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Worms! :(

2K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  franknbeans 
#1 ·
Well this is mostly me just rambling on about this but here I go...

Well I finally got my rescue thoroughbred up to normal weight AFTER he had a wormy outburst last summer...well we dewormed and got the worms out that were right on the skin. Problem solved right? WRONG. Yesterday morning I went out to feed my boy some treats and I always check the spots where he had the lumps last year. And by lumps I mean fist size bumps...but anywho. There was nothing there per usual. So I went on with my business that I had to take care of outside of the farm. I came back probably 6 or 7 hours later and pulled him up out of his field. I noticed a silver dollar sized bump on his hip and brought him up in cross ties to check it out. I grabbed it and guess what it felt like? A lovley wormy sack. EWW. anyway, I went to check his girth area where they were last year...guess what? I ginormous bump the size of my fist had appeared. And yes, another lovley wormy feeling sack. I have a show in 3 weeks and I had noticed him getting slightly thinner, like an ammount that only I would notice. So I talked to my trainers and their gonna get me some super dewormers that I'm going to give him and after they take effect I am putting him on a daily dewormer. I just feel so bad for him because they can't be comfortable... :( Okay end rant. Anyone else have any worm stories? Yeah that sounds wierd but I feel like I'm on this playing field alone right now. :/ Thanks for reading btw.
 
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#2 ·
The worms were right under his skin? Are you sure these aren't bug bites or an allergic reaction to something in his environment? Definately have a vet come check him out--large lumps like that can be a serious health problem.

Dewormers are meant for internal parasites, in the digestive tract. They do not deter insects from bothering your horse from the skin.

Is your horse on a regular deworming program? At least 4 times a year, with different medications/brands? If your horse is loosing weight, contact you vet so they can help you. As knowledgeable as horse trainers are, most of them do not have the expertise to prescribe effective treatments for a horse. Please give you vet a call!
 
#5 ·
I do know that cats get some parasites that look sort of like huge maggots that come out thru their skin, but have never heard of this in horses. I love my trainer, but, honestly-if this were my horse, the vet would be coming for this. This is NOT an issue that can be dealt with with the everyday oral wormers.....and even that is getting more involved as the parasites are developing immunity. Our vets are recommending, as many are now, fecal quarterly (every season) and worm specifically for that.
Good luck! EWW!
 
#6 ·
Im probably 90% sure they are worms. Last year I was riding western and the saddle flipped sideways and the cinch caused the wound that the worms came out. Yuckky. But my trainers had him in cross ties and when they poked their heads out they pulled them out with tweezers. My main trainer told me the reason their right below the skin is because they can't survive in his body I guess? Im so confused right now. But I guess their caused by "Bot Flies"? My horse has a nasty habit of eating his own fecies, which I am assuming is what is causing this. I really want to have a vet come out and check him out but I don't have his number because the barn owners are the ones who schedule the visits because its a boarding barn. Now I'm just confusing myself o_O
 
#7 ·
I assume you have paid the vet for things in the past? This means you have a statement or a receipt, right? Look on it, I am guessing the vets phone number is right there.


Were the worms that came out of the wound last year right there the day the wound happened or did they appear later on?

Horses can develop lumps for lots of reasons. Worms are not my first guess.

A daily de-wormer is probably not going to help with this type of worm issue (if that is what it is) anyway.

Truly, it is time to call your vet. Look up the number (on a receipt, on line, in the phone book) and call.

This is your horse, not the barn owners.
 
#8 · (Edited)
They sound like warbles, which are a type of bot fly larvae.

Your horse needs aggressive treatment, not just dewormer, especially if this is the second year that warbles are appearing.

The larvae live under the skin until they're ready to mutate into adults. Bot flies lay their eggs on a horse's legs or chest; basically anywhere that the horse will rub with his face. The tiny larvae burrow into the horse's lips and migrate to other areas of the body until they've reached the stage where they emerge to turn into adults.

Disgusting, vile creatures. I not only deworm regularly, I have a bot knife that I use to cut off any eggs while the bot flies are in season.

Cattle, sheep, rodents, horses and even people are all subject to bot larvae if not treated promptly.

