Wormers - Help!

[Gerry-Boy]

Hi All

I need some advice on worming please. I've done some reading but it's just confused me and I'm not sure when and what and how...

Our three boys (we've had them since end October, they haven't been wormed since and I don't know what they've been wormed with before).
I know I need to worm them now-ish. I also know that the most important one is to worm then against the tapeworm.
I also know I need to know how heavy they are before I worm them - that's taken care of, weight tape ordered!

And now the Buts:
there's so much info out there, some say have their poo checked and then do a targeted worming.
Others say just do a general worming.

And with what? There's about a million different wormers at our saddler's and to be honest they could sell me anything at the moment...

Please have you got some tips for me? What do you worm your horses with? How often do you worm them?

Thank you!

 

[Pinkvboots]

Your equine vet should have a programme you can follow but I tend to worm count in spring and end of summer if they come back as clear I don't worm over these months, you have to worm twice a year for tape worm in autumn and spring, and you have to worm for encysted red worm at least once a year best time is the end of winter or spring because worm counts don't pick up these worms, there is a tape saliva test but there are questions as to weather it is reliable so I just worm anyway.
what sort of condition are they in? do they look a healthy weight ? If you are unsure they have been wormed properly or think they may have a worm burden I would speak to your vet before using a wormer as it can make them quite ill by suddenly giving them something to shift the worms.

 

[Scatterbrain]

The sensible route would be to get egg counts done on dung samples. Take a small amount from 2 or 3 piles of droppings for each horse (ensure you know which horse has done each pile, so as not to confuse the results) and send off for analysis. There is also a saliva test you can purchase for testing for tapeworm, and a sellotape test for pinworm.

The results will not show up encysted small red worm, so worth dosing for this if all your other results come back clear. Equest or Panacur Equine guard is what I'd use for encysted red worm.
Equest pramox is very strong but will treat most worms including encysted small red worm and tapeworm.

Westgate labs will give you good advice if you wish to contact them.

 

[ester]

The most important one to worm them against is encysted redworm asap!
options for that are equest, pramox if you want to do tapeworm at the same time or panacur 5 day guard (if you are unsure of their worming history this would be the way to go as the others can be a bit of a shock to they system, it is less widely used because of issues with resistance).

Whether you then want to go onto worm counts is then up to you but you will still need to test separately for tapeworm or treat once a year and and the winter treating for encysted red worms is an absolute must. Be aware that you will be building up a picture of their burdens through successive counts as you can get false 'negatives' and if they are horses unknown to you it might be worth doing counts relatively frequently to get that picture.

 

[Cecile]

This is what I do, almost as their feet come off the lorry I do a worm count as I don't trust anyone to tell me when and what they were wormed with
If they have been wormed recently the worm count may give you a false/negative but the worm count is a starting point, the results come back very quickly
Depending on their age, condition, time of year and worm count I then know how to proceed and with what wormer

Sometimes I don't need to do a worm count to know that it will come back a high worm burden but I always do it as a starting point

You can get all advice on how to proceed FOC from any vet or the lab that run your test

 

[SEL]

Our vets advice for new horses with uncertain history is a 5 day course of Panacur followed by Equest Pramox. That's because Panacur is gentler on the system if they have a big load, but there is known resistance so Equest Pramox finishes the job.

I'd speak to your vet though

 

[ycbm]

Hi All

I need some advice on worming please. I've done some reading but it's just confused me and I'm not sure when and what and how...

Our three boys (we've had them since end October, they haven't been wormed since and I don't know what they've been wormed with before).
I know I need to worm them now-ish. I also know that the most important one is to worm then against the tapeworm.
I also know I need to know how heavy they are before I worm them - that's taken care of, weight tape ordered!

And now the Buts:
there's so much info out there, some say have their poo checked and then do a targeted worming.
Others say just do a general worming.

And with what? There's about a million different wormers at our saddler's and to be honest they could sell me anything at the moment...

Please have you got some tips for me? What do you worm your horses with? How often do you worm them?

Thank you!

There are very few chemicals, they are just sold under more than one brand name.

Ivermectin won't do encysted redworm or tapeworm.

Abamectin is like ivermectin but I've not seen it in the UK.

Doramectin is used for mites and mange and is injected by a vet. It worms at the same time. It doesn't do encysted redworm.

Praziquantel does tape worm only.

Pyrontel embonate and pyrontel pamoate do everything except encysted redworm, but you have to double the dose for tapeworm.

Fenbendazole has big resistance problems as it's very old. It only does encysted redworm if dosed for five days in a row. It doesn't do tapeworm.

Moxidectin does everything except tapeworm, including encysted redworm.

I think that's it. I'm sure an expert will be along to add if I've missed any.


PS moxidectin and praziquantel are sold mixed, but can be very harsh and some horses get sore feet if they are used together.