“How should I proceed with his worming schedule and how soon can I give another wormer?”…
Just yesterday, received my newly rescued PMU foal. Before he even stepped off the trailer I gave him a dose of Panacur. Today each bowel movement (which were many) was infested with inch long white worms. How should I proceed with his worming schedule and how soon can I give another wormer? Thank you for your advice in advance!~Renee
Dr. Kimberly Gryl’s Answer:
Renee,
Only give him 1/2 doses of dewormer, and don’t repeat it for two weeks. A full dose of dewormer can cause a rapid die-off of too many parasites all at once, which can cause (sometimes fatal) colic. It’s better to do smaller doses more frequently. Also, don’t forget to rotate your dewormers, so you’re not using the same one over and over. Next, use an Ivermectin product. They have many trendy names, but as long as the ingredient is Ivermectin, you’re ok.
“Our two year old stud has lost a huge amount of weight…”
Our two year old stud has lost a huge amount of weight just in the last 3 months, We have dewormed him, and have been giving him lots of extra food, he went into winter nice and fat and then in early spring started to drop a lot of weight, I have noticed that his stomach is always gurgling as if it is empty, but he is eating well, he seems to be chewing his feed well, and seems to have a good appetite, is it possible that he has such a serious worm infestation that he needs more deworming? If this is so, how often can you deworm a horse, I was told to buy sweet feed to help him gain weight so I have done this. I am not at all knowledgeable about this, and dad whose farm the horse is at can’t figure it ourt either, Please advise as we are very concerned about this fella, any information would be greatly appreciated.
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
One of the most common causes for the loss of weight in a 2 year old that you are describing would be a worm infestation. Young horses are the most prone to worm problems. You would want to use a complete dewormer such as quest plus, zimectrin gold or equimax. Any of these three products would get all of the types of worms that might be a problem. I would suggest using one of these products right away and them following up in one month with the same product. Thereafter, using one of these products every three months would be sufficient to keep the horse from having a worm problem. There are other possible causes of this weight loss, and if the horse does not seem to be gaining weight and condition after this worming I would suggest that you have a Vet out to check him over.
