Q&A    Questions and Answers:

Cowboy Bob, My husband and I have recently gotten into horses! You hear sooo many different theories of worming. My question: is Quest every 3-4 months comprehensive enough or should I also alternate with Strongid, etc.?

ANSWER:

You definitely want to rotate wormers for a couple of reasons:

1. Some wormers do a better job than others against pests that are more prevalent at certain times of the year. (For example, Bots tend to be worse in the fall of the year, so I'd want to use Zimecterin rather than Strongid or Safeguard at that season.)

2. If you keep using the same wormer, the parasites will develop a resistance to the wormer.

Question for you. I have had a couple of old timers tell me that a horse shouldn't be fed 8-12 hours before worming and for a few hours after worming. None of the paste wormer application instructions mention anything about this. Is this just an old wives' tale or is it more effective doing it this way?

In a way, both are correct.

As a preventive measure, you don't have to worry about feeding before or after administering a wormer. In fact, I like to give a handful of grain or hay to help the horse swallow all of the medication.

On the other hand, in dealing with an infestation of horse bots, a common treatment is a dose of carbon disulfide given after a fasting period of 18 to 24 hours. The horse is then only given water for another four hours.

I hope this clarifies the matter for you.

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