Treating Tapeworms - Under Construction

[antoniawarren]

Sooo, after reading this thread multiple times, and realizing that Safeguard had NOT done the trick, I grabbed some Equimax at TSC last time I was there. I observed the girls for a few more days and decided that a few were definitely under the weather and there were obvious worm parts (and not round worms, which are easy to spot) in their poop. So, I do what was suggested, I load my tiny syringe with some Equimax and try to surprise them. It worked on a couple, but then they started and noticing, and chaos ensued of course. I'm pretty sure a couple girls got more than they were supposed to get, and I'm wondering just how bad that is??? I'm hoping it's not lethal or anything. They weren't fasting, they were eating watermelon because it was hot yesterday and today.
Thanks for any reassurance you can give.

They are going to be ok. Mine got around 2 little lines (1/4 ml) but others got more and I was also worry, but they all are just fine.

 

[antoniawarren]

I think you meant to say "tapeworms" rather than "roundworms." There are much better products for treating roundworms and you dont want to give folks the wrong impression about Equimax treating roundworms. We dont Equimax losing its effectiveness against tapeworms due to its overuse in treating roundworms.

Here's something to keep in mind about chickens getting tapeworms. Chickens need to eat an infected insect in order to get tapeworms. I know it's practically impossible to control chickens from eating insects, but I just wanted you to be aware of that. Also, not all insects will be infected.

As for most types of roundworms, chickens pick up eggs from the soil, recycle the eggs onto soil, then get infected when they pick them up again.
I suggest that you take a look at the roundworms direct lifecycle and the tapeworms indirect lifecycle and you'll see why it's important to eliminate the worms' lifecycle and establish a worming program suited for your environment and particularly your soil conditions.

No, I meant Round worms and also, Tape! because of the Ivermectin and the Praziquantel.
I Don't overdose ever, just used once. Actually I had used every type of dewormer once! I rotated them.
My soil is fine, chickens that grow here have not worms the girls with worms are the ones I brought from a local chicken farm.
I try everything for Tape and Round and ONLY this time with Equimax the poop is clean and feathers are growing back, they look so much better! So, YES! I will recommend PRAZIQUANTEL for Round worms to everyone!

 

[dawg53]

No, I meant Round worms and also, Tape! because of the Ivermectin and the Praziquantel.
I Don't overdose ever, just used once. Actually I had used every type of dewormer once! I rotated them.
My soil is fine, chickens that grow here have not worms the girls with worms are the ones I brought from a local chicken farm.
I try everything for Tape and Round and ONLY this time with Equimax the poop is clean and feathers are growing back, they look so much better! So, YES! I will recommend PRAZIQUANTEL for Round worms to everyone!

If you had used wazine, I guarantee you that roundworms wouldve been flushed out of your chickens within 48 hours.

 

[Northern Flights]

FYI, some resources on Ivermectin and Moxidectin: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/ivermectin
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/moxidectin

A little hunting also provided the following abstract for a paper on Praziquantel: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6542381
(I found the following later and it's quite informative)https://livertox.nlm.nih.gov/Praziquantel.htm

There is much, much more out there from authoritative sources and I highly recommend one do a little book-learnin' about anthelmintics, if only to lower the stress level a bit. I am now fully persuaded the drugs above are all quite effective and very safe to use on laying hens. casportpony has provided accurate and correct dosage info here and elsewhere.

After some expense and a lot of listening to vets and vet techs who deal with various parasites virtually every day, we decided to go ahead and treat our hens with an equine product called "Eqvalan Gold" a formula also sold under the brand-name "Zimectrin Gold", using the dosages provided by casportpony, with one of us gently restraining the bird while seated (they were all very cooperative really) and the other doing the injecting using a graduated 1cc syringe. (Instructions for administering oral meds is also available on this site, just search and ye shall find) Each hen got .4cc (rounded up for simplicity) and precisely none of them show any ill effects whatsoever. In fact they all showed marked improvement within 12 hours and after 48 hours are already putting on weight and are fully free of tapeworm and lice. We can now breath easily about parasites, at least until the infected grasshoppers and louse infested migratory birds arrive again in the spring. sigh...

The short version is do not fret too much about the treatments listed above (as I did in spades) they are safe and quite forgiving should one accidentally administer a bit more than needed. The usual cautions always apply when using medications of any kind, but toxicity is pretty much a non-issue with reasonable care.

 

[dawg53]

For nematodes in poultry, benzimidazoles are the way to go. For cestodes and trematodes, Equimax or z-gold can be used. Moxidectin and/or moxidectin plus should be used if benzimidazoles arnt available to treat nematodes or Equimax and z-gold arnt available to treat cestodes/trematodes.

