JB, that’s interesting. Ten years ago I knew a woman who’s horse developed an odd spot in his eye after being dewormed with Ivermectin. Naturally, she thought it was a reaction to the dewormer. A few months later, her pony (a different horse) was diagnosed with moon blindness.
It’s safe to say that her horses had a lot of Onchocerca. I wonder if she ever figured it out.
[QUOTE=JB;3855784]
Yep, bumping up again!
I was looking up some info on uveitis, and lookee here! I do not recall (and ain’t lookin’! :lol:) if this connection was mentioned, but just in case:
http://www.igs.net/~vkirkwoodhp/eru.htm[/QUOTE]
I was told about this on an eye thread here a month or two ago. I did not realize at the time my horses had been getting under dewormed for the last 2 years (didn’t know weight tapes were inaccurate). Sooooo, two weeks ago I did a full dose of Ivermectin on a mare that has had runny eyes for over a year (she’s been seen by multiple vets that were clueless…there is no ophthalmologist close by). 36 hours after she was wormed she had classic uveitis. I called the vet out to make sure there were no scratches or abrasions and to ok some steroidal ointment. The vet said that onchocerca in the eye was extremely rare. I question him ‘Even if she has been getting under dewormed?’ and he says ‘yeah, it’s rare…must just be a coincidence’. This vet won’t be called back due to me asking him if ERU causes blindness and he replied with ‘No, not normally’:eek: Another one bites the dust.
So yeah, I’m convinced she had a massive die off behind those eyes. One eye was slightly runny, the other was swollen, half open with a constricted pupil. Again, this was in less than 36 hours after being dewormed. I dosed her again yesterday (her two week timing). Her eyes were a little bit runny today but nothing major, but we’ve had bone chilling winds that could be stirring up dust as well.
The protocol I was told on here (that I checked on with another vet) was to do one dose of Ivermectin and follow up with another dose two weeks later. So far so good. I just want her eyes to clear up. It’s been nothing major, just runny and conjunctivitis for over a year. As of a few days ago, this is the best her eyes have looked in over a year. So, I’m convinced it was parasites. I will never under deworm again.:no:
[QUOTE=jaimebaker;3856599]
As of a few days ago, this is the best her eyes have looked in over a year. So, I’m convinced it was parasites. I will never under deworm again.:no:[/QUOTE]
Amen. Me too. After we saved the ol’ mans life by finding this thread, I hit mom’s TWH with the double dose for this very reason. Runny, gooey eyes and no one knew why. His cleared up and stayed that way all the way thru the end of summer and still A-OK. Used to have live in a fly mask 24/7 in Spring, Fall and Summer. Not this year. 
[QUOTE=JB;3855784]
Yep, bumping up again!
I was looking up some info on uveitis, and lookee here! I do not recall (and ain’t lookin’! :lol:) if this connection was mentioned, but just in case:
http://www.igs.net/~vkirkwoodhp/eru.htm[/QUOTE]
Wow. Think I’m gonna try and hit Gus up with a DD of Equimax (never did do him this past fall) and again with plain Ivermectin two weeks later. He does have ERU (and he’s an Appy). Very very interesting about the connections between the two… NTW and ERU. Thanks for posting the information JB!
One of my clients has a pony of unknown origins and a mini. Neither one had a deworming history. Both of them had runny, goopy eyes and had both been tentatively diagnosed with uveitis. A couple of double equimax’s and ivermectins and they are both fine now. I think Mapleshade had this happen, too.
Well, Gus got his double dose of Equimax today. I plan on double dosing again in two weeks with plain ivermectin. The reason for double dosing him is due to having ERU. We’ll see if anything changes. I’ve noticed a lot more issues with tearing and swelling these past couple days… who knows what the reason is as nothing has changed but the weather.
appychik, thanks for the “we’ve started” update 
You most definitely will have to update us in 2 weeks, if you don’t have anything to report before then (good OR bad!)
