Tape Worms

Firewell

Firewell

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My yard worm count and all the worm counts were under the acceptable level recently so no worming needed.

However I know tape worms don't show upin worm counts and im wondering if to tape worm my horse anyway. I did him last Autumn time.

Should I do this? He doesn't look wormy and has a fantastic shine on his coat. Can you buy purely a tape wormer or are they all combination wormers? Seems a shame to give him the other chemicals if he doesn't need them.

Thanks
 
I'd contact Border Reeiver on here as she's the expert ;)

No idea as to whether there is a wormer purely for tapeworm, but worm count doesn't pick up encysted red worm or pinworm either.
 
The only product that does tapeworm only is praziquantel (Equitape). However if he was wormed for tapeworm last autumn, and you poo-pick your fields, with the cold winter we've had I wouldn't consider he needs doing for tapeworm again until the coming autumn.
 
The once or twice a year thing for tapeworms is interesting I do do twice but think its probally overkill but a friends horse had colic surgery due to tapeworm so it made me very cautious .
It's also a good idea to cover for the risk of worms within the system not showing on FEC , apart from new horses it's years since I had a FEC indicating that worming was necessary.
Mind twice a year is nothing considering the vets used to advise every six weeks.
 
Yep the fields are poo picked and all the livery yard horses are wormed on arrival and then worm counts/wormed regularly and they were all wormed
with equest pramox last autumn.
Hmmm I still don't know if should still give him one anyway for my peace of mind or wait.
 
I only give a paramox once a year (assuming counts are clear). Never had any problems with this but interested in expert opinions on why it's necessary twice a year if poo cleared, not cross grazed with horses of unknown worming background etc.

Op you could ask the lab that did your worm count how common tapes are in horse and how easy it is to pick them up at say a show.

I seem to recall tape worm egg packets are quite large (1cm by 1cm) so you can see them easily - unlike other worm eggs which only show in a count - then again I don;t think tapes shed eggs all the time.
 
OP if you are concerned about tapes then the absolute best thing to do is (when the vet is on the yard anyway) get them to take a small blood sample as there is a test for tapeworm. If it is negative you will not need to tapeworm them for a year. If positive you will know that you're he worming is definitely needed - and also might want to use a wormer with a different a active ingredient to the one you used in the autumn as it is possibly resistance to it. (there are 2 main active ingredients for tapes).

Tapeworm is on the increase and apparently the majority of horses are now carrying some burden, partly cos of worker resistance, so blood testing has to be the way to go.
 
Ask your vet to do an ELISSA blood test. This will show if your horse has a likely tapeworm burden.
 
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