Hello Everyone,
Just a short update to let you all in on something I discovered this past month. Before I get started let me say we hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and look forward to a new year filled with promise and magic.
Three of our horses had become hard keepers the past two or three years. The older they got, the harder it was to keep weight on them. All of the normal higher incidence reasons didn’t pan out to be the problem. We increased feed and supplement intake trying to maintain a normal weight but it wasn’t working. One of them, who has been rock solid in the past, came down with colic last month. First time in her 25 years. A dose of Banamine solved that problem but we don’t like treating symptoms. We like finding out what caused it and fix it.
We have always done a rotational worming here with the emphasis being on bot’s during the June/September worming and a broad spectrum wormer in January/March. We followed this for a long time on the advice of several Veterinarians and have not had any problems related to worms. I have never wormed for tape worms and was told as recently as last month that tape worms are not a regional problem here.
Well, I bit the bullet and paid the price for three of the wormers that take care of the normal worms and tape worms. The results are that all three horses rebounded and started putting on weight. Yes, I know that this is not scientific but I trust my heart and head a little more. I believe that tape worms were the culprit.
We attempt, yearly to control the pasture to keep worm egg ingestion down. However, we cannot control the worm eggs that come in the feeds and hay that we purchase. So, tape worms can arrive here despite our efforts. Tape worms generally do not cause problems in a healthy horse but as horses age, they are more susceptible to encounter worm related problems. That is my take anyway. So, if you have an older horse that is loosing weight, has some eye crusty’s and/or encounters spastic colic, look into the possibility of tape worms being the problem. As always, check with your Veterinarian for advice. I am just letting you know what worked for us.
We will now add a wormer that targets tape worms to our annual rotation. It is a little more expensive, it will not hurt them if they do not have tape worms and it gives us peace of mind. I like peace of mind!
I Believe,
Richard