[QUOTE=JB;3875618]
appychik, thanks for the “we’ve started” update You most definitely will have to update us in 2 weeks, if you don’t have anything to report before then (good OR bad!) :D[/QUOTE]
Definitely will do. I’m hoping it’ll help - certainly won’t hurt (as I think he’s a product of underdosing dewormer for years also as we’ve always been at boarding barns… and they just eyeball for weight). And, I’ve got a weight on him, though next time he’s at the specialist I need to see if we can put him on their scale…
Make sure you’ve got your eye ointment ready. If there is a die off behind those eyes it can cause a nasty uveitis flare up. After I wormed my mare the first time, within 36 hours she could barely open one eye. I wormed her for the second time last week and she’s been tearing up ever since The first time I had to keep her on dex ointment, bute, and antiobiotics for 5 days afterwards (per vet instructions after a thorough exam). I’m scared to death of using steroid ointment if I can’t guarantee she doesn’t have a scratch somewhere so I didn’t do the steroids after the second dosing. I’ve got her on gentamycin right now to see if I can’t get the tearing in check. She looked great up until her second dosing and she started tearing again. No pupil constriction or pain though. However, this was a single dose of ivermectin two weeks apart (the normal protocol for onchocerca in the eyes). I plan on doing the DD of Equimax the next go round and see if I can’t get her cleared up. Just wanted you to be aware if there IS a connection and she’s got parasites behind those eyes, you can cause a fairly nasty onset of uveitis from it.
Regarding the uveitis flare up…we wormed a rescue pony that we picked up Jan. 25. She is already blind in one eye and 3 days before Bambi was to leave for her new home in Virginia (her story is on the Valentine donation thread on Off Course) she went blind in her “good eye”. The vet showed me what she said were fibroids in the eye. Coincidence? Am glad I caught up on this thread this morning.
Oh, and an update on Tucker. I double dosed the equimax the other day. Yesterday he kept rolling in the same sandy spot…not a colic roll, because he kept walking over from the hay pile he was eating to roll in the same spot and then would go rub on a tree. When I came out after work, he had broken 2 boards and could not walk past anything without rubbing…it finally hit me why he was so unusually itchy! I just wish I had gotten the hot wire fixed before I wormed him! His skin is looking really good, the habronema is good, the best it has looked, but still there. Having several freezes and alot of cold weather this winter has been good for him.
[QUOTE=jaimebaker;3875720]
Make sure you’ve got your eye ointment ready. If there is a die off behind those eyes it can cause a nasty uveitis flare up. After I wormed my mare the first time, within 36 hours she could barely open one eye. I wormed her for the second time last week and she’s been tearing up ever since The first time I had to keep her on dex ointment, bute, and antiobiotics for 5 days afterwards (per vet instructions after a thorough exam). I’m scared to death of using steroid ointment if I can’t guarantee she doesn’t have a scratch somewhere so I didn’t do the steroids after the second dosing. I’ve got her on gentamycin right now to see if I can’t get the tearing in check. She looked great up until her second dosing and she started tearing again. No pupil constriction or pain though. However, this was a single dose of ivermectin two weeks apart (the normal protocol for onchocerca in the eyes). I plan on doing the DD of Equimax the next go round and see if I can’t get her cleared up. Just wanted you to be aware if there IS a connection and she’s got parasites behind those eyes, you can cause a fairly nasty onset of uveitis from it.[/QUOTE]
Very interesting about the deworming potentially causing a uveitis flare up. I will make sure to get his meds handy. Never thought about a large die off with deworming but makes total sense. Won’t be back to the barn until Sunday, unfortunately - due to work schedule and other plans. Hopefully all goes well until then.
I had excellent results with this protocol. Then the cold weather set in. We’ll see how it goes when it gets warm and buggy again (this is FL it will be any day now).
My most notable success was my mare’s eye. She had an “unknown immune response not uveitis” according to the opthalmologists at UF. It cleared up after the first DD.
Has anyone reported any negative side effects double dosing with Equimax. I’m hearing a lot of concern about it on any lists this subject comes up on. People swearing their vets and the people working for pfizer are advising against using Equimax this way.
I’m not going to stop because I did five horses several time first using Equimax then following up with Ivermectin and haven’t had any negative side effects.
Just curious about any reports to the contrary.
UnderTheSun, one horse on this thread died after some # of doses of this protocol. However, there were most likely other things going on that were the root of the horse’s death. IIRC, this protocol was sort of a “last resort” to see if things could clear up. Try reading from about page 45 on, as I think you’ll find it there. Then you can go back through the thread, if you want, and look for ALL the posts about that particular horse.
Here’s what was found in MsSteno’s horse…
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=188624
So glad it was something relatively easy, rather than pigeon fever or worse.
