Wormers to be prescription only?

[MurphysMinder]

Deleted, seems to be Ireland only.

 

[ycbm]

I don't see how this can be true and not have been all over the equestrian media before now?

I hope it's not true, because it will mean a return to the days of my early horse owning, where wormy horses died regularly and there was an under the counter trade in horse wormers in independent pet shops for owners who cared but weren't prepared to pay the vet bills. Only this time that trade will be online, as it partly already is.
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[meleeka]

I saw that too. How utterly ridiculous! Very few people are going to pay for a vet to see the horse just to get a wormer so that’s a large proportion of the equine world who just won’t bother. Wormers will also double in price when you take into account the prescription charge. Even the travellers I know who aren’t registered with a vet seem to think it important to worm.

 

[ycbm]

I've had a quick search and I can't find anything on this outside Ireland, just one article in an Irish newspaper.

 

[ycbm]

I saw that too. How utterly ridiculous! Very few people are going to pay for a vet to see the horse just to get a wormer so that’s a large proportion of the equine world who just won’t bother. Wormers will also double in price when you take into account the prescription charge. Even the travellers I know who aren’t registered with a vet seem to think it important to worm.

That was exactly the situation in the early 80's, before prescriptions were dropped.

It won't work. It's simply too easy to ship in wormers illegally from overseas in plain packaging mislabelled. Abler do it already.
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[MurphysMinder]

A post was shared on fb by a friend who lives locally, it was from a Deeside Countrystore stating about the prescription requirements, and as there is a deeside in my area my first thought was that it was UK wide. However, as Irish law was mentioned I double checked and it is a store in Ireland . Apologies, I usually check source before sharing but was doing it quickly before leaving the house.

 

[Quigleyandme]

It is already more regulated here. The pharmacist records my details in a ledger when I buy wormers and I have to provide my herd number to buy some other over the counter veterinary medicines and farm herbicides. My vets are very good about letting me have prescription drugs without a mandatory visit or consultation so I expect nothing will change in practice.

 

[ycbm]

Phew! That's a relief
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[milliepops]

i do think we could do with some additional tightnening up here tbh. I'm not sure how that could be achieved but as there aren't any new wormer chemicals coming out of development we have to be really careful not to overuse the ones that are still effective. I don't think there's brilliant understanding of intelligent or targetted worming overall and so there's a risk we will end up with resistance faster than could be otherwise achieved. That would also be a terrible blow to horse welfare.

 

[PurBee]

I never knew this - thanks for the heads-up!
Effective jan 2022.

Seems to be due to farmers pouring wormers into cattle regularly, causing resistance that has spurred this ‘eu legislation’:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid-40090211.html

Apparently, according to the article , currently uk and Ireland are/were the only EU country to administer wormers without a prescription.

There’s also an equine census being brought in here….that’s ontop of registering your premises as an ‘equine premises’ if you have 1 or more horse.

What gets me is that they soon shift their legislative as*es with issues like this while ignoring major chemical contamination issues due to modern horticultural methods, which go on to cause untold millions in consequences.

 

[ycbm]

i do think we could do with some additional tightnening up here tbh. I'm not sure how that could be achieved but as there aren't any new wormer chemicals coming out of development we have to be really careful not to overuse the ones that are still effective. I don't think there's brilliant understanding of intelligent or targetted worming overall and so there's a risk we will end up with resistance faster than could be otherwise achieved. That would also be a terrible blow to horse welfare.

I agree, but like you I don't see how it can be done. I remember the days when it was law and they weren't pretty.
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[PurBee]

I agree, but like you I don't see how it can be done. I remember the days when it was law and they weren't pretty.
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There’s already enough wormy neglected horses dotted around the countryside here - this new legislation will now ensure that issue never gets sorted and will likely increase!

 

[Quigleyandme]

I received my letter about the ROI November 2021 equine census last week. I don’t know how useful it will be as it will only capture data from registered keepers.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

That's how it is here ?‍ I can't say it's that bad or that things would drastically change if it weren't from the vet only.

Most of the time on livery yards the YO will get a big order from the vet a few times a year, and either deworm the horse for you or give it to you. The cost isn't terrible. If you suspect your horse has parasite issues, then yes, you have to call the vet and can't just use whatever. Which, isn't a bad thing, maybe helps prevent over use and parasite resistance. Those that cba to deal with the vet for this are likely neglecting their horses in other ways too.

Although I'm used to most things being expensive, inconvenient, or regulated in this country ? 'tis the norm.