Worm egg counts are the recommended route to diagnosing a high worm burden in horses. Legislation and veterinary recommendations are that your horse should undergo a worm egg count before you consider whether or not to use a wormer.
Whilst all horses have some level of worm burden, in most cases it isn't problematic and should not be treated. Over-worming horses is causing serious problems with worms becoming resistant and if this continues, we will end up with no way of treating worm burdens in horses.
Carrying out a worm egg count simply requires you to take a sample of your horse's dung, following the instructions in the pack we send you, and posting it in the pre-paid envelope included, for analysis at Westgate Labs.
The results come back to us at Equichoice, and our in-house Registered Animal Medicines Advisor (SQP) will contact you with your horse's results and a treatment recommendation. If your test results indicate that your horse needs to be wormed, our SQP can take your horse's clinical history and prescribe the right wormer for your horse, if you wish.
Whilst a worm egg count won't pick up all worms, it will tell you whether the level of small / large redworm or ascarids is high enough to need treatment. A separate test is available
here for tapeworm.
Included in the pack is:
- Instructions
- Sample container
- Sample label
- Lab analysis request form
- Pre-paid return envelope
We also offer an in-house worm egg count kit
here, whereby you can save money by bringing the sample in-person to our shop in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
