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    Re: [RC] equine tape worms (ugh!)--long response (of course...lookwho wrote it! LOL) - Lisa Redmond


    Okay, as I type this for the second time this morning (thank you so much for
    locking up, Outlook Express...sigh)
    
    This is a good topic for a worm management refresher course:
    
    We're having an awful time with worms in sheep this year, too, and climate
    has a great deal to do with it.  With the heat and drought, a lot of
    pastures aren't growing fast enough to handle the grazing pressure, and
    animals are grazing it too short.  Worm larvae typically reside in the
    bottom 2 inches of grass, so rotational grazing can help here if you have
    the space.  Try to get them off the pasture when you've got about 3 inches
    left, and be sure that you drag the pasture to break up the manure---some
    larvae need that manure to develop in, and if nothing else, it helps spread
    them out so there isn't a large concentration in any one spot.  The other
    option is to actually pick the pasture like you would a stall, but that's
    often not feasible.
    
    Next, be sure that if horses are running in a group that all of them are
    dewormed at the same time.  Treating one and not the others does nothing to
    decrease the worm load of the pasture.
    
    Deworm on a regular basis, rotating dewormers as recommended by your vet.
    BUT:   don't deworm too frequently --usually a 4-8 wk schedule is
    sufficient. Reasons for this:  large round worms (large strongyles) are
    prone to developing resistance to anthelmintics like phenothiazine if you
    use them too often and don't rotate them. Also, some dewormers shouldn't be
    used too close together.  Keep in mind that these are insecticides, and they
    kill the bugs by acting on their neuromuscular systems, which pretty much
    function like the horse's.  According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, you
    shouldn't follow the organophosphates (such as trichlorfon and dichlorvos)
    too closely with either phenothiazine or its derivative tranquilizing agents
    (such as acepromazine and perphenazine), nor should you follow them within
    less than a month with a succinylcholine.  It's a very good idea to tell
    your vet what dewormer you used last and when--if he/she needs to give a
    tranquilizer to your horse for some reason, this can affect his choice of
    drug.  The reason is that these agents are fine when used in accordance to
    package direction and individually--start mixing them and they can act
    either additively or synergistically, and end up affecting the horse's
    system.
    
    This leads me to Dr. Redmond's 11th commandment:  KNOW THY HORSE'S WEIGHT.
    No whining about "but the barn doesn't have a scale!"--go to the feed store
    or your Nasco catalog and get a weight tape--they are cheap and easy to use.
    It can prevent you from over- or under-dosing your horse on dewormers and
    drugs, and also (you knew I'd bring it up sooner or later!) a better job of
    feed management.  There's a reason why feed tags say feed X lbs per 100 lbs.
    body weight....rations are calculated on the weight of the feedstuffs in
    them, not the volume.  You defeat the purpose when you measure by scoop or
    coffee can, because different feeds have different densities, so equivalent
    volumes don't have equivalent weights.
    
    (Okay, I'm stepping off my tackbox now.)
    
    
    
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    [RC] equine tape worms (ugh!), GoTory