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                   Navigating through the haze of deworming

 

 

I don’t know if most people feel like me, a bit confused, when it comes to deworming your horse.

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It used to be the practice to deworm a horse every other month.

Then it changed. Research said that horses developed resistance to the dewormers.

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So, veterinarians started to recommend bi-annual fecal tests to determine if a horse was a “high or low shedder”.

 

I decided to talk to my horse doctor, Megan Eick of Cross River Veterinarian

Services about it and this is what I found out:

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Still do the bi-annual fecal tests. If your horse is a low shedder, deworm in the spring and fall. Just because of the chance of tape worms, bots and fleece. If your horse is a high shedder, more.

 

Also consider the horse’s environment. If your pastures are heavy with manure, the horse will get re-infected easier.

 

Broodmares and foals should be dewormed with (the mildest) Fenbendazole first, just in case they have large roundworms/ascarids, that can cause a blockage and colic (too many parasites trying to exit the intestinal at one time).

 

If horse is infected, you can follow up a month later with an Ivermectin product. But always check with your veterinarian.

 

Research shows that horses seems to have the most resistance to Ivermectin and Fenbendazole, so it is recommended to switch around with different types of pastes.

 

Other available products are: Oxibendazole, Pyrantel Pamoate, Moxidectin and Praziquantel.

 

If your horse is a high shedder or have a heavy infection of parasites, there is Panacur Power Pack (fenbendazole), that is administered with one dose for five consecutive days.

 

Also, for heavy infections, Quest Plus Gel is a powerful product that also kills tapeworms.

 

Different brands vary in dose per Ibs and some are apple flavored.

-          Ivermectin 1.87% kills large & small strongyles, pin worms, ascarids, hairworms, stomach worms, bots, lungworms and threadworms. Any brand that says Ivermectin 1.87% works the same, so you buy the cheaper one and get the same result.

 

-          Pyrantel Pamoate 43.9% kills large & small strongyles, pinworms and large roundworms. Same there with different brands and results.

 

-          20mg moxidectin kills large & small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, hairworms, stomach worms, bots and encysted small strongyles.

 

-          125mg praziquantel kills tapeworms and is combined with 20mg moxidectin in Quest Gel Plus and 1.55% ivermectin +7.75% praziquantel in Zimecterin Gold Paste.

 

Hope this helps, always refer to your veterinarian before de-worming.

 

 

Carina Vretman-Zurga

Swedish Equine