WORMING

Horses should be wormed with an anthelminthic effective against tapeworm, a range is kept at the surgery and vets are well placed to advise you on the most effective worming programme for your horse.

Are you confused by all the different horse wormers available to you?

The worming preparations available are as follows with various trade names in brackets.

1. Pyrantel Embonate (Strongid P & Pyratape P)

2. Ivermectin (Eqvalan, Eraquell & Furexel)

3. Febendazole (Panacur)

4. Moxidectin (Equest)

5. Ivermectin & Praziquantel (Equimax & Equest Pramox)

At the end of the day there are only 5 types of wormers to choose from. It's the trade names that cause all the confusion!

You need to remember to treat for tapeworm, bots and encysted redworms at stratigic times of the year.

In March/April and September/October dose for tapeworm with a Pyrantel Embonate at double the recommended dose.
In October (6 weeks after tapeworm dose) give a five day course of  Febendazole or Moxidectin.
In December (6-8 weeks after dosing for encysted redworm) treat for bots with Ivermectin.

NB. Treat any new horse for encysted redworm followed in 6 weeks by treatment for tapeworm.

If using Moxidectin (Equest) as your chosen yearly wormer, dose every 13 weeks, still observing the March/April and September/October dose tapeworm.
For the grazing season base your worming interval on worm egg counts from faeces samples.

Faecal Egg Counts
During April to September it is advisable to check on the effectiveness of your worm control by asking our vets to perform egg counts on samples of dung taken from your horse. If it is effective there should be no more than 200 eggs per gram. Bring in a fresh sample and we can tell you the approximate number and type of worms.