Worms in Horses: Wormers and Worming
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Posted On :
Oct-08-2011
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Article Word Count :
691
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Horse worms will lay eggs in the intestinal tract that are then excreted via the stool. This manure ends up on the pastures where the horse is kept. When the eggs hatch and larvae appear, they find their way onto the grass where they are picked up by a horse.
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Horse worms will lay eggs in the intestinal tract that are then excreted via the stool. This manure ends up on the pastures where the horse is kept. When the eggs hatch and larvae appear, they find their way onto the grass where they are picked up by a horse. Once ingested, the larvae will enter the animal’s intestinal tract where they will briefly hibernate before undergoing a change that will propel them into the next stage of life where the entire process will begin again.
As worm larvae can survive in a pasture for over a year, a horse can catch worms even if it does not share a pasture with an infested horse, as the worms remain in the pasture or can survive in contaminated hay.
An infestation of worms can manifest itself in a variety of ways. The horse will commonly experience one or several of lethargy; weight loss; diarrhea; colic; loss of appetite; or a dull, rough hair coat. Although these symptoms are potentially signs of an infestation, a horse with an apparently healthy appearance could still have an infestation of worms. If it is suspected the horse has worms then it is essential to have it diagnosed by a vet.
The only way to know for certain if the horse needs worming is to have a vet confirm the horse has worms. The vet will probably check for worms in one of two ways. One of the ways is to perform a faecal egg count. In which the vet will count the number of worm eggs in a gram of faeces. This technique gives an estimate of the number and type of adult worms present. However, this technique for identifying number and quantity of worms will not recognise tapeworms or bots.
The other technique a vet may use is a blood test. This is particularly useful in months when the larval stages remain in the tissues of the body and gut for several months. During this time, they do not produce eggs. The blood test helps to detect whether a horse is infected with larvae as it measures certain chemicals in the blood caused by the presence of the worm larvae. There is also a blood test that recognises the horses' response to tapeworm infection, giving some indication of the severity of the infection.
To optimise horses’ health and performance two things are essential, effective pasture management and use of the correct drugs to break the life cycle of the worms. As no single drug will kill all the horse’s internal parasites, it is essential to use the right product to treat the infection. It is recommended that a veterinary professional is contacted to help design an appropriate treatment programme for worms.
There are five main drugs available to treat worms in the UK market. Ivermectin wormers, such as Eraquell, Bimectin and Eqvalan are used to treat Bots, Migrating Large Redworm and Stongyles. Pyrantel wormers such as Strongid P and Embotape are used to treat tapeworm and strongyles. Fenbendazole wormers such as Panacur are used to treat Redworm and Strongyles. Moxidectin wormers such as Equest are used to treat Redworm and Strongyles. For the treatment of tapeworms, there is also Praziquantel such as Equitape, which can be combined with either Ivermectin or Moxidectin as in Equimax, Eqvalan Duo and Equest Pramox.
The majority of the products, such as Equest and Equimax come as oral syringes so that a measured dose can be fed to the horse. The other method of administration is as granules, which can be mixed with the feed, such as Panacur Granules and Strongid-P Granules.
An internet veterinary pharmacy such as vetpharmacy.co.uk has a large supply of wormers such as Equest, Equest Pramox and Equimax available for immediate dispatch on the DHL next working day service, meaning treatment can occur before the infestation becomes worse. As an online veterinary pharmacy there is a team of dedicated and experienced staff who are available for further information on wormers and worming and to help design a treatment schedule if required.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Worms in Horses: Wormers and Worming_89790.aspx
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Author Resource :
Get more information on horse wormers, horse wormers tablet, Cattle & Sheep Wormer, Horse & Cattle Wormer at UK best Pet Supplies site.
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Keywords :
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Home and Family
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Pets
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