EQUEST HORSE WORMER - SAVE £1.50 PER TUBE & RECEIVE A FREE WEIGHTAPE WORTH £7
24 Jan 2012
Has your horse or pony been treated for encysted small redworm this winter?
Now is the time of year to treat your horse for encysted small redworms advises Patrick Traill – CWG’s resident vet. This must be done well before spring arrives. These parasites are the most common worms found in horses today. They can pose a very serious health risk to your horse and it’s important to make sure that they are treated properly during the winter months.
Small redworms can grow up to 2.5cm in length and are thin and reddish in colour. Small redworm eggs are passed in the faeces and then hatch on pasture and continue to develop into more advanced larval stages before being ingested by the horse as it grazes. However it is not the adult but the larvae that are the danger, the larvae burrow deeply into the wall of the gut as autumn turns to winter, where they encyst and may account for up to 90% of the redworm burden in your horse1. Encysted small redworm will not show up in a Faecal Worm Egg Count - even if your horse has shown a negative or low count it could still be harbouring several million encysted small redworms.
These worms can remain dormant inside a horse for up to two years, but they usually ‘wake-up’ in late winter or early spring, developing and emerging from the gut wall all at the same time. In severe infestations mass emergence can lead to a disease syndrome known as ‘larval cyathostominosis’, causing diarrhoea and colic with high mortality rates. Young horses of less than six years of age are likely to be at higher risk of the disease3 but small redworm can cause life-threatening illness in any age of horse.
“Treating encysted small redworms successfully in the late autumn or early winter is important to avoid the risk of larval cyathostominosis, says Patrick Traill – CWG’s resident vet. “Make sure you choose a product that is licensed to treat encysted redworms if these are the worms you are targeting and that you give the correct dose, by weighing your horse beforehand, as this will help preserve the efficacy of the drug you use.”
To encourage owners to dose their horses accurately this season Pfizer is giving away a free equine weigh tape with every purchase of Equest & Equest Pramox* - the only wormers in the UK that treats encysted small redworm in a single dose. Using a weigh tape to work out your horse’s weight helps you to avoid under dosing, which increases the risk of resistance development.
During January Equest is reduced from £11.10 inc VAT to £9.60 in your local CWG store. If you would also like a FREE Weigh Tape valued at £7 that helps you dose accurately, purchase a tube of Equest and pick up an accompanying leaflet to apply. Fill in your details and send us the batch and expiry flap from your pack of Equest and we will then send you a FREE Weigh Tape while stocks last. For further information speak to your vet, In-store Animal Health Advisor (SQP) or visit www.wormingyourhorse.info