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Discussion on Used Moxidectin 3 weeks ago and in two weeks horse weight has noticable decline
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Member:
nito
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 21, 2011 - 7:17 am:
I worm my horses every 3 months using a rotation of quest and Ivermectin and once a year
Ivermectin and Praziquantel like equimax. I wormed my herd about 3 to 4 weeks ago with quest and I noticed one of my geldings that is being legged up for our barrel racing season loosing weight(in his tail head and flank area) very noticeably about 2 weeks ago. Now he is feeling ribby as of yesterday when I place my hand a crossed his ribs. It was like in a few days he lost a considerable amount of body mass. I keep a very close eye on my horses body condition and I am just amazed how in just few weeks he looks like this. He looks terrible in my eyes. He is 13 this year and I have upped his grain quite a bit since I started legging him back up 2 months ago. He is a easy keeper normally. I am going to do a fecal exam for worms today, actually, but my question is... could he be that wormy after using quest and being on a regular warming schedule through out the year? I am just worried at how fast his body condition has changed in the last few weeks and he is getting enough calories.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 21, 2011 - 12:38 pm:
If the horse has encysted stongyls it could well take more than one dose of Quest to get rid of them.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 21, 2011 - 1:25 pm:
It seems unlikely jamie but not impossible for instance if you have a high horse load in your paddock/pasture and resistant parasites. Ascarids (rounds and pins) have recently been shown to be developing resistance to macrocyclic lactones (ivermectin and moxidectin).
The problem with running a fecal right now is the deworming of 3 to 4 weeks ago will make evaluation difficult but may be interesting if there is a resistance problem. For more on how to evaluate your deworming program see the Testing for Parasites subtopic in the Overview Article. For what we believe to be a better deworming program check out HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Worms, Deworming, Parasite Control » Deworming Schedules.
DrO
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 21, 2011 - 2:10 pm:
For what it's worth Jamie, whenever I don't have a clue what is going on, I have my vet on the phone to discuss a run of blood work. My biggest concern worth asking about would be if there is or could be an underlying undiagnosed problem with kidneys, liver, etc. The only way to know is to run a panel, that is where I would start. If the blood work comes back clean, it is still worth the money to know what the problem isn't. Your vet may not feel it's necessary based on other factors, but I would call and let him make the decision. When I have a sick horse, cat or dog, if the problem isn't obvious, there's no such thing as too much info on which to base a treatment plan. There are so many issues that can be brewing that if caught early (before obvious symptoms), the treatments are so much more effective.
Just wanted to share my thoughts for what it's worth, good luck...................
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 21, 2011 - 9:30 pm:
Good idea, PattyB.
That is what I would do too given the things that I have learned while keeping horses.
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Friday, Apr 22, 2011 - 1:19 am:
Thanks Vicki Z.
I will admit, I have run into this more with cats than anything else I've owned...specifically, kidney failure. I had one cat that lived to be 18, nursed him thru various stages of kidney failure his last two years. From that experience, I learned that the obvious symptoms of kidney failure in cats (excessive drinking and urinating) don't really become noticeable until the kidneys are around 80% shot. Many vets suggest running what they call a senior profile, starting with the age of 8-10 because, there will be telltale signs in the results that lets the doctor know the kidneys are struggling. Often by just changing the diet to a protein more easily metabolized, you can take a tremendous load off the kidneys and extend their life.
Remember when the melamine hit the pet food industry? One of the primary dangers with it was kidney damage/failure. Many people thought that since their pets didn't have any symptoms to indicate there was a problem, they didn't know they needed to test for the damage not high enough to produce symptoms....but the damage was still there. I heard that from so many people that I wrote a letter to the paper explaining that to be safe, you need to test. I hauled 4 cats in, had each one tested...then sent Science Diet the bill...which they paid without hesitation, especially since I had allllll the receipts from when the food was bought.
Anyway, my point is that there can be an internal problem brewing and the best way to find it is thru a panel of blood work....which I call the window to the internal organs. Even when nothing showed up, that in itself told us what the problem wasn't therefore, the possibilities were reduced and narrowed the field for us.
Good luck Jamie....and please keep us posted as best you can.
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