Deworming Debunked, again

Just because we’ve always done it, doesn’t make it right.
That’s the thing with deworming.
Many of us have been dosing our horses several times a year for years with all variety of worming pastes and gels. Valley Vet Supply sells thousands of dollars worth of yearly wormer packs, from standard to premium to apple-flavored premium.

Apple-flavored? Really? The horses think it’s all nasty, from my observations.

In any case, research shows it’s wrong.

• It’s like giving antibiotics unnecessarily. The more you dose horses with wormer, the more likely those nasty bugs will build up a resistance to the drugs.

Research shows it’s unnecessary.

• According to past research and this recent Scottish study, 80 percent of horses don’t need to be wormed. But folks are unaware of the futility and damage of worming.

Research shows it’s a waste of money.

• According to another Scottish study, it’s more economical to spend your money on fecal egg counts and then selectively worm the specific horses who have high egg counts.The study, conducted by the Department of Disease Control and the Moredun Research Institute will be featured soon in Veterinary Record

Old habits die hard, but it looks like there’s plenty of incentive to kiss the deworming habit goodbye.

Read more about deworming.