment is normally recommended.

I still have my reservations about some of the techniques used and would be interested to know the sort of help you get to explain your results to you as we seem to get a lot of confused people on here!
 
I got the results of the first test today and i must say it was not helpful. I was asked if i wanted to sign up which i did but i would have liked the results explaining properly.
I feel more confused as i go on.:confused:
 
By the way ester thankyou for the advice. Thankfully the sample was picked up off concrete but the next would have been from the field:eek:
 
horses13 said:
I got the results of the first test today and i must say it was not helpful. I was asked if i wanted to sign up which i did but i would have liked the results explaining properly.
I feel more confused as i go on.:confused:
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hmmm and thats why I get a bit annoyed with them to be honest. (them plural as in the multiple companies!) If they arent explaining it I wouldn't hesitate in ringing them or emailing them and asking for more info. Only because thats how I think owners can make informed decisions about this and if you are paying for a service you shouldnt be left in the dark.

the concrete bit isnt vital, as doing it on grass might just increase your reading a bit so its not as if you wouldnt be treating when you needed to. Also my worm history is sheep which tend to poo more frequently than horses, particularly if you round them up ;) :D.
 
I shall call back. When i got the results via email i was asked to ring but was not given information. I know there is a problem but i would like to know the extent of the problem. I actually like it all in detail, not sign up and we'll do the rest. It is reasuring to know she will be treated correctly but i would also like the correct the information to pass onto the vet.
I need to be more asertive i think.
 
I have used this for several years, and my yard now does the same, though they do more counts than I do as they have more horses out together.

My two are in together and do not graze with others. The two fields are kept very clean, though in winter after January, I do have to give up on the winter one as it is like a swamp, but they are only out for a leg stretch rather than grazing and have hay in the field.

I worm them in December with Equest and then do a count at the end of April before they go onto the summer field and if necessary worm as appropriate with Equest.

I then do a count late September and worm for just tape or if needed, a combi wormer.

My counts are always low or clear, hence for me, two counts is enough and I rarely have to worm more than twice a year, as I can be very controlled on the grazing and field clearing to control worms.

The two wormers I do use are to clear encysted red worm - Equest and then a tape wormer. My vet when asked said as that if they hold their weight, do not colic etc, then once a year for tape is enough with my routine and turnout.
 
Our yard uses Intelligent Worming. I find them really helpful. They send out the wormers when needed with the date you need to give them and also the poo pots when you need to do another sample. I think I spoke to Helen on the telephone, she was very helpful and explained everything.
 
horse13 your vet will be more than likely to be able to do the counts for you as you only need a microscope and a special sort of slide. I think, given the condition of that horse that would most certainly be your best way forwards for the time being, pass the whole thing to the vet and allow them to advise appropriately. Out of interest what were your results that you received today?

Theresa, yup sounds great to me, the one thing you do have to be a little careful about is if you treat with equest (or anything else for that matter) and immediately put onto fresh grazing which I know some still do, this isnt good for the development of resistance as.. if you have any resistant worms you will be contaminating your new pasture with only resistant worms if that makes sense :) so they can proliferate much quicker as there isnt any competition/any non resistant genes to dilute it. Not sure if you do do that but thought I would say it anyway.
 
horses13 said:
It came back with a medium reading and 225 strongyles, whatever that means.
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That tells you all your vet will need to know. It tells you you need to worm and the worms found in your sample were strongyles so you need a wormer that is effective against large and small strongyles.

The horse shown is extremely poor surely its problem is more than a medium worm burden!

I have used westgate and have found them very helpful and fully explained the results and the risks of not worming based on these results if that is what they show.
 
Good lord, how long has this animal been like this? This is not simply a worm problem, and it would have taken a while for an animal to lose the amount of condition necessary to end up in this state!
 
agree with sleeping dragon. OP this is not just a worm problem if at all that horse is in very very poor condition and needs a full veterinary work immediately to discover whether the problem is just emaciation of if something else is going on to make it so skeletal. :( :(

BR I'm allowed to worry a little bit and am well intentioned just to help people out, I never say fec is a bad idea :) :D because it isn't :) centrifuge not essential though ;) iirc (it was a while ago) we did them in the field just letting them stand just takes a bit longer ;) I guess most vets have centrifuges for spinning bloods anyway :) but just indicating that it doesnt require a huge amount of technical equipment and this is one case where the vet really does need to see this animal.
 
SD is absolutely right. That kind of malnutrition does not happen overnight.
You really ought to go back to basics. Is the horse old? Poosibly having trouble digesting, or perhaps a problem with the teeth is the cause.
Either way, worms alone are not to blame for the horse looking as poor as it does
 
Joanne... if you search all user posts it poss helps explain it? that was before my time though so cant really comment!
 
Thankyou all for your help. I had to go out and have just checked back.
I felt out of control of the situation which i do not like. I like every deatail and kept thoroughly informed.
It is the first time i have used this so was just wondering peoples thoughts experiences.
You have all been helpfull, thankyou.
 
Did i say worms had caused this? Did i say this is the horse on the Intelligent worming programme? Have i mentioned this horse? Do you know a single thing about this horse? By the way this is added to my last comment not to everyone that has been helpful.
 
Given that there appears to be quite a bit of concern about the horse in your photos maybe it would be a good idea if you could explain a little more about how it has got into this awful condition.

To be honest if this isnt a rescue case then its a neglect case.
 
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