Equine Medical Service
3021 W. County Rd. 64
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Office
(970) 568-9445
FAX
(970) 568-0705
| Equine Medical Service Advantage Program | |
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Most of our clients know it is important to deworm their horses. But with the talk of many different internal parasites, 20 or so dewormers on the market, and at least two dozen different "recommended" deworming programs, many of our clients are still in a quandary as to the best program and products for their horse. In this column, we will address some of the basics of who, how, what and when.
Every horse starting at about two months of age needs to be dewormed on a regular basis. Deworming products come in various different forms all of which are administered orally. There are pastes, gels, liquids, powders, crumbles and pellets; and most compounds come in only one form. They can be administered either in the feed, directly in the mouth or via nasogastric tubing. Every one of the modern deworming compound comes in a paste or gel form and thus owner administration is simplified. Therefore, the two large questions that remain are when to deworm and with what product.
There are four major scheduling schemes; interval, daily, seasonal and demand. Interval deworming is the practice of deworming based upon a predetermined time frame, most commonly either every 60 or 90 days. Daily deworming programs involve the administration of a feed additive low dose dewormer (pyrantel ) with the addition of multiple purge dewormings, with paste or liquid, either two or three times per year. Seasonal deworming programs can be quite variable in nature and as it sounds they are tied to the change of the seasons. The two major changes come as winter and summer, and so these programs can be quite flexible and depending upon the person designing the program, can be comprised of between two and four dewormings per year. Demand or as needed programs are based upon the collection and analysis of fecal samples, the deworming frequency and the type of deworming product being dictated by the results of multiple fecal analyses performed throughout the year.
So which is the best schedule and/or system? There is no right answer to that question. The fact is that for different management situations, different horse populations and different budgets any one of these four systems might be the "right" answer. Our typical recommendations are that people either use the interval method or the daily method. We rarely make recommendations that are based upon a seasonal timing due to the variable nature of this system and therefore it is much easier for our clients to remember an interval deworming program. The demand system is one that we only use in specific medical situations, and although it is an excellent program, its implementation is both time consuming and costly.
What to use is the next issue that most people face. If you are on a daily deworming product then your main product is the daily feeding of pyrantel, in addition to this product the recommendation is for either two or three purge dewormings per year. For these purge dewormings we recommend two dewormings with either ivermectin (Eqvalan or an equivalent product) or moxidecton (Quest). In addition based upon some recent studies we are now evaluating the addition of a third deworming with high dose pyrantel for elimination of tapeworms on an annual basis.
For those on an interval deworming schedule we recommend rotation of products. We currently recommend rotating between ivermectin, pyrantel, fenbendazole, oxibendizole, and moxidectin products, by rotating these products in the correct sequence we can attempt to eliminate all the different species of internal parasites in the horse, while avoiding the problem of parasite resistance that might be caused by using a single product multiple times.
Additionally we recommend that an annual fecal sample be collected and analyzed to test the efficacy of both the scheduling of and the products we have selected. We also urge good management practices which includes pasture management and manure disposal.
Speak to any one of our three veterinarians for more specific recommendations. They will base their reply on the life stage of your horse or horses, your physical facilities, (pasture versus stalls), and your personal preferences as to the cost and implementation of a program.
