One Word Wednesday

Neighbors

Rust Never Sleeps

I've been sick since last Wednesday with a bad cold.
Is there such a thing as a good cold?

Not that it's hampered any weekend plans.
Nope, the weather did that.
More rain today/tonight.
I am SO sick of mud.

So how did I spend my time?
Productively.

You couldn't ask for a more comforting
place to be when you're sick
than a warm, clean-smelling laundromat.

I passed the time with the new State Line Tack catalog.
The unglamorous truth about horse ownership:
I thumbed past the tack to see
what kind of deals they have on dewormers.

The catalog didn't keep me busy long enough.

Took my saddle apart for the second time
and conditioned the daylights out of it, top ...

... and bottom.
It was still very wet when I put it
back together and on the rack.

Ahh, the better to have my way with the leather.

I torqued the fenders around and
held them in place with a dowel.
I worked to contour the edges of the seat jockeys
down and under.

For you English folks, the seat jockeys
are like the skirt on an English saddle.
The edges tend to flip outward slightly.
If you aren't wearing breeches or chaps,
that can literally rub you the wrong way.
I have purple bruises.

I moved some furniture,
creating a little nook by the fireplace.

The purpose of that was to make
wide open space in the living room.

No, we ain't havin' a hoedown.

It's so we don't kill ourselves when
deep in the throes of Wii.

Then I repaired some of Poco's handiwork.
This was the worst of it;
this one went clear through.
There were other smaller, superficial rips.

I looked out at the Boyz the other day,
just in time to see Poco hanging onto Jaz's blanket,
and Jaz squealing and kicking like a mare in protest.

Tawanda, Queen of the Amazon (Leeloo)
guards the back door,
ensuring I can work in peace, safe from
marauding birds and killer squirrels.

Stay healthy, warm, dry, and safe.

Worms Crawl In and Out

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is not complete, and should not be construed as veterinary advice or an endorsement of any treatment or product.

Before Jaz's bout with strongyles (strongylus vulgaris), my worming routine was pretty simple: CW Daily Continuous Wormer and ivermectin paste in April and October. It's what Dr. G recommended and that's what we did. I never had fecal egg counts done because I assumed my regimen made it unnecessary.

Pyrantel tartrate is the active ingredient in CW. It was discovered in 1966, and was found to be effective in the prevention and eradication of large and small strongyles, pinworms, and ascarids. Ivermectin (avermectin), discovered in 1975, was introduced to the veterinary market in 1981. It was found to be effective against some ectoparasites (lice, fleas and ticks) and nematodes (roundworms). These drugs became widely used because while lethal to many parasites, they have a wide margin of safety for the host mammal.

The widespread use of this limited array of drugs has created the same dilemma as the overuse of antibiotics and antibacterials in humans — resistance. That's how Jaz, despite being dewormed religiously since he was a foal, ended up with a belly full of parasites. Large strongyles (strongylus vulgaris — read about it here and here) was thought to have been eradicated, which contributed to the delay in Jaz's diagnosis.

David Pugh, DVM, MS, DACT, DACVN, of Fort Dodge Animal Health, has studied anthelmintic resistance. He says that the problem is, no dewormer kills all targeted parasites (emphasis added):

"Obviously, parasites should be controlled when they negatively affect the horses’ health. But the formulas of the past (monthly or bimonthly administration of anthelmintics), although historically effective, have contributed to the level of anthelmintic resistance that now threatens modern horse production ...

The more frequently the animal is dewormed with a particular class of anthelmintic, the greater potential for survival of an increased number of parasites that are not killed by that particular agent. Thus, a genetic shift or selection for parasites not killed by the particular class of dewormer occurs. On a farm, if all animals are dewormed frequently, then parasite resistance in all or most horses on a particular farm may occur."

Simply put, Dr. Pugh's solution (read the full article here) to anthelmintic resistance is "less frequent deworming or (by) using an anthelmintic less frequently and only giving it to a portion of the horse population on any given farm or facility". The first part of his solution flies in the face of conventional veterinary wisdom that says to deworm more frequently, not less. But Dr. Pugh makes sense.

Dr. E, the vet who diagnosed and treated Jaz's strongyles, subscribes to the rotational school of thought, though he does recommend bi-monthly deworming. Here is Dr. E's rotational schedule for Texas horses 1 year and older. I have not included the schedule for foals, weanlings, and broodmares.

YEAR 1
January — ivermectin (1ml/100 lbs body weight)
March — oxibendazole paste (e.g., Anthelcide)
May — oxibendazole paste
July — ivermectin
September — oxibendazole paste
November — oxibendazole paste

YEAR 2
January — moxidectin paste (e.g., Quest)
March — double dose pyrantel pamoate— 12 ml/100 lbs body weight (e.g., Strongid)
May — standard dose pyrantel pamoate
July — moxidectin paste
September — double dose pyrantel pamoate
November — moxidectin paste

The keys to this rotation are the January and July treatments. Dr. E says that most parasites on the ground will die during those periods in Texas because of the extreme temperatures. That means all the parasites are camped out in the horse's gut. I will follow this schedule, but rather than using a straight ivermectin paste, I will use one that also contains praziquantel (e.g., Zimectrin Gold or Equimax). Interestingly, Dr. E also said he "doesn't have a problem with" the continued use of a daily wormer. I will also have fecal egg counts done at least once a year, as part of their annual wellness exam.

My take-away from Dr. Pugh's article is that anthelmintic resistance is more or less inevitable, and the best we can hope for is to slow its onset until the invention of another array of drugs.