Let’s hope that the folks that make equimax don’t change their carrier since they are reformulating their product. I’ve been told they won’t start production until Jan or even Feb.
UGH why didn’t I do a Google search before using Zimectrin Gold!!
OMG feeling so frustrated. Administered Zimectrin Gold to my horse last Friday after a quick stop to the feed store. Intention was to buy Equimax, which my trainer recommended but they did not have that. About 45 min after giving him the paste corner of his mouth swelled up and spread …poor guy had red swelling inside his lips. Had the vet on alert; fortunately he got better throughout the day after some dex (and of course I had to leave town such is Murphy’s Law when something like this happens).
just so frustrating to see the many problems this terrible product has caused so many other horses and still nothing has been done. I’m alerting my local feed store. :mad:
Make sure you send a report to Merial, through your vet if needed. It’s probably not going to do diddly, but it should still be on record. Did you take pictures?
[QUOTE=Whistler;8595657]
OMG feeling so frustrated. Administered Zimectrin Gold to my horse last Friday after a quick stop to the feed store. Intention was to buy Equimax, which my trainer recommended but they did not have that. About 45 min after giving him the paste corner of his mouth swelled up and spread …poor guy had red swelling inside his lips. Had the vet on alert; fortunately he got better throughout the day after some dex (and of course I had to leave town such is Murphy’s Law when something like this happens).
just so frustrating to see the many problems this terrible product has caused so many other horses and still nothing has been done. I’m alerting my local feed store. :mad:[/QUOTE]
I’m sorry you had a bad reaction but medication reactions are a common risk in all sorts of things. You should note the reaction and notify the maker. This bad result is NOT proof that the product is dangerous or defective. It only means there was a bad result in one instance. If the maker gets many notifications then they can check and see what is happening. It might lead to recall or other action.
Make the report.
G.
There have been numerous reports of this particular adverse effect. Well over 500 of them.
The company seems unimpressed.
[QUOTE=Guilherme;8596098]
I’m sorry you had a bad reaction but medication reactions are a common risk in all sorts of things. You should note the reaction and notify the maker. This bad result is NOT proof that the product is dangerous or defective. It only means there was a bad result in one instance. If the maker gets many notifications then they can check and see what is happening. It might lead to recall or other action.
Make the report.
G.[/QUOTE]
I’m wondering if you have read through this thread? Not being snarky, just really curious.
There’s a reason you don’t find threads like these on Equimax.
A friend’s whole farm (boarding) was dosed with ZG last Spring and well over 50% of the horse had some reaction ranging from just some mild blistering and swelling, to major issues that required medication.
That’s not one instance. It’s not random.
Merial KNOWS about this. They put a disclaimer on their website. It’s been going on for years, a good decade.
They don’t care.
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;8596110]
There have been numerous reports of this particular adverse effect. Well over 500 of them.
The company seems unimpressed.[/QUOTE]
And that’s just the ones that people decided to report
I went to purchase some Equimax at the feed store over the weekend and they had 1 tube left. They were also sold out of Quest and Quest Plus. While trying to decide what to purchase, the owner said “Zimectrin Gold will be the closest to what Equimax is.” I stated “Thank you, but I won’t use ZG due to the well known risk of mouth ulcers and burns.” He scoffed at me. Last time I shop at that store…I was trying to support the slightly overpriced local store instead of going to TSC.
To be fair, most employees working in feed and supplement sections of stores know nothing. You’re lucky if they’re just familiar with the names and what they are for. They don’t get any training on the products or, at best, get whatever market-hype sales training a product rep gives them, and you can be quite certain there won’t be anything negative said.
Often it’s up to us, the consumers, to educate them a little. Or try to lol.
[QUOTE=JB;8596608]
To be fair, most employees working in feed and supplement sections of stores know nothing. You’re lucky if they’re just familiar with the names and what they are for. They don’t get any training on the products or, at best, get whatever market-hype sales training a product rep gives them, and you can be quite certain there won’t be anything negative said.
Often it’s up to us, the consumers, to educate them a little. Or try to lol.[/QUOTE]
I know - I tried to explain. There is a reason that QP and Equimax were sold out and there was a ton of ZG left…
Bad Reaction
Unfortunately I found these posts a little too late! I searched for bad side effects from worming as soon as I got home from the barn tonight. I received a phone call this afternoon telling me my horse, that I had happened to dewom with Zimectrin Gold this morning, could not be handled! She was bitting, kicking and lounging at people as they were trying to bring her in to feed. Upon my arrival she was fairly lethargic and almost showing signs similar to colic or choke. She kept making a “yawning” motion with her mouth, trying to bite her sides and absolutely untouchable. I have owned her for 5 months. I was in touch with her previous vet and she said she has never had any adverse side effects from deworming. I was told to give her some Banamine and bran mash. After a couple hours she has settled. Hoping she stays comfortable throughout the night and doesn’t have anymore side effects! I’m thinking this is NOT a coincidence! I know I will Never use this product again
I’ve never had a problem with Zimectermin Gold.
