What You Need To Know About Equine Parasites
Internal parasites – out of sight, out of mind – can kill your horse. While they may be out of sight, they are doing extensive damage internally. At a minimum, bugs can nab nutrient elements from your pony and cause stomach irritation. The bad news is, rash they could cause colic, abdominal ruptures and death.
The three top things you must provide for your horse for his good health are clean water, high quality feed and a good de-worming program. And this may make you stop and think. Did you realize that are more than 150 parasites that infest horses? The most common are large stronglyes (aka bloodworms), small stronglyes, ascarids, pinworms, bots, tapeworms, threadworms and lungworms. And think about that, a number of these species lay up to 200,000 eggs a day. Those numbers are staggering.
The thing with all of these bugs is they may all be present in your pony simultaneously, just in different lifecycle stages. So yes, while your horse may look healthy and happy, you don’t know what is going on inside. These silent killers can damage tissues and vital organs, major blood vessels, cause obstructions and ulcerations in the digestive tract. Pinworms can really irritate horses and cause intense anal itching.
Some indicators of infestation may ( and may is the operative word, since you will not always see indicators of issues outwardly ) include dull, coarse coat, weight management, tail rubbing ( baldness ), colic, depression, coughing / nasal discharge, loss of appetite for example. The best action to take if you see a few of these signs is talk with your Veterinarian about getting a fecal examination.
Will not I see them worms in the dung? Answer’s no, you will not, but the eggs will be visible to the Vet under a microscope. By counting the types and number of eggs, the Vet can then tell you which de-worming programme will work. This test in combination with a good worming program will keep your horses protected from the ravages of pests.
You can give wormer 4 ways, oral paste syringe, oral liquid syringe, nasogastric tube and as a feed addition. In several cases horses won’t eat something they smell in their feed, so if you can work with the other 2 strategies, you’d attain worming efficiently. Nasogastric tubes are best left for a Vet to administer wormer. Ensure you give the right dose and at the correct time – customarily each six to eight weeks.
All three methods are effective. The key is that the deworming product must be given in the correct dose ( given by weight ) at the correct time, and they essentially swallow the wormer. To make sure they do swallow the dose, you can do one of two things – insert your thumbs into either side of their mouth to make them open their mouth and swallow the paste or liquid they were holding in their mouth, or put your hand under their chin and tip their head up so they must swallow.
For the best worming schedule, talk to your Veterinarian. The requirements of the herd may vary if you have all ages and stages of equines from foals to old campaigners.
