Tape Worm

[coen]

I just wanted a little info on what the symptoms are if a horse has a tape worm burden.

My horse seems to be getting a little constipated at times, I changed his feed and he seemed fine but last night he seemed constipated again was a bit grumpy being ridden and kept lifting his tail. However there were plenty of poos in stable when I skipped out.

Just wondering what could be causing this and if worms could be the culprit.
I wormed him about 2 weeks ago with equimax tabs, would this be adequate.

I no worm counts don't show tape worm and I don't want to get a blood test unless It's serious as he is very needle phobic.

Or am I being over cautious and do they sometimes just get like that? He is fed hay, alfa a oil, redigrass, vit & min supplement. Daily turnout.

 

[CBFan]

generally horses with a tapeworm problem look poor - ribby, unable to gain weight, dull coat and eyes etc.

not sure what your boy's problem is... sounds a bit colliccy...

 

[coen]

I have had him since June and he isn't easy to get weight on although he eats lots and has shiny coat bright eyes ect.

I first noticed this constipated problem a few weeks ago, it wasn't constant & would be normal one day then constipated the next so I kept an eye on him and the following week it seemed worse & I thought I could be impaction brewing so I stopped his hard feed for a day and he was right as rain the next day, I then changed his feed as thought yard may not be soaking it properly & wormed him.
He was fine for another week & then last night I saw him straining a little again.

Someone said that if he had tape worm he would have been colicky after the equimax wormer, is that correct?

He hasn't been colicky at all.

Is it possible that he may not be drinking enough water?
E.g. lots of fibre going in not much going out?

 

[Doublethyme]

Sounds similar symptoms to my friends horse, who did have a tapeworm burden, despite being on a correct worming system. He ended up having loads of tests for lots of different things including scoped for ulcers before the vet thought of tapeworm and that is what it was!

We "think" it may have been a resistence to the double dose of strongid P, but that's not fact from the vets, as since being done with Equest Pramox twice a year, he has been OK, althouggh my friend notices some small signs coming up to the time when he is due to be wormed again.

So yes tapeworm can cause colicky signs and nothing else - her boy looked the picture of health, was regularly out competing in all disciplines and winning and you wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with him.

Although tapeworm can also cause anaemia I beleive.

 

[brightmount]

My horse had tapeworm a couple of years ago, it was picked up on a blood test. The only symptom was that she was getting gas colic after worming. Other than that, she was holding her weight, in fact she had a huge grass belly which could have had something to do with the tapeworm.

The Equimax you have given should have dealt with it, but tapeworm can really take it out of the gut, as can wormers, so it would be worth giving a probiotic. NAF Pink Powder is very effective and not expensive. If you need something stronger, Coligone is very good.

 

[coen]

Thanks for replying it's good to hear from people who have experienced it.

What was the treatment, just a dose of wormer & were there any lasting problems?

As I mentioned I gave equimax tabs would that be sufficient to clear it or would I need another dose? Can giving another dose be harmful if the horse didn't turn out to have worms?

Maybe it is totally unrelated, I will pick up some pink powder at the wk end and see how he goes with that.

 

[brightmount]

If it was tapeworm, which you are only speculating about, then the Equimax should have cleared it, I wouldn't dose again yet, it's harsh on the gut flora which it seems to me may be part of the problem. If he doesn't pick up with probiotics then it's worth the vet having a look and a feel, and s/he could do a blood test for tapeworm antibody at the same time.

When you worm in the autumn, I suggest using Equest Pramox as it's good practice to rotate the wormers.

 

[SazzyB]

My horse had a tapeworm problem last year, and I just wanted to dispel some myths. My horse was regularly wormed and I had him for 4 years at that point. In fact just a day or so before he was ill, he was at Aston for a xc lesson and everyone (including the instructor) said how well he looked and how well he was going. I have photos taken not long before he was ill and he looks fab! Good weight, shiny, looking really good. I went to a dressage competition and whilst there warming up, my horse didn't feel quite right - almost felt like he wanted to "collapse" on me, but he didn't. I got off, he rolled (which he does, alot!) and after he tried to roll again I called the vet. He spent 10 days in the horsepital being very ill. They eventually discovered the tapeworm infestation and very luckily they managed to wash it through him. Was touch and go though. 2 weeks before my horse was ill another horse, one that lived next door to mine, had colic and unfortunately died. So that is probably the only reason why I called the vet so quickly and why I took the decision to go straight to the Horsepital rather than deal with it at home. If I hadn't, or if I had turned him out instead of taking him to the competition, I am sure he would have died.

I would say the only thing I noticed prior to the colic was that he was a little bit grumpy when riding and I kicked him forwards. And perhaps slightly less lively than normal (but not that much). But he has phases when he is like that anyway!

His droppings were perfectly normal and there were no other signs whatsoever that he had the tapeworms.

The only way to really "know" is to have the blood test. You can get a faecal test for other worms. Having nearly lost my horse last year, I now worm in spring and get regular worm tests, a blood test in the autumn with his annual jabs, and I worm accordingly. A tapeworm test is c£40 or less, the faecal test is less than £10 and it could save your horse's life.

At our yard, after my horse was ill, most of the horses at the yard were tested. The results were quite surprising - horses that had been living out together came back with completely different levels of infestation, and one horse, whose owner religiously wormed, poo picked, etc. etc. came back with a very high worm count. Each horse does have a different "resistance" to various worms I think.

Anyway, just wanted to post this in the hope that one day it may save someone else's horse.

 

[diamondrockharvey]

Great post SazzyB! So many people don't even think about getting a Tapeworm blood test and don't think of Tapeworm when trying to figure out why their horse just isn't quite right!

 

[Borderreiver]

A very informative post SazzyB and very helpful.

Interestingly we have so far this morning seen a total of six tapeworm eggs in different samples in for testing. Yes we know that you can't rely on egg counts for tapeworm, but when we see them that horse definitely has tapeworm.

 

[Sparkly Snowdrop]

My horse had recurrent colic last winter and had been wormed with Equimax tabs. A blood test eventually confirmed that he had tapeworm which was sorted with a double dose of Strontid P granules. Thinking back he had been a bit 'off' before he colicked the first time. If I was you I would get a blood test done rather than just reworming.

 

[Monkers]

Constipation this time of year with small hard droppings, can simply be that the horse isn't taking on enough water. They move around less as they tend to be stabled for long hours, and many horses don't like taking a full drink of icy water.

I have one a bit prone to this. I soak her hay and put a large bucket of water in her stable, even though she has an automatic drinker, and she has been fine.

You could try soaking the hay for a few weeks, see if it makes a difference? It's an easy way to get more fluid into them.

 

[flintfootfilly]

OP, when you say your horse is constipated and yet there are plenty of droppings, I'm confused?

What signs are you seeing that the horse is constipated?

I would definitely be taking temperature and pulse twice a day whilst you are even slightly worried about how he is. They may just show something which is significant enough to warrant a vet callout sooner rather than later.

Sarah