I am very careful about deworming a particular horse and want to give him a Powerpak but he has uveitis…concerned about catalyzing a flare up. I really wish I could just give h a Quest Plus but that won’t target small encrusted strongyles . I hate the idea of a deworming for 5 days. Any advice?
Absolutely not! Quest at the proper dosage will do so. Much tidier than giving several doses over several days.
And for all those who argue that it doesn’t get the small encysted strongyles, read the last two sentences of the third paragraph.
http://emsvet.com/newsletters/preventative-medicine/deworming.html
I use quest plus. It will work for encysted strongyles.
Thanks so much! My info is definitely outdated! He’ll get a full dose of Quest Plus then. I hate doing Panacur for 5 days!
[QUOTE=Iride;7815133]
I am very careful about deworming a particular horse and want to give him a Powerpak but he has uveitis…concerned about catalyzing a flare up. I really wish I could just give h a Quest Plus but that won’t target small encrusted strongyles . I hate the idea of a deworming for 5 days. Any advice?[/QUOTE]
Encysted, not encrusted 
I’m not sure where you read/heard that Quest (Plus or regular) won’t get the encysted strongyles 
It absolutely does. It’s the moxidectin which kills them.
There are 2 differences:
1 - moxidectin doesn’t kill 1 of the encysted larval (EL) stages - EL3. The Power Pack targets them all. If you’re one of the lucky ones who live on a farm that doesn’t have fenbendazole-resistant encysted strongyles, then the PP will kill all of each stage. If you’re not one of the lucky ones, it will only kill some to most of each stage.
2 - The Power Pack kills the parasites where they are, leaving them to decay. This causes ulcers in each spot, just like if they had emerged. For some horses, this can cause colicky issues at about the 14 day mark. Moxidectin paralyzes, which means they simply slide out.
Quest is a much better choice today, assuming the horse is capable of having it used, ie nothing too thin, too old, too sick, too young.
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[QUOTE=JB;7815268]
Encysted, not encrusted
I’m not sure where you read/heard that Quest (Plus or regular) won’t get the encysted strongyles It absolutely does. It’s the moxidectin which kills them.
There are 2 differences:
1 - moxidectin doesn’t kill 1 of the encysted larval (EL) stages - EL3. The Power Pack targets them all. If you’re one of the lucky ones who live on a farm that doesn’t have fenbendazole-resistant encysted strongyles, then the PP will kill all of each stage. If you’re not one of the lucky ones, it will only kill some to most of each stage.
2 - The Power Pack kills the parasites where they are, leaving them to decay. This causes ulcers in each spot, just like if they had emerged. For some horses, this can cause colicky issues at about the 14 day mark. Moxidectin paralyzes, which means they simply slide out.
Quest is a much better choice today, assuming the horse is capable of having it used, ie nothing too thin, too old, too sick, too young.[/QUOTE]
Exactly what JB said. If I have a horse with an unknown history or has never used Quest, I powerpak them the first time, then start using Quest when the time is right.
If you read the literature that comes with Panacur I believe that it states if you are deworming.for migrating encysted strongyles that you do so in MAY if you are in the Northern Hemisphere.
You may want to check with the makers of Quest to see if they have the same recommendation.
Does it really say that? If so, that’s really not valid (anymore). May is pretty late for a Spring deworming in at least half the country, with March/April being more appropriate there.
All I can find on the Merck site is:
Recommended Deworming Program:**
December 1, February 1, April 1, June 1, August 1, October 1.
The two treatments that are in bold type are the recommended periods when the 5-day treatment regimen for the control of the migrating larvae of S. vulgaris should be performed.
That’s just such outdated information these days :no: Too much deworming for 80%+ of horses, and now it’s a chemical that has a growing resistance issue with the encysted strongyles, AND, if you’re properly deworming, with at least 1 FEC a year, 2 in the first couple of years starting out, then you’ll never have such a large colony of strongyles to have a need to kill anything that might have become encysted.
I don’t see anything similar on the Quest label.
For the Spring deworming, Quest is the better option to use in a modern deworming program, as the moxidectin doesn’t kill dung beetles. Ivermectin does, so using that in the Fall is the better choice. 1, if not both of those, depending on where you live, should be paired with praziquantel to kill tapeworms.
I go with the March/April. Them there worms know that there’s green grass acomin, and just can’t wait to get out and frolic.
It’s more about temperature than the month
For maximum protection you should be waiting until temperatures are regularly above 45*, which is the low end of the temperatures when eggs will start to hatch into the infective larval stage. When you deworm at/after that point, you’re providing protection against having larva mature to adult egg-laying stages.
Likewise, that’s why it’s usually not necessary to deworm when it’s always below 45 - eggs aren’t hatching into anything infective.
Ha! Stupid auto correct. I do know it’s encysted not encrusted. :lol:
I had forgotten that it was just the EL3 that was not targeted by moxidectin.
I still think that I will elect to deworm with the Quest Plus. He’s been dewormed with it before (as well as Panacur and all the others) but now that he has uveitis, I’m wary of deworming overall (don’t want to cause a flare-up) and admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve dewormed him. He is a senior horse and is starting to look a tad ribby though some of that is because he has no molars ;-/
A fecal came out clean but as we know a fecal does not show small encysted strongyles. So since it’s been a while…
And as to time of year, the Quest is pretty broad spectrum and being that it’s been a while, that’s the one I’d prefer using…especially since I don’t want to bother with a Powerpak (and he is PITA to dose!)
He’s in the North East.
Ahhh maybe it’s auto correct when I see “encrusted” in all the places I do LOL I never thought it would be that.
What’s the history of his FECs? If they are regularly clean, it’s unlikely he’s got any significant EL population, thankfully.
Well in the past he’s been ok…prior to when I started doing regular fecals though, like everyone else I did rotation every 8 weeks. :-/
I just had another done and waiting on the results. It’s just that it’s been a while since he was dewormed…and, the slight ribbyness (which granted, I know can just be tooth/age related).
@JB. What to do for worming. Got fecal back its 1,688 epg for strongyles. Do I do a Powerpak? Or assume there are encysted strongyles and do quest?? Vet had no advice other then worm him. This same horse had a high epg this spring…wormed him then with Equimax never did another fecal. Life happens and I forgot.
Horse isn’t thriving as he should ribby not gaining weight.
I’m aware this is an older thread bumping it up for advice.
It would have probably been better to start a new thread 
Since this horse is ribby, I would not use Quest. He doesn’t have enough body fat for comfort.
Given the likelihood of fenbendazole not working well enough against those stronglyes, I wouldn’t do a Power Pack either.
If you want to be safe, do a single dose of Panacur or Safeguard (both fenbendazole), or Strongid (pyrantel pamoate), then in 2 weeks go with Equimax.
Then 12 weeks after the Equimax be sure to do a FEC. If he’s got encysted strongyles they will start to emerge once the adults are cleaned out, and you may have another count high enough to warrant deworming. If you don’t, cool, do one at the end of Winter or early Spring.
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Will go with panacur don’t want a bad colic from worm kill off. Then 2 weeks do the Equimax. Lowest epg on this horse was 865. Old guys epg was 400s.
Will for sure do another fecal 12 weeks after Equimax. Already winter here ground is snow covered high in the 30s. So he shouldn’t reinfest.
