wormer question - advice needed

[mavandkaz]

the yard i livery at has a worming program so that all the horses are wormed at once. sounds good so far BUT we have just been given the wormer to give to our horses and its Equest Pramox. correct me if i'm wrong but i thought this was given in autumn and spring. with 'normal' equest in summer and winter. we gave pramox in autumn so why i have been given it again?
add to this a horse from the yard was recently in vets, (unrelated) and had a worm count down. it was very high. horse had been at yard for over year, so on same worming program as every one else.

so what would you do? should i bring it up with YO who supplies the wormer?

 

[joeanne]

Perhaps get your own worm count done?

 

[ester]

you should be giving equest 12 weeks after the pramox was given, then 12 weeks after that the pramox again. giving pramox now wont be hugley detrimental but it isnt good for the development of resistance. I would question the yard owner about their program.

It is normal for one or 2 horses in a herd to have much higher counts than the rest of the herd and acquire a higher burden more quickly, I assume if you did pramox in the autumn then it is some time since the last treatment and hence the worm population in said horse has increased and as long as you worm regularly this shouldnt be a problem.

out of interest what was his count?

hope that helps.

 

[autumn7]

Pramox does everything that Equest does, plus tapeworm. Winter worming is important for bots, which both Equest and Pramox are suitable. If Equest was used in Spring and Autumn for tapeworm it does seem unnecessary to use this again in January when as you say, Equest would have done, especially as the former is approx £5 per syringe more expensive!
I'd subtly enquire why the horses need the tapeworm ingredient at this time of year and see if YO can justify its use. Good luck!

 

[mavandkaz]

thanks for all your replies. will try and speak to her tomorrow and see what she says but she can be quite defensive.
when the owner of the horse brought up the worm count YO said 'well they're due in a couple of weeks so...' but oddly, the wormer appeared for us two days later.
unfortunately can't check the exact date the last was given, only the month.
glad to hear horse will still be covered for everything plus tapeworm, wasn't sure if was a case of one or the other - if that makes sense.
ester - his count was over 300. not sure what that really means in comparison to 'normal'. the girl who owns him used the words 'high count'.

 

[ester]

ok well my info is mostly from sheep worms a while ago but I wouldnt be too worried at 300 epg (that means eggs per gram of faeces) I would guess that is a level at which treating would be suggested but doesnt really indicate a problem if that makes sense.

 

[mavandkaz]

thanks for that! made me feel better. just things at the yard have been going down hill recently and this was beginning to feel like the final straw (just the stress of horsey being stuck in 24/7 getting to me - too much mucking out!)

 

[KS1]

With advice from my vet I was told that an epg of 150 or less is fine, anything over and you need to give a wormer.

However though 300 epg does require worming it is not drastic