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  Discussion on Roundworm Infestation in 2.5 yo
Author Message
Member:
stephc

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011 - 9:53 pm:

Hi there all - I have 3 2.5 yo's who have been growing up together. I have reduced my worming schedule to 4 times a year due to the recent "drug resistant worms" thoughts going throughout the community. If my horses are healthy they should be able to avoid heavy infestation to begin with... right?

Humm - so the youngsters have been wormed with my adults since they were a year old. Prior to that they were wormed every 8-10 weeks with pyrantal.

Easy (one of the youngsters) cut himself on front of fetlock. I decided to get stitches.. I just hate scars. I decided not to worm him due to the antibiotics (dont know or not if this is reasonable but without doing a lot of reading I decided to wait). I had him in the barn when I did worm him.. pyrantal this time.. one day later I found one (1) large roundworm in the poop in the stall. I am thinking it is a roundworm. It is about 8 inches long and the width of a thin pencil.

So I have tthree questions:

1) assuming it is a roundworm (I have pictures to post), why only one? why is my 2.5 yo passing one roundworm vs. many?

2) if it is a roundworm, is there anything else I can do to assure I get them all? ... ie maybe a daily pyrantal wormer to catch them for the next full cycle.

3) if it is a roundworm should I have all of the 2.5 yo's fecal sampled to determine if they are all infected?


That is it. I appreciate all input.


Stephanie in Southern California
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 28, 2011 - 7:26 am:

Hello Stephanie,
Maybe just one worm got loose that bowel movement? To evaluate the extent of the problem I would recommend that you have fecals done on your whole herd and deworm based on those results. Rounds are sensitive to most dewormers but resistance to ivermectin is a growing problem. Personally I believe I have seen a population of pinworms (a close relative of the round) with multiple resistance problems including resistance to regular doses of pyrantel. An important step is to test after deworming to see the efficacy of your dewormer.
DrO
Member:
stephc

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 28, 2011 - 10:03 pm:

Hi Dr. O - thanks for the input. I figured that is what you would say..... fecals..ugh!

So - I take it adult horses can get roundworms even if they are not the average host?

And - do the daily wormers utilized for 90 days offer me any extra benefit over the pastes.. ie.. hitting all life cycles of the worms?


Thanks

Steph
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Dec 31, 2011 - 10:12 am:

Stephanie,
I would have thought seeing would be believing. As to whether this is a significant roundworm infection will require a fecal. The daily pyrantel dewormers probably do not hit all the life cycles as they may not be effective against the already established adults. Maybe it would be good to review HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Worms, Deworming, Parasite Control » Overview of Deworming which will explain this and lead you to specific articles on each of the dewormers.
DrO
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