My mare got a “weak positive” result for EPM after some very vague back soreness/ unsoundness issues. She now seems completely fine & pain free after a month on the Marquis, so we’re thrilled. I’ve been told by a few people that have gone through this that they did another month of it; one did an additional few weeks of it. Is that a good idea? She is fine now but I certainly don’t want to deal with a relapse. But don’t want to waste my money if it’s not necessary, either. Thoughts?
IMO, yes! My guy started symptoms back 1 week post Marquis. We did another month of treatment and he has been symptom free for 4 years!
My previous vet always does 60 days on Marquis on a horse with a positive test.
I only went through the EPM thing once, and my horse responded beautifully to a 1-month treatment of Marquis. He dramatically “turned a corner” at around the 10-12 day point and then I knew the EPM had really been beaten. I did purchase a 5th tube only because there was a loading dose initially so 4 tubes didn’t last exactly 4 weeks, and I was wasn’t sure how that was supposed to be handled. However that only bought him an extra few days, not an extra few weeks.
Edited to add: That was 2 years ago and I have not had any recurrence since then (knocking wood!)
We did the Orogin, then Neuroquel (through Pathogenes),then Protazil (same family as Marquis, but in pellets). My horse was fine after a few days of Orogin, but his SAG 1,5 and 6 titers stayed high until after the Protazil. Now, a year later, he is fine but his titers are going up. We just started the preventive decoquinate, in the hopes of preventing a relapse. It is only about $20 per month, and you give it for 3 months before rechecking titers. We have been checking titers every 3 months.
EPM treatment is still a controversial area. It is hard to know what to do to prevent recurrences.
