Re: [RC] Cost Effective Deworming for Tapeworms - Kristen A. Fisher
A Pfizer vet came to the AHA Natl Convention this
year and spoke about tapeworms and their risks. The study was funded (at least
partially) by Pfizer, but was conducted by a research vet in TN. It was sparked
by some research in the UK regarding tapes that was largely ignored by the US
until this study. http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.asp?fid=4599&dpt=2
My trainer has been in the business23+ years, and
even though the presentation was by Pfizer, it was convincing enough to her that
everyone at the barn (20+ horses) was tape-wormed in the next week.
Subject: [RC] Cost Effective Deworming
for Tapeworms
I recently used the new wormers with praziquantel in them. There
are two versions of this product: Zimectrin Gold and Equimax. I chose
Equimax because it has a higher concentration of praziquantel in it. I
have always used double doses of Strongid (pyrantel pamoate) in the fall to
treat for tapeworms, but according to the literature on this, that doesn't
always kill the tapeworms. Also according to the same literature, fecal
worm counts for tapes are only accurate in 3% of horses meaning that our
horses can show that they are clear of tapes and are not. I haven't
sourced the literature on this and it is coming from the drug companies, so I
don't know if it is completely true. So based on this, an older horse
would have a heavier tapeworm load than a younger horse.
I bought Equimax and used it on all four of my horses. Bought it
for $10.45/dose plus 5% MA sales tax at Equine Affair in November and wormed
almost immediately. The horses are a 7 y.o. 1150 lb Appy gelding, a 12
y.o. 1100 lb Standardbred gelding, a 13 y.o. 1300lb Paint gelding and a 20
y.o. 1100 lb Arabian gelding. The only one who had any problems with it
were the 20 y.o. I would have described him as being a little colicky and that
may be because of the tape load in him.
You only need one tube of the praziquantel wormer versus 2 or 3 tubes
of pyrantal pamoate at $6.50 tube, so this is more cost effective
and supposedly has better results. This will now become a regular part
of my worming rotation.
