Worming possibly wormy horses?

Question

A friend has been caring for my four horses for about a year due to a death in our family and illnesses. I assumed she would be worming them and did not. They have been on 5 acres together. They all look good except for a 1/2 Arab/QH mare that has a poor coat, longer hair on her back and is thin. I need to worm all of them but I am worried and dont want to colic them (none of them has ever colic). I have a 7 year old Arab mare about 900 lbs, A 1/2 Andalusian (Azteca) mare (about 1100 lbs), 3 years, a 1/2 Gypsy gelding (about 1000 lbs) 2 years, and the 4 year old 1/2 Arab girl - she is low on weight - about 800 lbs.
I bought a big bag of Strongid C2X daily and 4 tubes of Equimax.
Should I overdose them a bit?

Answer 1

You can't use a daily dewormer for a one time deworming. it isn't formulated for that. Daily dewormer is fed every day, and started following an ivermectin paste deworming. It is a low dose dewormer used in conjunction with twice yearly ivermectin paste. It is inappropriate for your purposes.



I would not overdose them. I would carefully approach this if you want to avoid serious gut disturbance and colic or laminitis.



I would collect fecal samples from all of them and take them in for egg and parasite counts, which is the best way to determine what dewormer should be used and what dosage. Any one of them can colic if a heavy worm load is suddenly killed off, and especially if encysted larvae are massively released into the gut.



The mare that is down in weight and condition may need special attention in this, and should be considered separately. The money you spend on the fecal testing may save you heartache and more money spent in the long run.

Answer 2

Wormy Horse

Answer 3

Galloppal gave the best advice here. Get a vet to diagnose any infestation, and recommend product for parasite load. She's also accurate about daily wormer & ivermectin use.



I'll add that a CBC should be performed on the thin mare with the long-ish coat. Also ask your vet about an ACTH test. She may be having trouble with her metabolism, insulin, or adrenal function.



Lastly~ and I'm sure you've already thought of this~ have all their teeth floated. If the deworming's been skipped, you can be quite certain dental health has been overlooked as well.



I'm so sorry about your loss. Hopefully things will be looking up soon for you and your family.

Answer 4

DO NOT OVERDOSE THEM ON DEWORMER! You could easily kill them by giving them too much wormer.



Basically what happens if you overdose them on dewormer is all of the worms die at once. That sounds like a good thing, but all of the worms dying together will clog up the intestines and cause colic. This is no ordinary colic, either, it almost always requires surgery to fix and a lot of horses never recover. On top of the colic risks, some dewormers are toxic if too much is given.



Don't even give them a full dose of dewormer at first. Start them on a daily dewormer (feed-through) for a month or so, then start deworming slowly. None of what you have will work for them right now, you need to go buy a powdered daily dewormer that you add to the grain. It will be a slow improvement but it won't cause a shock to the system and they won't colic from it.



http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/06/thats-not-mini-its-baby-worm-incubator.html

This blog explains a lot about deworming... to quote the blog

"Sometimes parasite infestation is so severe that worms can be seen in the horse's feces. This should be seen as an urgent situation - you need to get on top of it but you have to be careful. It is absolutely true that blasting a heavily infested horse with a strong dewormer may result in colic. This is because all of the worms dying at once can form an impaction in the intestines. There are various opinions on the best way to prevent this. I personally agree with starting a horse like this on daily dewormer like Strongid C because it's a mild dose - unlikely to shock their system in any way. Then, a few weeks into rehab, you can either go with a Panacur Powerpac (considered the best by most, but more expensive) or give a normal tube of Strongid. A month later, an Ivermectin and that should get most horses pretty "cleaned out" after which they can resume a normal rotational deworming program. "



EDIT--- it's fine not to grain them, but they really need the powdered daily dewormer so their systems don't get shocked. You could either take a syringe and water the powder down and give them the syringe with daily wormer in it (as a paste), or you could take it and mix it in with a small handful of grain. A handful of sweetfeed never did any harm, plus your skinny arab/qh mare could probably use some grain.

Answer 5

Over dosing is not going to kill more worms. However, if you suspect they may be carrying a large parasite load you can worm them again at 2 week intervals for 8 weeks.



EDIT: 1/2 dosing is worse than over dosing. Worms have a life cycle. The wormer disrupts their life cycle it is as simple as that. Many wormers you can buy don't have any residual effect meaning that they don't continue to kill worms. They kill the worms that are there at the time but the horse can go and graze in a worm infested pasture and get them again in a few days. That is why I suggested the every 2 weeks for 8 weeks regimen. I've done it at the suggestion of my vet with very good results when I had brought a heavily infested horse into my barn several years ago. Daily wormer is crap and won't work if you start with a wormy horse. They are only effective at all if you start with a horse that is worm free.



BEST ADVICE: Get a fecal exam done so you are more informed as to just HOW heavy the parasite load is. Then follow your vet's recommendations on how to proceed.

Answer 6

i wouldnt use a daily wormer right now. why not take a stool sample to the vet. if they are all in the same pasture then you would only need to do one test. if you use a powerpack the die off might cause a severe colic due to the extensive die off of worms. id do the test first and then consult with your vet.

Answer 7

To be honest I'd consult your vet as to how to proceed.



I wouldn't overdose on the wormer but I would get veterinary advice and I would get a worm count done and a blood test for tape to check your horses status.

Answer 8

I would not overdose them, even the 1/2 Arabian, Quarter. I would give them each the correct amount then watch them. If nothing improves, I would give them more wormer.

Answer 9

ok, go with the daily wormer for a few wks about 4wks then go for the wormer and do it again 2wks later then put them on a normal worming schedule.