We have had a targeted equine worming programme in action since 2010. In 2013 a cool phone app was released that has allowed me to monitor my targeted equine worming programme in action. Following on from my last post, I thought it might be interesting for readers if I shared just one of our horse’s worming record over these last few years.
Paddy- 17 year old ISH
March 2013- new yard Ivermectin/Praziquantel
June 2013 test 50 eggs NO DOSE NEEDED
Sept 2013 test 150 egg
Tape weak pos DOSE DEFERRED to wait for frost
Dec 2013 encysted redworm Moxidectin/Praziquantel
March 2014 test 0 eggs NO DOSE NEEDED
Aug 2014 test 0 eggs
Tapeworm neg NO DOSE NEEDED
Dec 2014 encysted redworm Moxidectin
March 2015 test 50
Tapeworm neg NO DOSE NEEDED
July 2015 test 0 NO DOSE NEEDED
Nov 2015 Tape positive Ivermectin/Praziquantel
Feb 2016 encysted redworm Moxidectin
May 2016 test 0 NO DOSE NEEDED
Sept 2016 test 0 NO DOSE NEEDED
Tapeworm pos Praziquantel
DEC 2016 Will need worming for encysted redworm-
I will use Moxidectin as only moxidectin or febendazole deal with encysted redworm and there is well documented resistance to febendazole.
So there you have it- a real targeted equine worming programme in action. My testing dates aren’t perfect; life can get in the way for all of us. Looking at this record also made me realise that I have used a lot of Moxidectin (Equest). As this is the only wormer left for Strongyles with no recorded resistance in the UK or Ireland we should probably use it as sparingly as possible to preserve its’ effectiveness for the future. So I should use more straight Ivermectin, or even Febendazole or Mebendazole with a resistance test following dosing. By testing more or less regularly for tapeworm I have given 4 worming doses for Tapeworm out of a possible 8. By doing regular Faecal Egg Counts I have avoided 8 doses for redworm.
Why bother? Why not just worm and be done with it?
Well, wormers are essentially a poison- they are designed to kill worms but do also have other deleterious effects on the gut flora and the immune system. The horse’s hooves show event lines after worming, particularly with combination wormers, a sure sign that there is a systemic inflammatory effect reflected in the hooves.
Most horses don’t need regular worming. In a stable herd, 2/3 at least have a basic resistance to redworm and don’t build up high intestinal populations quickly. Why worm the horses that don’t have worms?
Emerging resistance will be a problem for all of us. In modern hospital there are superbugs which only a few select antibiotics can beat. Some of those select antibiotics were released years ago, unpopular initially because they were not particularly effective, and are now back in favour because their lack of widespread use meant that the common bugs didn’t get over-exposed to them and so didn’t mutate to resist their effects. Once resistance becomes a problem drug companies are less incentives to release new drugs 15 years ago a newly developed antibiotic would quickly sell a billion doses, now a new antibiotic is kept in reserve, to prevent resistance and to save the lives of those infected with multi-resistant organisms. There may well come a time where bowel cancer surgery becomes high risk again despite amazing technical advances because we cannot eliminate infection. The same will happen with wormers- new compounds are likely to be kept for best and as such are much less profitable and therefore slower to be developed and released.
Testing can be expensive. I pay £11.50 for FEC and £17.50 for Tapeworm saliva tests. If the horse then needs worming that month is expensive. But most of the time, testing is cheaper than just worming. It’s very unusual for more than 1 horse to need worming after testing. This year none needed worming in May, two of 4 didn’t need anything this time and the other 2 needed a dose for either redworm or tapeworm but not both.
I hope I have demonstrated that it’s worth thinking about a implementing a targeted equine worming programme.
