Question about worming

[ElliesMom]

Good morning everyone.....I was wondering if it is possible to see worms/parasites BEFORE or AFTER worming? I always look but never really see anything. Also, after worming, does it sometimes cause looser stools? Thanks for your help!

 

[kaykay]

we have seen worms before and after worming. NOrmally its a horse that is new here. Last fall i got a mare and i couldnt believe how many bots she passed after i wormed her. Waited a few weeks and wormed her again just to be sure

Another time we found tiny red worms in the water tanks!! (our first year in minis) Scared the crap out of me. Im trying to remember but i think they were blood worms that live in the mouth so when the horses drank some would fall in the water. It was really gross i must say.

 

[OhHorsePee]

On the way home Lacey had one in her stool. Now, I can't tell Ron that because every time he would get in the truck he would think he had one crawling up his leg. LOL Her stool was just a little softer afterwards (after worming) but it could have also been from change in diet etc. My others stools are always normal after worming.

Fran

 

[Marsha Cassada]

You should be able to see the worms after worming. I horse I got recently was loaded with bots, round worms, and strongels (sp?). Sometimes the strongels don't come out, as they are not always active in the horse--this is what my vet told me. I don't think they are active in the winter. They are present, but not actively feeding. Your best test to see if you are having success is to take a sample to the vet to check. He can also recommend the correct wormer to use on the parasites. It has never caused a loose poop in mine after worming, but possibly too many parasites could cause that. Those parasites are gross, but what a feeling of satisfaction to free your horse from them! I always try to isolate a new horse and keep the poop cleaned up in a garbage bag.

Marsha

 

[pepperhill]

You usually won't see worms in a horses stool before worming unless: The horse is really full of the larger variaties, and the sample is right out of the "oven". Most dry out and die rather quickly once they hit the air and are really hard to see. Some worms have a cycle where some will slough off and come out in the stool also. You can see segments of tapeworm, which look like wiggly pieces of rice, if you look at a very fresh stool. They are very hard to see once dried as they turn opaque. You can recognize roundworms as they look like spaghetti. Smaller roundworms look like inch long spaghetti. Bots look like wax worms, or kinda like maggots. There are a few others you can actually see but these are the main ones. It is a relief to see these things after you worm-sometimes up to 3 days later, as it means you got 'em. If you don't see any it could mean your horse doesn't have any worms, or that you didn't dose correctly, or you didn't rotate wormers correctly, but more than likely the horse passed them and they were too small to see. A fecal exam by your vet is easy and fairly inexpensive and it can tell you about eggs etc. Good luck, sometimes they can be hard to get. Linda

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The encysted small strongyles- the ones that are inactive during winter- are the ones that do the most damage when they emerge in Spring. This is the time to really knock them on the head with the Fenbendazole (Panacur) double dose five day course. This is the ONLY medication that actually gets them all. Quest now claims to get 99% - I do not know how they get away with it, not only are they marketing a potentially lethal product but, unless this is all very new, there is only proof that it gets 82% which of course leaves a fair few in there to migrate through the liver and other organs as they emerge!!! I have only ever seen redworm once and that on a Cremello filly so pale she was called "Snow" I actually saw redworm on her anus - she was scratching vigorously at the time

- and I have seen more roundworms than I care to remember - and bits- but dead- never, as far as I can remember alive.