Worm Counts

Dogstar

Dogstar

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Thinking of getting a worm egg count done this month instead of routinely worming. This will be the first time I have done this, so I am a bit suspicious of the whole procedure and how accurate it is.. just wondered if any equally suspicious person has ever sent samples from the same horse to different companies to see if the results are the same!? Is this just too cynical? It's just that I am a worrier!
 
yep your thinking too much, after all they have no benefit from lying as if a wormer is needed you wouldn't be buying from them so they have no incentive to lie..
 
Ooh I don't think they are deliberately lying! Just that the results might not be accurate for some reason or other or might vary from one bit of poo to another!!!
 
I wouldnt see any harm in sending a sample to both companys just out of curiosity ....
but it is a fairly reliable test for most worms and the results should be similar with in the same range...they likely wont be the exact same as its a general sample but should be in the same range.

In general worm counts are a better idea than straight out dosing.Drug resistance is growing in the general population and as there are only 3 groups of chemicals used to control worms its a growing concern.Well at least to our lecturers who are doing research on it.

We are being thought in collage that worm counts are the way forward for worming horses and as vets we should not be supporting the drugs companys and just give independent advise instead.
Some Vet practices can offers to do the tests,we're thought how to in collage, but its not very popular in Ireland yet.

You can also get the tests online to try to do it your self,in sheep and cattle kits but they could be used for horses, but they can be difficult to interperarate if you dont know what your looking for so arent considered as reliable.

As above poster pointed out the company has no incentive to lie, they dont sell the tests and they are a growing area in the equine world so why risk their reputation....
 
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Ooh I don't think they are deliberately lying! Just that the results might not be accurate for some reason or other or might vary from one bit of poo to another!!!

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They should vary a little.After all its just a representative sample but a small worm burden is perfectly healthy and in no way a bad thing in the horse.If they have a heavy burden and need dosing it should be picked up regardless of where the sample is from.
Its about control not elimination when it comes to worms in horses...
 
although there are problems with aggregation within a dropping.

My ongoing concern with it is that in comparison to sheep poo (where my research lies) proportionately much less is used for a horse fec. ie it would be much better to put a whole dropping in a blender and take a sample from that.

OP I think they are only useful as part of a longitudinal strategy, ie a single low count doesnt give you enough information to know that you definitely dont need to worm. A number of low counts done at regular intervals throughout the grazing season is.

have you wormed for encysted redworm yet this summer? did you do tapeworm in autumn?

Most of a herd will have a low count, there are normally one or 2 that will have a much higher burden and are repsonsible for much of the contamination of pasture

agree with aru, control not elimination egg counting is excellent and certainly beneficial for minimising the development of resistance but I do worry that people are doing it without full knowledge of the information and its interpretations.
 
I'm worm counting and using Verm-X which is a natural wormer, so far I'm very pleased with the results, it's cost effective (£10 a course), and appears to be very effective (doing another worm count in three weeks) also as he's a skinny ex-racer any chance where I can avoid putting harsh chemicals into his stomach is greatly appreciated.

...and now the smell of Verm-x reminds me of buying a horse!
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Thanks everyone, some food for thought there! Ester, I love the blender idea, I wonder what my Mum would say if I advanced towards her Kenwood Chef..! Yes, I always worm for encysted stages and tapeworm, I know I need to do that anyway even with egg counts. Well, I will probably give it a go and see what comes back and then not leave it too long before the next one. Thanks again for your thoughts.
 
Worm egg counts are a useful tool within a worming programme, they are, however limited in a number of ways.....
1)A WEC will only give an indication of the number of adult egg laying worms the horse may be carrying - one scenario is that you can have a horse with massive numbers of juvenile worms which won't show up on a count, this is called a false negative.
2) WEC's do not indicate whether tapeworms are present - you need a blood test for this.
3)Most importantly of all, WEC's do not indicate if there are encysted small redworm larvea present, these can be very dangerous if there are alot of them hiding in the gut wall over winter, emerging en masse in the spring causing anemia, colic, weight loss, diarrhea and even death in some cases.

So therefore I would always advise to treat for tapeworm and encysted small redworm at strategic times of year oct/nov and feb/march, and do WEC'S in between these doses.
 
Yep, thats what I do - tapeworm blood test in Sep with his jabs, and a all round wormer Feb/Mar (like Equest Pramox) for redworm, encysted, tape, bots etc. I worm count the rest of the time and worm accordingly. I use Westgate Labs coz its dead simple! You can buy a pack of 4, with a plastic wallet, all your envelopes, sample pots and even gloves! So far it seems to be pretty accurate. My horse had tapeworm related colic last summer, to look at him the day before you would have had no idea at all, he looked fab! A few of the horses on the yard are worm tested and the results do vary and are very interesting.
 
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