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We Are Flying Solo

March 7, 2011

Dr. Bob's Magical Worm Plan

Sounds like a great amusement park ride, doesn't it? Having spent a rainy day in a fit of cleaning the house (it gets done every six months, whether it needs it or not), I dumped out my huge box of wormer from Valley Vet (having laid in stock as per Dr. Bob's instructions for an aggressive six week schedule) and attacked it with a sharpie.


I keep pretty careful records anyway, thanks to the great database at Rendaivu (accessible from any computer!), but now all I have to do is open the cupboard door and know instantly what and when is due next. I have the deepest pity for Solo's tastebuds this year.

15 comments:

  1. We're going to fecal testing and only worming as needed at our vet's recommendation - but this isn't appropriate for all situations. We've got a small herd and our horses aren't exposed to new horses very often.

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  2. Go worm medicine! Speaking of which... I should probably go through the cupboards and get rid of all that old worm medicine that we didn't end up needing last year.. Siiigh...

    That, my friend, is going to take a while.

    Good luck with YOUR worming though. ;)

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  3. Kate, that can be useful if you just have your own horses. However, things like bots and encysted stuff don't show up on fecals, so just keep that in the back of your mind. I would recommend also doing bloodwork and watching eosinophil levels.

    Also, given that Solo has just been worm infested and it was DEVASTATING, I am not taking any chances! That was a $1200 lesson I am not screwing around with.

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  4. My guy is still on the six week rotational, but they just did a new study that shows you only have to do them spring and fall with a fecal in the middle of the summer. It apparently prevents them from building up resistance? I dunno...

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  5. Dom, it depends on the horse -- in any herd, statistically only about 20-30% will be heavy active shedders. Also, it depends on pasture maintenance. Given that I have little to no control over the latter and we already know our pastures are infected, that wouldn't work for me.

    There are also regional differences -- here in NC the heat bakes the snot out of the worms in the summer. But in the winter, that's when the little shits sneak in and do their dirty work and is the most important time of year to worm here.

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  6. I swear worming has got to be one of the most confusing horse subjects! Everyone has a different opinion it seems and that includes different vets and professionals. Personally in a boarding situation where you can't control what everyone else is doing I would go with the most cautious worming schedule possible.

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  7. You are right, Amanda, it IS confusing. My head was spinnning, so I decided to just do what my vet told me to do.

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  8. Don't you just love Rendaivu? That'll keep me totally on track.

    Head's up, if you know your wormer is going to expire before you can use it, lots of rescues welcome the donation. Better than tossing, if there is one near you.

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  9. Yes, my little OCD self hearts Rendaivu madly.

    Good idea on donating old wormer to rescues!!!

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  10. tee hee, "amusement ride", that's exactly what crossed my mind. I'm terribly disorganized with my records, but I have a collection of paste wormer boxes just like that so I know when I last used them. I'll have to check out Rendaivu. We're on a Spring/Fall rotation also.

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  11. It's a totally awesome site, OUAE, I've been using for at least four years now, it's fabo and really easy.

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  12. Uuuggghhh, worms are GROSS! And, really, they are just unnesecaary. I say we just round up all the worms in the world (or at least the parasitic ones) and fry the suckers.

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  13. Is that you volunteering to eat fried worms, Frizz?

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  14. Man this new worming protocol is confusing... my little Jan 15, March 15, May 15 etc scheduled brain is exploding trying to get my head around only needing to deworm as fecals and bloodwork and whatever tells me. Besides fecals, what are you checking for? When do you do bloodwork?

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  15. Andrea, your vet can obviously give you the best info for you.

    I am going to do fecals when I get vaccinations done and I will probably do a CBC at the same time (that makes 2x a year for both) since Solo has a history of low red cell count anyway. And that will be it.

    I was using the same protocol as you, just every two months on the nose. But it failed on me. However, that doesn't mean it will fail for you -- your pasture is different, your horse is different. The new one is not TOO different, it's just more aggressive at every six weeks, since Solo was infested, and has a little different rotation pattern than my "oh, gee, haven't used this one in a while."

    But a fecal test is $18 and a CBC is $30 (for me anyway) so it's worth just doing a check. :-)

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