My donkey and DH’s gelding will both violently fight against ZG. They both had terrible mouth ulcers from it. I’ll never ever use it again.
[QUOTE=TWH Girl;8958610]
I’ve never had a problem with Zimectermin Gold.[/QUOTE]
Nobody ever does, until they do.
I have one that reacts and one that does not. She still gets it. He doesn’t. Simple enough.
Why people will knowingly risk their animals when a safer, better equivalent is available is beyond me. There is no feigning ignorance when things go wrong.
1 Like
I know this is now considered heresy, but no one was deworming for tapes before praziquantal appeared on the market, and some of us still don’t see a reason to.
I had a horrendous reaction a number of years back to Quest Plus; whole herd scoured, several older horses colicked, and one Cushingoid mare went into kidney failure. Coincidence? I think not!
Have never used any of those combination products again, except when an owner demands it and then I have the vet give it so if something happens it is not “on me.” I do not routinely deworm even my own horses for tapes, and only on the vet’s direction for a hard keeper do I use a double dose of Panacur.
I maintain that Praziquantal was a product in search of a “problem.” Before it was brought to market (and the research on tapes was designed to support its sales) no one even mentioned tapes. I’ve heard anecdotally that they are sometimes found when a colic case is opened up; their mere possible presence is way short of proof of causality in my book. And I’ve never seen or heard the vent mention even ONE single case of colic directly attributed to tapes.
Now would you rather have a BIG problem, self-inflicted, or a “problem” that mostly only exists “in theory?”
Why do “stuff” you don’t need to do to begin with?
Some years ago (maybe 9?), before I was personally aware of the ZG anecdotes, my barn decided to use it for our fall deworming. My fellow boarders weren’t very experienced horse people and often looked to me for recommendations and advice. With Zimectrin being a trusted product and ivermectin part of our regular rotation, I never paused to consider there might be a risk.
We gave our horses the dewormer, no big deal. The next day, I had to head out of town for the weekend.
When I returned home, I learned one boarder’s horse had violently colicked about 24 hours following the dewormer administration. The vet couldn’t stabilize the mare at home or the clinic and wanted to do an exploratory. The owner could not afford surgery and the mare was euthanized. No necropsy was performed.
When I asked the owner what the vet thought caused the colic, I was told the vet said, “there’s no way it could have been prevented; it was probably just one of those things,” and all the typical platitudes one is obligated to say when there is no money for further diagnosis. I’m not sure if the vet was told about the prior dewormer administration in the medical history.
Not long after the incident, I read about the ZG reactions in some horses. In retrospect, I also should have considered the potential for tapeworm die-off in those boarders’ horses who may have never been treated for tapes. Either way, I have always felt the twinge of responsibility for the incident; while it wasn’t my fault per se, I ultimately made the final decision to use the product and a horse lost her life.
[QUOTE=Lady Eboshi;8958934]
I know this is now considered heresy, but no one was deworming for tapes before praziquantal appeared on the market, and some of us still don’t see a reason to.[/QUOTE]
It can’t be said that no one was deworming for tapes. In the late 90s/early 00s, vets where I lived began recommending a double dose of Strongid in the fall to address tapes.
Data was also published around that same time indicating tapeworms are a major factor in gas colic and ileal impaction. It’s not surprising that many vets began addressing tapes shortly thereafter.
Side note: It has since been postulated that the double dose of Strongid approach hastened our small strongyle resistance problems significantly.
One thing frequently left out of the whole deworming question is not only regional differences around the country, but what kind of land you have and how you manage it. My vet tells me that tapes are (in New England at least) of concern primarily in low-lying, wetter pastures as opposed to high and dry uplands. Manure management of course is also a factor.
One thing almost EVERYONE forgets (especially those mostly interested in pushing products) in the parasite equation is that the horse himself develops a robust immune reaction to most species of “worms” by maturity. What is very necessary to protect the immature digestive system of the foal to two year old is quite different in the mature, healthy horse. Debility, age, or heavy infestations of course bring their own problems and much be managed as such. You primarily encounter such only among the “rescue” population. This is why, IMO, it is very, VERY important to bring your vet in on the decision.
In ordinary, HEALTHY, mature horses with robust immune systems, however, it is now being proven by new research that we have, in essence, been doing MUCH TOO MUCH deworming, and have done great damage in so doing for the very parasite-resistance issues cited above.
Many “nice lady” amateurs have a major “ick” factor even thinking about an internal parasite. Hence, over-treating has long been the default norm even though biologically contraindicated.
Today according to my vet it is VANISHINGLY RARE for a well-kept healthy horse to have a “major load” or infestation of any kind of internal parasite. And what he does have may well be balanced naturally by his own immunities.
We are now deworming only twice per year.
