Normally, horse owners seem relaxed with a perspective that horses can’t be infected with worms. The reality checks state that there are numerous types of worms that can easily infect horses. These worms bring along different types of diseases damaging the health of a horse at a varying degree.
The most common worm that infects horses is small redworms, which account for the 90% of the horse’s worm infections. These intestinal worms, once ingested, have the capability to hibernate and get enclosed in a cell in the gut wall. This is likely to be more problematic because there are only a few wormers present in the market that are capable of treating these worms at this stage. In the next stage, the emergence of larvae in the huge number all at the same time can badly affect the gut lining, possibly causing the severe damage to health, diarrhoea, colic and sometimes in the most severe cases even the death. This is the main reason among the many other reasons, why horses should be dewormed during the particular period of the year.
To eliminate this encysted redworm, there are only two wormers available for horse owners. These are Panacur Equine Guard and Equest Paste.
Equest Paste
This horse wormer comes in paste form packed in a syringe. One single syringe dose is enough for the treatment and it is quite easy to administer. Equest paste also treats roundworms for up to 13 weeks. Hence, it is highly effective and one of the most popular choice. The oral paste, when used at the right time, can protect horses efficiently from worm infection during the season.
Panacur Equine Guard
Panacur Equine Guard comes in liquid form and it’s easy to administer. The liquid wormer has to be given every day according to the dosage for the consecutive five days.
Apart from these two wormers, there are also other wormers useful for treating different types of worms in horses. Equimax and Eqvalan Duo are the two wormers which are helpful in treating varied worm including roundworms and tapeworms. Horses should be treated with these wormers twice a year – spring and autumn as during these periods tapeworm and roundworm infection are highest in horses.
Other wormers like Eqvalan, Bimectin and Eraquell, which contain Ivermectin as the main ingredient, are best to be used during summer or winter. They need to be treated at an interval of 8-10 weeks for complete protection. Along with this, there are wormers that are highly recommended for tapeworm treatment, which has to be given to the horses double the normal rate. Pyratape P is the best to be used for treating tapeworm infection and it should be given at an interval of approx. 6-8 weeks.
Deworming horses is necessary to prevent complete life cycle of worms and possible health issues in horses. To reduce the impact of worms in horses, and lower the risk of worm infections, a proper approach of worming need to be devised. Regular deworming treatments along with clean surroundings help in keeping horses safe from unwanted intestinal worm infections.
