Persistent Worms **Warning: Worm Photo**

So my B.O. Just texted me the attached photo of that massive worm, and told me it, and one other, had come out of my boy today. I am a bit worried.

I bought Jingle off a ranch in the summer that didn't deworm, and when they did it was with pour-on cattle dewormer ... sigh... great... I dosed him with Ivermectin the minute I got my hands on him in July, but he was still around plenty of non-dewormed horses, and had tons of bot eggs on him which I would scrape off every single day.

When he arrived at my barn, my BO dewormed him again (September), and he was dewormed again on Monday. She found those worms today.

Anyway, I'm a little worried... She says I shouldn't be, but she also mentioned that's the largest worm she's seen. He's already been dosed three times, and clearly these worms are persistent, as every horse in my barn is regularly dewormed together on schedule. These worms are massive, and i'm worried about the increase chance of him colicing due to his worm count.

My question is - what should I do? It was suggested I panacur him, give him 5 rounds to flush the parasites out, but I worry about the high amount of chemicals in his body. I also know a lot of people have moved away from rotational deworming and now send their horses fecal samples in to get specific reads on the types of parasites they have? Is this effective/expensive/etc.?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Call your vet and have them handle it. I forgot what wormer causes slower death so not to cause impaction if heavily infested. Anyhoo, I would pay for a vet check on this one.

Fenbendazole . Just do a regular dose, wait a couple weeks 2-4 , then dose again , do it for three times.

Panacur is a type of Fenbendazole, right?

I definitely think i'm going to get my vet involved aswell, but maybe not send away samples just yet. He is 8, and went most of his life dewormed, so i'm assuming by default his worm count will be higher than regularly rotationally dewormed horses, but... worms that big are still a little shocking after multiple deworming sessions.

That's ascaris, or roundworm. They are very common. You don't need to call your vet. I would use equimax, them come back 20 something days later and break up egg cycle. I can't remember how many days it is, but you can look it up.

Oh Wow! I missed the part about him going 8 years unwormed.

Hes been dewormed 3 times since you got him, right? First time was Ivermectin. Ivermectin does not kill roundworms. What were the other 2 dewormers used?

Strongid kills roundworms. BUT, you BEST bet is to contact your vet, bring in a fecal sample and that way your vet can get you on a deworming schedule based exactly on what types of worms that he has.

When we rescued my filly, she had very bad roundworms. As soon as she got in the trailer she was dewormed and in 1 pile, we counted over 30 after her first deworming. GROSS! We kept her quarantined as well for a few weeks.

No need to freak out. This can be handled easily.
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I agree. No need to freak out. We alternate between quest & equimax. I am careful with quest as you can OD one, especially young horses and ponies. I would use one or the other than come back w/ other one. Or, check to see if power pack kills these. Don't worry, it can easily be handled.

Thanks for the "don't worry" comments you guys, definitely calmed me down a bit, I really appreciate it - I am a bit of an overanxious horse owner at times, and had thought that his worm issues would be pretty cleared up by now, so seeing that photo kind of sent me into a.... ... if ya know what I mean...

I'm checking with my BO now to see the exact dewormer she's used the past two times, I was pretty sure she used Benzimidazole and Ivermectin this last round, but if she used Ivermectin (Which doesn't kill roundworms as you said) then that wouldn't make sense that the roundworms are dying now - would it?

& yes, he's been dewormed three times since I purchased him in July... and I highly doubt he was dewormed much more than that the last couple of years, really sad state of affairs, and I'm very happy he's in my care now.

I'm definitely calling the vet tomorrow - better to be safe, than sorry.

I live in Alberta as well, and my vet recommends deworming every three months. Every 2 months for foals until they are 6 months old. Animals will always have parasites. Its a matter of keeping them under control. Ivermectin is a good dewormer to use right now. What you have there isn't much to worry about unless its like a bowl of spagetti. Most people don't watch what comes out after a worming. Sounds like you already have him on a good deworming program.

Good info provided here!