 

[Northern Flights]

Availability was the sole reason we chose the product we did. Up here on the barren fringes of civilized society such things can be rather tricky (and expensive) to get. Even the local vets find it needlessly onerous. In fact I am informed by those who know such things most intimately, over-regulation of such medicines aimed at (certain) city folk and other ignoramuses is a big contributor to animal mortality in these parts. Most unfortunate.

 

[casportpony]

FYI, some resources on Ivermectin and Moxidectin: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/ivermectin
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/moxidectin

Excellent links! Did you see this:

Etiology and Pathophysiology
•
Equine formulations of moxidectin and ivermectin are dosed at 0.4 mg/kg body weight and 0.2 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Moxidectin is not labeled for use in foals younger than 4 months.

○
Over-the-counter pastes and gels contain enough drug to treat 520 to 600 kg of body weight, and owners frequently administer the entire syringe regardless of the horse's actual weight.

○
At label dosing, the peak plasma concentrations of moxidectin are approximately twice the concentrations of ivermectin.

•
Moxidectin is 100 times more lipid soluble than ivermectin, so it distributes to a greater degree in fat and has a much longer plasma elimination half-life (23 days for moxidectin; 4 days for ivermectin).

○
In animals with low fat stores, such as debilitated adults and neonates, plasma concentrations of moxidectin are higher, so the neurotoxic dose is lower.

○
Because neonates have a less developed blood-brain barrier, they appear to be more sensitive to toxicosis.

•
Toxicity results from the potentiation of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter.

○
Ivermectin and moxidectin stimulate synaptic secretion of GABA and enhance postsynaptic GABA binding to its receptor site, resulting in open chloride channels and membrane hyperpolarization.

○
P-glycoprotein is the transporter protein of the blood-brain barrier that effluxes these drugs out of the brain, protecting it from GABA-ergic neurotoxicity.

○
Moxidectin has less affinity than ivermectin for P-glycoprotein, which allows it to penetrate the brain more easily to cause neurotoxicity than ivermectin.

 

[Northern Flights]

Excellent links! Did you see this:

Etiology and Pathophysiology
•
Equine formulations of moxidectin and ivermectin are dosed at 0.4 mg/kg body weight and 0.2 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Moxidectin is not labeled for use in foals younger than 4 months.

○
Over-the-counter pastes and gels contain enough drug to treat 520 to 600 kg of body weight, and owners frequently administer the entire syringe regardless of the horse's actual weight.

○
At label dosing, the peak plasma concentrations of moxidectin are approximately twice the concentrations of ivermectin.

•
Moxidectin is 100 times more lipid soluble than ivermectin, so it distributes to a greater degree in fat and has a much longer plasma elimination half-life (23 days for moxidectin; 4 days for ivermectin).

○
In animals with low fat stores, such as debilitated adults and neonates, plasma concentrations of moxidectin are higher, so the neurotoxic dose is lower.

○
Because neonates have a less developed blood-brain barrier, they appear to be more sensitive to toxicosis.

•
Toxicity results from the potentiation of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter.

○
Ivermectin and moxidectin stimulate synaptic secretion of GABA and enhance postsynaptic GABA binding to its receptor site, resulting in open chloride channels and membrane hyperpolarization.

○
P-glycoprotein is the transporter protein of the blood-brain barrier that effluxes these drugs out of the brain, protecting it from GABA-ergic neurotoxicity.

○
Moxidectin has less affinity than ivermectin for P-glycoprotein, which allows it to penetrate the brain more easily to cause neurotoxicity than ivermectin.

Again you amply demonstrate the shear goodness within you. I am most grateful as always. Indeed these drugs are clearly deserving a listing among the worlds most important and needed medications.

I should have added a proviso to my comments above: Ivermectin can be lethal to certain breeds of dogs and care should be taken to not be sloppy with it.

The dosage needed to cause toxicity in susceptible animals is however fairly high and the only way they might become sick is through ingesting the paste directly. That should not prove difficult in any way as I seriously doubt a critter will want to eat the stuff. It tastes awful. (Don't ask how I know this, please...)

 

[casportpony]

I guess I should have elaborated on why I thought that bit was interesting. I found the big about moxidectin being less forgiving/potentially more toxic interesting. I routinely give large doses of ivermectin to my birds, and have been know to give an entire tube of of ivermectin paste to a horse.

 

[dawg53]

I'd only use moxidectin as an absolute last resort in my birds.