Every now and then, you may hear from a horse owner who seems to do away with a paste worming schedule. The horse may not want anyone to touch his mouth as this could mean something would be forced inside his mouth. And the result – the horse worming schedule then falls apart because there are no other options but to use paste wormers.
Although horses may need training for them to accept the worming agent, and for some, the need to hire an expert to do it for them may be necessary to keep up with the worming schedule; one should keep in mind never to do anything with a horse that seems uncomfortable for them and that should include giving equine dewormers. There are ways that you can improve on your horse worming schedule making sure that you stick with it.
If one of your horses ruins your worming schedule, consider other alternatives to giving dewormers. Tube deworming is one but you also need to consult your veterinarian about it. Vets can still provide services for tube worming to anyone who may need it. But there is another method that involves simpler and less traumatic dewormer administration – something that you can incorporate into his feed.
You can go for granulated dewormers if you want to keep up with your schedule. You can either feed them these daily wormers or choose a purge product; they work effectively just like paste but your horse will not have to resist it because it is mixed on to his feed. These equine worming granules are good to the taste that they won’t even notice it is there and they will love eating it too!
If you want to be successful in your equine worming endeavors, there are various types of dewormers that you can find convenient to use. It might take some planning for the proper worming schedule and you might need to search online for various products but you don’t need to worry because you can easily find those non-paste formulations. Apart from that, you can also search for something that is effective against bots and tapeworms.
When it comes to deworming granules, there is no need to look any further when you have found Abler. Abler is a great place for you to get all the different wormers in their granulated forms. If you want a convenient way to administer dewormers without having to spend too much, Abler is the way to go!
Pinworms in horses are equine worms that are white/gray in color, which colonize the horse’s rectum. Pinworms get their name from their lengthy appearance. The female pinworm can grow up to 4 inches, and males are smaller than the females. The pinworm larvae get their nutrition from the intestinal lining. Once they reach the adult stage, the female worms travel through the rectum and outside the anal area where they deposit their eggs.
The prevalence of pinworms has increased compared to before. Pinworm resistance has developed in a different manner as in other equine dewormers. Resistance to pinworms results because the drug used to target them are well absorbed in the frontal gut and is not able to reach the hind gut, which is where pinworms do their nasty work. Therefore, not enough doses can reach the pinworms.
How to Find Out if Your Horse has Pinworms
- Protruding worms from the anus of the horse. This worm is the female pinworm that will lay her eggs around the anal area. This female will travel back to the rectum. An adult female pinworm is capable of laying 60,000 eggs a day.
- Eggs are characterized as a gelatinous matter found around the horse’s anus
- Skin irritation, around the anus area, may start to develop
- Consistent tail rubbing
- Horses tend to lick and bite hindquarters
- Changes in behavior which include nervousness and loss of appetite
- Signs may resemble sweet itch in horses
Different Ways on How Pinworms Find Their Way into Your Horse
- Accidental ingestion of eggs from mutual grooming
- Drinking water or eating feed contaminated with pinworm eggs
- Ingestion of eggs from pasture
- Using contaminated grooming kits
- Contaminated environment e.g. stables, fence posts
How is Pinworm Infestation Treated?
Pinworms in horses are not really a significant threat; they are easy to eradicate. Good equine management practices help a lot in controlling pinworm population.
- Clean the horse’s anus or tail thoroughly to help remove the eggs. Use disposable wipes or diluted disinfectants intended for the horse’s skin.
- Supply clean access of water
- Disinfect the surroundings including the horse’s beddings, grooming kits, etc. Grooming kits used on an infected horse should not be used on the uninfected horse.
- Using equine dewormers also help eliminate the problem. Various broad-spectrum agents sold at Abler will simply manage the problem. However, if pinworms are your only problem, pyrantel pamoate for horses, AbPyran™ is best used. Always consult your veterinarian when planning to use dewormers.
How to Confirm Presence of Pinworms
- Apply a sticky tape to the skin around your horse’s anus and take this tape to be examined by your vet.
- Fecal egg count tests cannot determine the number of eggs since eggs are not passed out via manure, but only deposited around the anal area.
- Pinworms are easy to detect by simply checking around the anal area, especially during night.
Parasite resistance has become a real problem in the equine industry. It is a growing problem and no new dewormer class has been developed as of present. Because of this important issue, there are three main goals for reducing the parasite burden of your horse.
- Find out if your horse is a low, moderate, or high shredder of parasite eggs.
- Use a deworming agent that targets what parasite your horse has.
- Make a way to decrease parasite exposure to your horse.
For a successful deworming plan, there is a need to determine the parasite burden of the horse. An initial fecal egg count exam should be conducted at least six to eight weeks following deworming with pyrantel pamoate (AbPyran™) or a course of ten to twelve weeks with ivermectin (AbIver™). This deworming strategy helps in identifying whether your horse is a low shredder, or a medium or high shedder. The next thing to do is find the class of equine dewormers that work effectively for your horse. Your veterinarian can recommend the best class to use that works on the most predominant parasite on that certain season. After deworming, another fecal exam to be performed 10-14 days is advised to check if parasites have been eliminated. This test is important in finding out if the wormer is effective. Always remember the important strategy in horse worming and repeat the processes: before deworming, have a fecal egg count test, deworm the horse with the best and effective worming agent, and after which perform another fecal test after 10-14 days. These steps are important especially if you use AbIver™ and AbPyran™.
