Worming for tapeworm now?!?!

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Morgan123

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I have a quick worming query. Our yard manager has recently decided we should follow a worming programme, leaving the horses in for 24 hours after worming, and all worm on the same day. This all sounds well and good, but because she's missed her winter dose, the date she has proposed for worming is 28th of Feb, with Equest Pramox (which also does tapeworm as am sure you all know). One woman has argued with her that it is not yet time for Pramox as tapework are spring parasites - and been threatened with being kicked off the yard!! The YM is therefore obviously not going to listen to reason. Is it better for us to go along with it and worm the horses for tapeworm now, or would we then have to do an additional dose later in spring? (Or am i being really thick adn there's no problem worming now anyway!!)
Thank you!
 
I think its fine, Pramox has a 13 week dosing period, and the tapeworm period is when the spring grass starts to grow - the warmer weather this week and next will kick start that. I'm going to do Pramox in March.

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No, youre right, you would need to re-worm around April for Tapeworm. The reason you worm at certain times is to kill off the parasite at a certain stage in its lifecycle. Worming at a different time wont work! Over using wormers like this encourages resistance so is not a good idea. You cant tell tapeworm burden from egg count, only a blood test. So most people routinely worm for tapeworm because of cost of blood test.
 
Hi

I don't know if this helps but I always consider the seasons this way.

Winter December, January, February
Spring March, April, May
Summer June July August
Autumn September, October November

So by that account end of Feb would just about come into spring.
 
Thank you! not sure what to do, don't want to get kicked off yard by complaining (so unreasonable!!) but on the other hand no point shoving loads of expensive chemicals down my horses if not doing any good!! Thanks for the info!
 
Tapeworm is around all year - either in the grass or in the hay/haylage - it has an intermediate host - an oribatid mite that lives in the grass but also in preserved grass. We choose to worm twice a year and choose to make it at the beginning and end of the grazing period - approx 6 months apart- i.e. March / April and again Setember / October.
Praziquantel (the drug that kills the tapeworm in Equest pramox) has very little residual effect - it is the moxidectin which persists for longer and gives the Equest it's 13 week dosing interval.
So technically it doesn't matter when you do tapeworm but twice a year about 6 months apart to keep the levels down and tie in with other worming.
 
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