Treating pinworm?

[MagicMelon]

I've just picked up my horse back from being out on loan. They told me he had pinworm a month ago, not sure how it was treated (and I don't really feel I can ask now, long story). He has clearly been rubbing his tail badly as half of it is missing and its really short, he was even rubbing his tail on the ramp on the way back in the trailer to the extent the trailer was swinging side to side!

I've never experienced pinworm. From what I've googled, it should be treated with Panacur Guard? Is there anything else I can do? Should I be washing his tail (or whole body?) with anything specific? I've got him in a seperate paddock from my others but planned to put them together tomorrow - if its contagious, should I keep him seperate while I treat him for the 5 days with the guard? And be very careful about washing stuff thats been in contact with his tail like brushes?

 

[baby_dudley]

This took me months to get rid of!
My best solution was treating with panacur 5 day, then 6 weeks after a double dose of strongid p. The whole time I was uting vaseline around my horses bum (as this is where the worms pop out and lay their eggs) then wipe off with a wet wipe next time you are down to your horse and re apply.
I did initially wash all haynets and disinfect water bucket and stable where she rubbed her bum.

hope this helps x

 

[shannonandtay]

I also did exactly as the above poster, it seems to disappear then come back again a few months later, it's really annoying but luckily not harmful to the horse like other worms can be. The Vaseline around the bum and under the tail is a really good trick to stop the worm laying the eggs.

 

[baby_dudley]

oh that sucks that it came back!
that combination of wormers got it for good for my mare, and no return of it at all for over a year now.
it was horrible as she was so irritated she was a nightmare to ride too where she was so aggravated by it really not nice thing to have x

 

[MagicMelon]

Thanks, will go get some vaseline and Guard today then. So do you think I should leave my other horse seperate from him for the next 5 days? Would rather he didn't pass it onto my other horse of course but can't keep them apart for months! Sounds like a real pest, not looking forward to trying to get rid of this Do the worms get put off by cold weather given we're going into winter soon (maybe frost will kill them off if they're around)? I assume they can ingest the worms like other types so I need to religeously poo pick??

 

[MagicMelon]

I bought some Panacur 5 day Guard today, but I did ask about Stongid P and apparently it doesn't exist anymore?! Is this true and if so, why on earth not?

 

[Bobbly]

Unfortunately rabbits carry pinworm so if you have them in your paddocks chances are your horse will have them too

 

[Nicnac]

Unfortunately rabbits carry pinworm so if you have them in your paddocks chances are your horse will have them too

I don't believe this is correct. The equine pinworm is a completely different variety to that of rabbit and pinworms do not pass between species.

 

[Goldenstar]

I used five day panacur guard and wiped the bum and dock with ivermectin lotion daily for a month , solved the issue .

 

[Goldenstar]

Unfortunately rabbits carry pinworm so if you have them in your paddocks chances are your horse will have them too

Are you not thinking of tapeworm the vector for the equine tapeworm is rabbits .

 

[MagicMelon]

I used five day panacur guard and wiped the bum and dock with ivermectin lotion daily for a month , solved the issue .

Ooh interesting, vets coming next week for vaccs anyway so will ask them about invermectin lotion (unless I can just buy it online?)

 

[springgrass]

I too battled with this for ages! The last time it really took some getting rid of! The ivermectin lotion was great, along with panacur 5 day and strongid P. My vet made me up the lotion, not sure if you can buy it.
With regards to your other horse, it is VERY contagious. Strangely, and to the concern of my fellow liveries at the time, my vet did not advise keeping my horse separate. She stated pinworm is on the up and if every horse was tested a very large portion would have it, unbeknown to their owners. It's only a minority of horses that are very badly irritated by it, so rub their docks raw etc.
Of course, this doesn't solve the problem of horses not obviously carrying pinworm passing it on to the ones who rub themselves raw. I think best to separate, or treat them both for it is the best course of action. Good luck with it all, I hope it clears up quickly for you!
ETA my vet used the example of treating one horse for persistent pinworm on a very large eventing yard. The horse was always turned out, as usual, with the others, and no other horse showed any signs of picking it up. My gelding was on a yard of 14 and was the only one to have it

 

[MagicMelon]

Thanks Springgrass. Will def get the lotion if the vet can do it. I was thinning the horses tail last night because its such a mess - weirdly though, the tail is very short and he has been rubbing it but on closer inspection there's been a huge chunk out of the middle of his tail just beneath the bone that has clearly been cut with scissors... very odd... not sure why the loaners did this... Anyway, I have been chucking on the vaseline and am waiting a bit longer before I use the Panacur Guard as I'm told he was done a few weeks ago with something else so dont want to overload his system. Have been chucking his brushes in a bucket of disinfectant as I use these on my other horse, so hope that'll work. Although saying that they are both grooming each other frantically (glad to be together again!) so I imagine she will get it too anyway so I'll just have to treat her. I would have kept her seperate if it was a quick fix but the fact most people say it takes months to get rid of its just not practical with my facilities / field and stable block layout etc.

What a pest this is already! How do I know when its gone, obviously the itching will stop. But can I get a specific worm count done (I thought this didn't usually show on them)?

 

[springgrass]

You can place Sellotape over the anus and send it off for testing. They count the amount of eggs present in that area by how many has stuck to the tape!
I just went with when he stopped itching. It took some time. I even put and extra ivermectin wormer up his bottom in the end and used the left over to smear around the area of an evening.
I'm always on the look out for it returning. I wash his bum religiously now.
Have you spotted any yellow residue around the bum/tail at all? That's the eggs and that will go completely when he's clear.
I also pulled all his stable matts out and jet washed and disinfected the walls several times. Awful! I do feel for you...some are lucky and it clears up quite quickly it seems.

 

[Goldenstar]

Ooh interesting, vets coming next week for vaccs anyway so will ask them about invermectin lotion (unless I can just buy it online?)

I think it's for cattle it certainly worked.

 

[mirage]

Knobberpony had this last November,rubbed her bum bloody on the fence.I gave her the 5 day course of Panacur,and wiped a mix of neem oil and vaseline around her bum.It cleared upon in a week and hasn't come back,neither did her field companion get them. Apparently the neem oil is a natural vermicide/insecticide and prevents the worms from reproducing.It also works on head lice,when the over the counter stuff didn't.It smells horrid,but definitely does the trick.I was so worried because I'd read how hard pinworm is to treat,but I was pleasantly surprised how easily it cleared up.

 

[samlf]

I am currently going through this nightmare too OP! 10 months now and counting!!

I have tried everything suggested above - Double dose strongid P monthly for 3 months, then changed to panacur guard monthly for 3 months, then ivermectin wormer both ends. I have also used the ivermectin wash to wipe around the anus, as well as using neem oil.

It is a lot, lot better but still not completely gone. Luckily the horse has never been itchy, but I know they are still there because you get the orange/yellow mass of eggs around the anus which I clean off daily/every other day.

The plan going forward is to use double dose of strongid P again at beginning of October (as I need to worm then tapeworm anyway). Probably will do another ivermectin wormer enema as well.

The horse is only a 3 year old, and was crawling with everything when I got her so that explains the pinworm. She is kept with my other horse (a 9 year old) and the other horse has never showed any signs of a burden - it tends to be those with immunocompromise, elderly or young that get it.

Hopefully as she gets a bit older her immune system will help sort it out, but if I exhaust other options then the vets will import a treatment for America for me.