Health & Information

Here at Abbey Equine Vets we strive to bring out client and their horses the most up-to-date worming advice and information.

Out with regular interval, seasonal worming and in with diagnostic testing. Test, test, test!

It is now known that many horses are not carrying any form of parasitic burden but still owners advocate for endoparasitic treatments.

So, what is the concern with over worming? The problem with the historic approach to worming is resistance to the medication. We only have a certain number of parasitic therapeutic agents available, and overuse leads to parasites developing resistance. The end stage for this is no longer having effective parasitic treatment. This will put our equine patients at huge risk of intestinal disease alongside severe colic which may be life-threatening.

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Diagnostic tests available: 

• FWEC: Faecal Worm Egg Counts (during summer months) small amount of your horse’s droppings are brought into the clinic and tested in house to reveal any parasitic burdens.These are used to detect eggs of strongyle type worms- large red worms, small red worms and roundworms. Please note this test is not able to detect tapeworm or encysted red worm burden.
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• Tapeworm saliva testing: Accurately diagnose a tapeworm burden to prevent healthcare issues. Once you have taken the sample it is sent off in a prepaid envelope provided and the results are sent back to clinic to report and recommend appropriate treatment.
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• Small redworm (encysted) blood test: blood is taken and sent to an external lab for testing. The optimum time for this is betweenDecember and February. New research suggests that horses over 6 years of age are unlikely to need treatment for this due to natural immunity against these parasites.

Management advice to reduce your horse’s worm burden 

• Regular paddock rotation.
• Effective paddock maintenance including harrowing.
• Removing droppings from the paddock regularly.
• Avoid over grazing of paddocks.
• Regular testing and treating accordingly.

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