Interesting about Gus and double dosing for ERU. I think he’s in the mist of a flareup, brought about by the double dose of Equimax. So, maybe it’s working? He’s due at the end of the week for the next dose (going to use just Ivermectin this time). I need to get more meds (eye meds), but it’ll be interesting to see how things go, after next week.
That’s our little update. I’m hoping that means things are working :yes:.
I appologize for the lengthy post. Here it goes:
I purchased a new horse a approx. 3 weeks ago. A generally well cared for great jumper but with skin that is far from great. I choose to overlook the skin condition to get this jumper at a great price.
His coat is full of bear scabby patches that vary in size from 1/4 inch to several inches in diameter. When he is groomed a LOT of dundruff like stuff is present. The patches do not seem to be particularly itchy. According to the previous owner he’s been batteling this skin condition for some time. They are present everywhere but seem to be mostly concentrated around the neck area, underside of the jaw, forehead, along the spine and his sides and I think it may even be forming on his lower fron legs.
I have a copy of his vet records and it looks like he was treated for this condition with daily Fulvicin powder, Para-Guard Shampoo and Rompun over the course of about 3 weeks and 2 different vet visits. This was in August 2008.
The previous owner started adding oil to his diet to help with his skin.
I’ve put this horse on MSM and Farriers Formula to help with his coat and skin and used Absorbine 1.00% chloroxylenol shampoo followed by 0.50% chloroxylenol spray for a week. This resulted in the dissapearing of the scabs. The bear hairless patches are still there. I’ve not treated the condition for over a week now and don’t see much improvement. Some patches seem to have started to regrow hair but other scally scabby patches have started in different places.
So, yesterday I have started to treat the patches again with Absorbine 0.50% chloroxylenol spray thinking that I didn’t get it all. I have also started to wash all of his blankets and brushes to prevent reinfection, if that is what is going on.
But this thread has me thinking it may well be a parasite like NTW and not rainrot or ringworm. I suppose it can’t hurt to double dose this horse by weight with Equimax followed again 2 weeks later. Like to have all of your inputs! What do you think is going on?
So long as he’s otherwise healthy - why not give it a try? You’ll know within a few days if it is NTW because the horse’s skin will get worse before it gets better.
I was a little skeptical and leery at first, so I started with double dose ivermectin. Then I did the double dose Equimax 2 weeks later. Noticed more eruptions right away and eventual improvement.
I also say do it!
My guy didnt present like most. He was very irritable and itchy all over. No real scabs to speak off - just a little crust on his belly. No hair loss like some of the pics in this thread. But he had them - I mean - has them. So when is is itching to get out of the pasture (pun intended) to get to his tree to rub and scratch - we deworm. And then he is better.
SPRING '09 BUMP
Although it’s still February, spring is on the way. For some of us, warm weather has already started to emerge and, along with it, the NTW microfila are emerging and the itching has started.
If you’ve gone through the Double Dose Protocol since this thread started, then just do one single Double Dose treatment of Equimax as soon as you see the itchies start.
If you’re new to the thread but suspect that your horse’s itchies might be NTW related, then just go and buy yourself multiple tubes of Equimax now, go back to the beginning of the thread and read your way through. It’s worth the time investment.
Also, since we KNOW that several online suppliers experience a shortage of Equimax in mid-2008 
- order now!
I think I read in one of The Horse magazine’s series on parasites that Iver/Moxi “sterilizes” the female Onchocerca. (or maybe it was somewhere else…?) I haven’t seen that mentioned elsewhere. If that’s true, for how long?
Also, I am interested in the minimal worming protocol proposed in the last of the series (http://www.thehorse.com/Parasites/Parasites1204.pdf). For example, I wormed with Moxi/Praz Dec. 1. I had my vet do a FEC a few days ago, count is zero for everyone. But then I have a small closed herd, and I’m a bit, um, anal about keeping horses and manure apart. According to this article, theoretically I should be able to run another FEC in April and if that’s clear, not worry about worming again until September. :eek: Not sure I would do that… but if I can by with no more than 4 wormings a year with periodic FEC checks, I think I’d rather.
Anyone else thinking of going this route or is/have some experience with it? BTW, I’m in KY if that helps. And yes, I’ve talked to my vet, he’s a bit old school, but he’s coming around to the strategic worming band-wagon. So I’d appreciate some “real-life” feedback. Thanks!
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