Which wormer?

[Bucketlist]

We need to worm our new pony, but it seems there are so many different ones and some shouldn't be used on a new pony because of the risk of colic? So, I wondered if someone could tell me which wormer(s) they would use for a pony with an unknown history and going forward, whether to stick with the same wormers and how often they're required.

I was going to ask at the local tack shop, but after reading about the colic risk, I'm concerned that they might recommend one of these wormers.

Many Thanks. x

 

[soloequestrian]

Get in touch with Westgate Labs. They can give you advice about finding out whether your pony has a worm burden and how to go about controlling it. I wouldn't rely on advice from the tack shop - there is a training course for people who are going to sell wormers but it is very, very basic.

 

[Bucketlist]

Thank you. I called Westgate and their advice was to use Equest Pramox but I don't know the history of the pony and I've read about this product causing colic in horses with large worm burdens. I was therefore going to use Equimax or Eqvalan Duo, but these don't appear to treat the encysted small redworms and I don't know if he has been treated for this recently. It appears that there's only Equest or Panacur 5 day guard that treats the encysted redworms.

So should I give Equimax and then Equest shortly after once I'm sure his worm burden won't be high. Or Equimax and Panacur? How long would I need to leave between giving the two treatments?

My head is spinning with all the different types of worms and treatments. So has anyone else wormed a new horse and could tell me what they used or would advise me to do?

Thanks.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Ask your vet, though Westgate worm far more equids than any one vet.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

When my friends horse wasn't wormed by the livery yard (it was supposed to be included) for about a year and he ended up with a high worm burden, the vet told her to use panacur guard because it goes in the system over 5 days so was apparently easier on the horse.

Please don't give Equimax then Equest shortly after. If worms become resistant to these newest drugs we'll have no decent wormers left and then everything will have worms. Both of those wormers have active ingredients which belong to the same family of drugs.

You have a choice between making sure the horse is worm free instantly and therefore not adding worms to your pasture, or managing the colic risk if the horse happens to have a high worm burden. FWIW really wormy horses tend to look wormey, often underweight but with a pot belly. If you're that bothered about the colic risk, why not firstly get the horse egg counted to see what that shows? If the results are good then you're only needing to worm for tapeworm at the moment because that won't show up with the egg count and encysted redworm in the autumn. If the results are bad then you could worm with a basic wormer eg single dose Panacur or Strongid P or Equvalan, all of which will kill a few varieties of worms but not everything, followed in a few weeks time with Equitape for tapeworm and one of the stronger newer wormers in autumn.

 

[Jnhuk]

can you not get a poo sample off to westgate as they are exceedingly quick to get results so you know what is appropriate to worm with if you are concerned that pony may have a high worm count?

I would personally rate Westgate's advice and have used them several years including issues with a youngster having a high worm count and they recommended 5 day panacur then double dose Pyratape then wait six weeks before equest. It meant that I had to do three WEC after each wormer to monitor effects of worming on his strongyle eggs seen in samples.

 

[Leo Walker]

When mine came back off loan with worm count of 1600 he had a course of Pancur Guard followed by a tape wormer a week later. I think it took us about 10 weeks to get him to a zero worm count. The yard used Intelligent worming I think who advised that, but now hes moved yards I've gone back to using Westgate. I cant fault them for turnaround time or advice! He also looked exceptionally well and didnt have any sort of wormy belly so I wouldnt rely on that.

He spent all that time in isolation as there were concerns about resistant worms. Turns out he just hadnt been wormed as he should have been Hes had a zero count ever since

 

[Lollypop74]

Late reply, but when we got our pony her worm count was 9000!!!!!! Vet recommended 5 day panacur guard, then two weeks later Strongid P. Then a month later, Equest. We are due to do another worm count this week so fingers crossed it's better, couldn't really be much worse!!!!!😮😮