Worms - very confused

[JMG-4523]

Hi,

I have just had our herd (of 5) worm counted. The results are as follows:

Horse 1: <50 epg (no eggs seen)
Horse 2: <50 epg (no eggs seen)
Horse 3: <100 epg (low count)
Horse 4: <100 epg (low count)
Horse 5: 3700 epg (High count)

Horse 5 is my horse !

We worm count regulary (every 3-4 months) and over the last 4 years we have never had a worm count over 100 epg. We have still always wormed for tapeworm in Oct.

My boy is a 17yr old 15.2 TB and is showing no symptoms - he is eating and working well and his poo is as it should be (i.e no diarhoea).

He did keep hold of his winter coat a lot longer than normal this year which I know can be a sign of worms but then the other 17yr old on our yard also held onto hers a bit longer and she has come back clean.

My question is really is does this make sense to anyone. And if he can be the only horse in a herd with such a high count in a relatively short term then would he not be showing some signs of illness with a count that high?

am v Puzzled !!

 

[Tonibird83]

As far as I understand it, this is perfectly normally occurant, ie it can happen. I attended a presentation by a leading vet in my area about egg counts ans have had a long conversation with my feed/wormer provider who seems to know what he's on about and he said it can happen that 2 horses that have spent all their lies in the same field can have massively different egg counts.

It's unlucky for you, I think that yours needs worming though applaud your effort at egg counting.

I wouldn't stress about it too much, just worm him and then you're ok for another 3 months.

Have you been to any shows/other yards/fields where he could have picked up more? Maybe you didn't dose him right when you last wormed him? It's better to overdose than underdose I believe. Maybe as he's getting older, his gut is changing and is less able to deal with worms.

I'm obviously clutching at straws! But don't feel too guilty about it

 

[JMG-4523]

Thankyou !

I do feel really guilty as I have been competing him and making him work (although he has been fine) but dont the worms make him feel ill? and ive been asking him to jump and do ODEs and all sorts !

I have wormed him - last night as soon as I found out.

I think the count shocked me - it sounds so high!