Praziquantal as well as ivermectin after foaling?

cliodhna

cliodhna

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I wish to worm my mare with ivermectin after she has foaled. She is due for a tapeworm dose so I am wondering if I can give her an ivermectin and praziquantel dose in the hours after foaling with no ill effects? I use equimax. I know its safe to give to foals aged two weeks and older. Or am I better to give just an ivermectin wormer, wait and give her the dose for tapeworm in 8 weeks or so? I know ivermectin is completely safe for directly after foaling, just want confirmation praziquantel is too..

Thanks:)
 
The advice with praziquantel is to seek veterinary advice before administering it to pregnant mares. As far as I am aware I don't think it is tested for use, Personally I would DD with a Pyrantel based wormer instead which has been tested OK for pregnant and lactating mares, you can use it on foals from 4 weeks.
 
Hang on mixed messages from the Dugs industry different brands have different recommendations Equi Max is cleared safe for pregnant and lactating mares and foals over 2 weeks!!
 
I know equimax is definately safe for foals over two weeks and it is safe for pregnant mares also. Just want to be sure it will work for foal scours if used in the hours after birth as well as just an ivermectin wormer? She is due to be done for tapeworm so would be convenient to give equimax after birth so long as the praziquantel does not in any way affect her milk for the foal? :confused:

just want to be 100% sure otherwise i'll hold off and give the tape dose later..but if it has no ill effects might as well do it now if you know what i mean.
 
I can't see that the two drugs would affect each others performance or they would not have them as a combi. They have done tests and it is ok for lactating mares so it should not affect milk production in any way, but if you are unsure contact the manufacturer for detailed advice.
 
Interesting post... as I wormed my mare with Equest and not due to worm her again till 4weeks after the foal arrives (Equest lasts 13 weeks). I spoke to my vet about this and possible foal scour and she told me that the foal shouldn't scour !!!! would like to know your thoughts on this :)
 
Gucci_b said:
Interesting post... as I wormed my mare with Equest and not due to worm her again till 4weeks after the foal arrives (Equest lasts 13 weeks). I spoke to my vet about this and possible foal scour and she told me that the foal shouldn't scour !!!! would like to know your thoughts on this :)
Click to expand...

And she's basing that on???

Have had a lot of success with Ivermectin reducing or stopping foal scours, but have had one or two subsequent foals (same year) that did scour in spite of it but they stopped after worming. So it appears that the theory or worms causing the scours and not as some suppose the foaling heat could be correct and it fits in with the threadworm lifestyle.
 
If you are worried about scours, use panacur after foaling to start with, then when the foal gets older use stronger wormers, Never had a scoured botty in foals with panacur if you use it within the first couple of days
 
Foal scours are very common when the mare is on their foal heat. The use of Ivermectin (in it's various brand names), given to the mare on the day of foaling (NEVER the foal!) has anecodatal evidence to show it stops foals scouring. We have been practising this for 3 years now, with much success - we very rarely have foals scour nowadays.

If an equine vet told me that foals shouldn't scour, I would question how many they have seen!! It is VERY common!
 
In the past three years I have wormed just before due foaling but one foal still had very slight scours for only 24 hours.

I am about to do tapeworm and will give the pregnant mare Pyratape which is suitable and Eraquelle after she foals.

I do however try and put my mares onto clean grass i..e not grazed for 6 months and try to keep foals on clean pasture till they are 6 months old.
 
I have also phoned my worm count company.. and explained that i have just used the Equest (1st march) and mare due to foal April 23rd !!, they have also told me that the foal shouldn't scours as Equest lasts for 13 weeks so no need to worm the mare just after foaling. just a bit confused.com
 
It's the intestinal threadworms that you are trying to combat with foals, older horse have immunity to them but foals do not. They get the eggs from the environment even from the mares udder so by worming with a wormer effective against them the theory is that the numbers infesting the foal are nil or much less.

I would guess that as the mare is often wormed after the birth and probably after first feeding that the foal gets a dose of chemical via the milk? A good piece of research here for budding scientists!!!

But I don't like using wormers on very young foals and this is a way of avoiding it. I have wormed a couple with an approved product at 2 weeks when they were scouring and it stopped immediately.

The life cycle of eggs to hatching is 9 or 10 days which coincides with the foaling heat hence the assumption that scours were caused by the mares hormones, something that has I believe been proven not to be the case by a study in the USA.

I don't know if this shows well on here I have it on a spreadsheet for reference

wormers.jpg
 
Touchwood said:
You are not worming the mare to prevent against worms, you are worming her to prevent the foal from scouring during her foal heat. No one knows quite why it works but it does.
Click to expand...

I am wanting to worm for tapeworm as well though, that is a prority AS WELL as preventing the scours. Equimax contains ivermectin as well as praziquantel so was wondering, (apologies for not being clearer in the posts, it was a bit long winded), if it would prevent heat scours as well as a single ivermectin wormer ie. is there enough of the drug in it to prevent the scours. I want the mare to be covered against the tape as she is due that dose but can hold off on it if it wont work on the scours as well as just an ivermectin wormer.

Since there is no detailed science behind why the ivermectin works, I guess I wont get a definite answer. Unless someone has experience of using a wormer containing BOTH drugs and NOT just ivermectin. I know ivermectin works, that's not in question
 
Equimax Recommended dose rate of 200 micrograms of ivermectin and 1.5mg of praziquantel per kg of bodyweight

ERAQUELL Ivermectin
Recommended dose rate of 200 micrograms per kg of bodyweight

EQUITAPE Prazequantel
Recommended dose rate 1mg praziquantel per kg bodyweight.

The dosage rate in the Equimax is exactly the same as in a standard single drug ivermectin wormer. The Prazequantel dose is slightly higher than in the single drug version of Equitape.

The two drugs given together do not affect each others performance, Equmax is tested safe for mares so by giving the combined product it will be effective against thread-worms as ivermectin treats threads.
 
Thank you KarynK, apologies I did not see your first reply with the table. I must have had the reply box open before you posted. That is exactly the information I was looking for. More apologies if I was being a bit thick, am just slightly paranoid of things going wrong. Failing to plan is planning to fail and all that!

Thank you all:)
 
I was told many years ago by a vet (who was well in advance of current thinking it seems) that foal heat was due to worms.

This was borne out some years later when I was involved with an orphan foal who was raised on the bottle and scoured exactly when his mother 'would have' been in season. This clearly was nothing to do with any change in the mares milk, but I had milked the dam before she was pts and he had been tubed with colostrum.
 
I also avoid worming very young foals - and since being made aware of the foal scours/threadworm connection a few years ago, have always given the mare ivermectin on the day the foal was born, preferably within 18 hours of actual birth and, anecdotal or not, it does seem to work for me so I will continue to follow this procedure this year - nothing worse than a foal with a scooty bottom, both for foal discomfort and for trying to keep the stable clean and fresh!

I have in the past wormed for tape separately, but last year gave equimax on the day the foal was born(as I hadn't previously dosed for tapeworm) with no ill effects that I am aware of. I then gave Eraquell on the day the foal was born and no scours.

I have recently given all the mares equimax, so that takes care of the tape this spring and they will again get Eraquell on the day the foal is born.
 
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