Fall Shots and Deworming Recommendations
If you were to give all the recommended fall shots in this part of New England (Northern Vermont) it would include boosters for Influenza (Flu), Rhinopneumonitis (Rhino), West Nile, and Potomac Horse Fever. It is especially important to booster for Potomac since there have been so many cases this summer. I have treated one a week for the past 8 weeks. Fortunately, all of these horses were previously vaccinated and so they did not get extremely sick. Many vaccines do not completely prevent disease, but serve to modify the severity of illness should the animal contract the infection.
My recommendation for deworming is twice yearly ivermectin with praziquantel (a drug that also kills tapeworms). There currently are several dewormers on the market that have both ingredients. In between, other dewormers can be used and rotated. However, field studies indicate that resistance to ivermectin continues to be low and it continues to be effective. Foals should be dewormed 6 times in the first year of life with ivermectin. I think that an older horse, especially ones where keeping weight on is an issue, will do better on daily dewormers like Strongid C2X®. There are other common causes of weight loss in older horses such as bad teeth or Equine Pituitary Adenoma (Equine Cushing's Disease). Your veterinarian can help you sort this out first. Make sure to give ivermectin, though, before starting a daily dewormer. If a horse has an unknown deworming history, or has not been dewormed for a long time, then I recommend pyrantel pamoate paste (Strongid® paste, for example) 14 days before using ivermectin.
Stephen M. Angelos, DVM, DACVIM
Board Certified Large Animal Internal Medicine
Large Animal Medical Associates
Essex Junction, VT
802-879-4288