Horse Worming Warning!

by Elaine Polny
(Palgrave, Ontario, Canada)

New wormer: Equimax - killed a young TB!

I heard this horror story today from a client in Westport - the horse involved was local - such a shame.
and the following just came up on one of the barefoot lists and explains more about the wormer:

Dad I spent a couple of hours with Tom and Martha Anne Shires yesterday regarding the details of losing a young healthy Thoroughbred horse that was just ready to go to the race track. They wormed with with a NEW wormer by Pfizer called Equimax.

Equimax contains:

1.87% Invermectin
14.03 % Praziquantel (this is for tape worms)

There regular wormer is Equalvan Gold which contains:

1.55% Invermectin
7.74% Praziquantel

Equalan Duo contains also:
1.55% Invermectin
7.75% Praziquantel

From this you can see the Praziquantel in Equimax is double the amount than the other two wormers.

After giving the horse the wormer it developed severe colic, then a hole was burnt in the horses small intestine. The horse was passing parts of the small intestine in his manure, then blood showed in his urine and his kidneys shut down. Peritonitis set in and the horse didn?t have a chance. He died in 7 days. The vet says the Praziquantel was too strong at 14.03 % and killed this young horse.

The Equimax was purchased at the feed store in Addison Dixie and Egan. Tom and Martha Anne went to Ritchie Feed and Seed store in Brockville and talked to Andrea the horse expert. Andrea said she was not carrying the product as it was too NEW. Andrea called her representative and she obtain the telephone number of the vet who made Equimax. He refused to give information as he thought a class action law suit might occur.

Shires have had their horses fecal samples check when they used Equalvan Gold and their samples where clear of parasites. So why has Pfizer double the dose of Praziquantel For tape worms?

I did find a company in the US that has pulled Equimax from there product line saying it was no longer available.

Please pass this warning to your horse friends.