Decreasing parasite exposure is also an important step in controlling the efficacy of equine dewormers. This includes removing manure from the paddocks at least twice a week and harrowing the pastures. When harrowing pastures, it is best to do it during the hottest months of the year. Also, the harrowed pastures should be left vacant for weeks before making it available for horses once again.
Parasite control management these days does not involve complete elimination of parasites, but rather, control of the population of the troublemakers. If your horse is a low shedder of parasite eggs, there is no need for extensive horse worming program since infections won’t be significant if parasite population is under control. For this reason, the importance of fecal egg counts should be stressed for all horse owners.
Tapeworms are common parasites in horses and can be the reason for many health-related concerns in the animal, ranging from diarrhea to colic. Unfortunately, the presence of these worms goes undetectable in fecal worm egg count tests. Not all equine dewormers can effectively target tapeworms which is why it is important to give special consideration to such threat.
Tapeworms are described as flattened, segmented worms that are white in color. They usually reside at the junction of both small and large intestines of your horse and they use their suckers to adhere to the gut lining. They feed from absorbing food from the intestinal lumen and they can reach 20cm in length when they mature into adults. Tapeworm infestation is common in horses and those that are infected have more chance of developing ileal impaction colic and spasmodic colic compared to those that are not infected.
The eggs of tapeworms are passed in the manure and they come in segments. These eggs are eaten by forage mites likely to be present on the pasture. The horse unknowingly ingests the mites; these mites will be digested in the horse’s intestine and the immature tapeworm will be released. The tapeworm develops inside your horse’s gut into an adult tapeworm – segmented in form. It attaches to the gut wall and shed its segments, which contain the eggs. As they travel along the gut, the tapeworm segments are broken down and the eggs are passed out via manure within 48 hours, and then the lifecycle of the worm continues once again. The exact timing of its lifecycle has not been fully understood but generally, it takes about 4-6 months for tapeworm lifecycle to complete.
A standard fecal worm egg count cannot confirm the presence of equine tapeworm. The best way to test for its presence is through tapeworm antibody test, which your veterinarian will conduct. The antibody levels are used to determine how exposed your horse is to tapeworms and how high the risk for developing tapeworm-related diseases.
To control tapeworm infestation, it is necessary to break the parasite’s lifecycle through the strategic use of equine dewormers. Tapeworm treatment is ideally given every 6 months, particularly during spring and fall, and involves giving a double dose of pyrantel pamoate (AbPyran™). Praziquantel is also a recognized effective treatment for tapeworms. AbIver Plus™ contains ivermectin with praziquantel, a great combination that provides an advance treatment for such parasites, that not just target tapeworms but other common parasites in horses including pinworms, roundworms, and bots.
Always remember to consult your veterinarian for the proper dosing for tapeworm treatment. For affordable choices of equine dewormers that work against tapeworms and other equine parasites, you can only trust Abler.
Parasitic infestations are recognized to be associated with colic in horses. Colic results from mechanical damage, nerve transmission interference, blood flow disruption, allergic irritation, and changes in intestinal motility, all of which may be brought about by internal equine parasites. Recently, tapeworms have been strongly correlated to development of colic including ileal impaction, intussusceptions (telescoping of a part of the intestine to another) and spasmodic colic.
Equine tapeworm infestation may not be one of the most common causes of colic but it is important to understand that tapeworm infestations is a growing problem due to the development of resistance to common anthelmintics. Several anthelmintics commonly used are not so effective in eliminating tapeworms. Because of this, a lot of well-maintained horses have been infested with tapeworms. This article explains briefly about the important details about tapeworms and how they are being linked to colic.
The Different Species of Tapeworms in Horses
There are three species of tapeworms that are common to horses and they are Anoplocephalap erfoliata, Anoplocephala magna, and Anoplocephala mamillana. Although horses aged 1-5 years old and those over 15 years old can be heavily infested with tapeworms, horses of different age groups can be infected with these parasites in general. Older horses may even be more susceptible to heavy infestations. Equine tapeworms depend on orbatid mites for their lifecycle to continue. A number of orbatid mites can be found in adequately humid areas. The mites ingest the eggs of the tapeworms, which will develop into larvae. Once the horse ingests the mite, the tapeworm larvae are free and they attach to the ileum, the last region of the small intestine. Once the tapeworm reaches maturity, its segments are released and digested in the intestine. The eggs are also released and passed out through feces and the lifecycle continues.
The Relationship Between Tapeworms and Colic
Intestinal perforation, intussusceptions, impaction colic, and ileacal and spasmodic colic are conditions which have been linked to equine tapeworm infestations. How tapeworms cause intussusception remains unproven. It may be due to the changes in intestinal motility. It involves the ulceration and inflammation of the intestinal lining at which the parasite attaches. The site of attachment may also thicken, and get infected.
Another theory on how tapeworms cause colic may be attributed to the interference of the nerve transmission. Equine tapeworms contain large amounts of a certain compound that interfere with this nerve transmission when that compound is released. This consequently reduces peristaltic activity which then causes colic.
No drug has been approved to treat tapeworm infestations but several products have been effective enough. The use of pyrantel salt-based dewormers is the cornerstone treatment of equine tapeworm infestations. Recommended dosage shows an 87% efficacy in eliminating tapeworms while doubling the dose produces 93% efficacy.
When tapeworms are found prevalent in your areas, clinical signs can be effectively prevented in two ways: through daily-basis pyrantel salts administration during grazing season or by giving a single or double dose of pyrantel pamoate dewormer AbPyran™ within a regular worming program. Always check with your veterinarian to see if your area is tapeworm-endemic so you can work out the best pyrantel pamoate dewormer program.
