Need urgent help with worming my horse

eeyore is cool

Hi, i was just wondering what the best wormer would be to use on a nervous, unbroken mare around 4 years old, no previous worming has been done except one dose of an ivermectin based paste. She is barely handled and has a dull coat and a worm belly put will not gain weight. There is also a possibility of pregnancy as stallions got loose with her at the start of the year?
She was wormed last October, she has been left out to graze and did have bot eggs on her coat last summer and possibly this summer. She is being kept under awkward circumstances and i know she is most probably infested with worms. I am just lost on which will be the most effective for her.

fits

I think equest is probably the most effective wormer out there. You can buy packs of four which should do the whole year, and cover tapeworm (in Spring and Autumn).

I reckon I'd give her an equest pramox now as we're almost into the autumn and see how she responds to that. That will cover almost everything.

Its not really advised, but I give it in feed for my fussy mare. mollasses rich cool mix. She cant resist it. Maybe try see if she likes that first over a couple of days before putting wormer in.

holefer

you sure its not laminitis ?? time of the year for it with all the growth etc.. but if shes sorta above 15 hands then that could be ruled out.. if theres any chance shes been covered then watch what wormer you give. cant remember which i used before but im frantic looking around the tack room for the box!!! no harm to google brand names and see if any give any adverse reactions. and putting it dry /dusty through the bran rather than nuts is a winner.. my yolk is fierce finnickity

fits

holefer wrote: »

you sure its not laminitis ?? time of the year for it with all the growth etc.. but if shes sorta above 15 hands then that could be ruled out..

how does it sound like laminitis???:eek:

And how can it be ruled out if above 15 hands? Any horse can get it no matter what size.

holefer

got the box, yeah equest it was. good luck.

holefer

not saying it sounds like laminitis but it can be coming on and youd miss it if your focusing on something else. lot of about apparently with all the growth. as for her size is shes been covered then i have found them less likely to suffer from it. must point out im no vet just an owner . if in doubt pay !!

eeyore is cool

Thanks guys, i dealt with Laminitus last year and it's definitely not that thank god, didn't end well for the mare or the foal unfortunately

But i think equest seems like the best bet, i won't be able to stop her eating before or after though, will this effect the dose??

Also will a double dose be needed to start as she seems to be really infested? Sorry i'm lost as to what to do with her at the moment

fits

single dose (full syringe) should suffice. If you dont see an improvement in a week, get the vet out.

Worm counts can be done on the dung as well, through your vet. But I'd be tempted to see how the equest works first.

holefer

well i've never needed to double up but then i've never had an awful bad dose.. any chance you can contain her even for a few days?

convert

If you think there's a chance the mare might be in foal, I'd double check with your vet about what wormer to give her - the last thing you want to do is cause problems with the foal. It might also be worthwhile having her scanned, so that way you'll know for sure.

eeyore is cool

Yea i'm a student who lives on my grant and i can't find a job anywhere at the moment so the vet is going to be the last choice unfortunately, but if it needs to be done i can live of rations for a few weeks, horse comes first

eeyore is cool

Just seen that last message now, as i said i really won't be able to afford a scan so i'll just have to ride it out and look for signs, hopefully she won't be but i will probably call up the vet and ask about the best wormer for a mare in foal, just in case

eeyore is cool

holefer wrote: »

well i've never needed to double up but then i've never had an awful bad dose.. any chance you can contain her even for a few days?

i don't think i can contain her she stresses when brought in and last time we did she dropped her weight drastically and we are still working on getting her to re gain it.

Angelmangle

Have you checked that she doesn't have a copper deficiency as well. A very dull coat and weight loss is a classic symptom of copper deficiency and I've seen it in a few horses in the Dublin area recently, a blood test will confirm. You can buy supplements in Equipet or any reputable equestrian shop and you should of course worm also.

Smithym

People mix the worming paste in through molasses?

I've thought about doing this before but assumed it would be a no-no, hence got researching sachet powder forms of wormer for my difficult tb.

Would like to hear of your experiences with mixing the paste in through feed though, is it as effective by doing this?

I thought it was important to keep the horse away from feed before and after worming with paste, to make sure it had full effect in the stomach.

doctor evil

You could try mixing it in with pureed apple.

There are gadgets that looks like bits, you can attached the plunger to it and ensure it gets to the back of the mouth.

convert

I think it depends on the worm dose that's been given. I wormed my horse earlier this week and while I was trying to decide on which worm dose to give him I was reading up on the different types of dose as well as the directions for dosing.

Most of the wormers didn't make any reference to feeding guidelines before or after worming, though one box mentioned that it wasn't necessary to withold feed for a specified period of time before or after dosing.

I remember my aunt mixed in paste with hard feed one day and the horse wouldn't eat it. This was probably due to the fact that the paste didn't blend very well with the feed and went into lots of little clumps. The granules would mix better with the feed, so if you were going to put the wormer in the feed, then they'd be the better option.