If your horse is eating his own feces, he's not getting something nutritionally that he needs. Horses generally stop their coprophagia when their correct dietary/mineral needs are being met.

As far as not calling the vet because you're at a boarding barn, that's ludicrous. I always had my OWN vet when I boarded. I never let the BO make any decisions concerning my animal's health care.
 
#9 ·
Btw, I do regularly deworm 4 times a year. I had my mom (I'm only 16 so my parents pay for my horse) call a vet and leave a message trying to get a second opinion and to see if we can get her up here to look at my horse. Is this an emergency? Should I have him quarentined from the other horses at the barn?

The worms appeared about a week later after the wounds if I recall correctly from last year.

How do I find out what he is lacking in his diet? He was abused before I got him and I just figured it was just a nasty habit he picked up as a survival instinct or something. He may possibly have ulcers too, so I had to take him off the suplements he was getting before.

Can someone tell me the worst case scenario? I have no idea what is happening to my horse right now and if theres anything I can do before I hear back from the vet.

Speed Racer : What is a bot knife?
 
#12 ·
The worms appeared about a week later after the wounds if I recall correctly from last year.
Did you have the vet look at them last time?


I agree with SR that what she describes might be the issue. But it might be you have a wound that flies have managed to lay eggs in and they hatch into little grubs in a weeks time.
 
#10 ·
It's not so much an OMIGAWD emergency, as those larvae need to come out and his wounds need tending. To do that properly, you need the vet to evaluate the animal and recommend the correct treatment options.

Usually if you provide a horse with quality hay and a mineral/salt block, the coprophagia will stop.

I do wonder how often the BO deworms her horses, because if your boy is eating their feces as well as his own, they may be the infected ones.

A bot knife is a small, curved instrument with a handle. It has tiny blades that scrape off the bot eggs on a horse's body. They're fairly common and not expensive. Many tack places carry them.
 
#13 ·
The BO does all our horses as a 'herd' so to speak. Like they go out and buy all the dewormers and administer them and then charge us at the end of the month. Same with the vet bills, so I never see the actual recipt. 4 times a year I believe is how often they deworm too. I've only owned Honor since December and I leased him before then so I am just now starting to understand how this whole thing works out. Im going to ask if I can watch how they administer it though when they do it this month so I can start doing it myself so I know when hes getting it exactly.

On the other hand, my horse is somewhat agressive out in the field with the other horses so they may have gotton in there via flys landing in wounds.

I still want a vet or someone to come out and look at him though, and possibly a feces sample ( a friend of mine sugested having one done.)

Another question I have is: Do you think a daily dewormer would help at all? He is more prone to worms than the other horses out at the farm.

and Speed Racer : Thank you for explaining, I think we have one of those in our first aid stuff. So what do the eggs look like?
 
#15 ·
You will not know if he is more 'prone to worms than everyone else' until you have some fecals done.


It is hard for me to believe that the BO does not provide the horse owner with any receipts for vet work.
I have nothing against a BO doing all that stuff but I can not imagine boarding some where that does not provide me with a vet record/receipt for what was done to my horse.

I think the daily dewormer thing is something you need to bring up with your vet.
 
#16 ·
I know what was done to my horse, I made sure I was there when the vet came to do blood work and shots and I know exactly what was done and given to him. We just don't get recipts or anything, just a board bill at the begining of the month..I guess that is kind of out of the ordinary.

And i'll talk to the vet.
 
#17 ·
Does the board bill break down exactly what your horse got? Does it include the basics of the vets observations while they were there? (Temp, etc)

The receipt usually has that stuff and it allows you to have a paper copy of what the vet did.
 
#18 ·
The policy of just rotating wormers 4 times a year has become outdate because of the worms developing resistance to the wormers. BO's in our area (both VA and NY) have mostly gone to doing fecals quarterly. (each season, essentially). That way each horse gets what they need, and we are not treating horses who do not have any parasites. It still amazes me that some horses (mine) tend to have certain parasites, while others, in the same pasture, have none. I have to make sure my horses get exactly what they need to keep them from having issues.

As far as Bots-those little black pumice-like shedding blocks will also remove them with very little elbow grease. So will a fingernail, from my experience.
 
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