Saturday, July 13, 2019

Useful And Essential Facts About Horse Wormers

By Christopher Barnes


All kinds of wild and domestic animals face some kind of worm infestation. There are many adverse effects that these worms inflict on animals, especially horses and ponies. As such, one should be able to know when to deworm the horses. Due to the fact that there are numerous kinds of worms, one should know the right wormer to give at a particular time of the year. This is worth knowing about horse wormers.

It is quite challenging to choose the appropriate wormer because of the many different wormers that are currently available on the market. The many worming programs in existence always confuse people a lot. Another challenge is that most worms that affect horses are becoming resistant to wormers. As such, the medication has to be administered in the most appropriate way to prevent the pests from becoming resistant.

Even though horses may carry worms in their bodies, it is not always necessary to treat the problem. Research indicates that only 20 percent of horses carry a worm burden that is high enough to require treatment. To be sure about when to administer treatment, it is necessary to conduct a saliva test. This is a simple test that one can conduct by themselves without requiring a veterinarian.

The importance of carrying out a saliva test is to avoid administering medication when it is not necessary. Besides harming the horse, this may also encourage resistance against medication by the worms. As a solution against this problem, several worming programs have been developed over the years. Some are effective while others are not that useful.

Saliva test for tapeworm should be conducted during autumn according to most programs. One should administer wormers for tapeworms if the results are positive. Tapeworms should be treated using wormers that contain praziquantel or an increased dose of pyrantel. Some of the most effective wormers are Eqvalan Duo, Equest pramox, strongid P, and Equimax. The treatment can also be done using a combination of medications that contain a high dosage of pyrantel or praziquantel.

During winter, wormers which target encysted larval stages of small redworms should be administered. A suitable product to use is moxidectin because it is capable of completely killing botfly larvae. The other option to employ is increased dosage of fenbendazole although it is not effective against botfly larvae. Equest and panacur are other options that can be used.

Testing for tapeworms should be done in spring again and medication administered only in the event the worms are determined to exist. During summer, tests for worms and FEC should be done so that fenbendazole or pyrantel is administered. Apart from giving wormers, it is vital that one exercises caution how they handle horses and their environment. One of the healthy habits to observe is removing fecal matter in grazing fields weekly to avoid worm ingestion.

It is important to avoid over-stocking of pastures. Having 1 and 1.5 of an acre is good enough for every horse. This can however be varied depending on the weight and size of the animal. If possible, one should have horses sharing pastures with cows and sheep to minimize parasitic eggs in the environment. Pasture rotation is also highly advisable.




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