Warning - Equimax Wormer

I received this info from a friend in ON:



Rec'd this info, regarding a wormer, from Ruth Freeman, the editor of a
magazine, The Draft Horse Connection, published in Ontario.

Hi Everyone: Dad & I spent a couple of hours with Tom and Martha Anne Shires
yesterday regarding the details of losing a young healthly Thoroughbred horse
that was just ready to go to the race track. They wormed with with a NEW wormer
by Pfizer called Equimax.

Equimax contains:1.87% Invermectin ,14.03 % Praziquantel (this is for tape
worms). Their regular wormer is Equalvan Gold which contains:1.55% Invermectin,
7.74% Praziquantel. Equalan Duo contains also:1.55% Invermectin, 7.75%
Praziquantel. From this you can see the Praziquantel in Equimax is double the
amount in the other two wormers. After giving the horse the wormer it developed
severe colic, then a hole was burnt in the horses small intestine.

The horse was passing parts of the small intestine in his manure, then blood
showed in his urine and his kidneys shut down. Peritonitis set in and the horse
didn't have a chance. He died in 7 days. The vet says the Praziquantel was too
strong at 14.03 % and killed this young horse.The Equimax was purchased at the
feed store in Addison Dixie and Egan. Tom and Martha Anne went to Ritchie Feed
and Seed store in Brockville and talked to Andrea the horse expert. Andrea said
she was not carrying the product as it was too NEW. Andrea called her
representative and she obtained the telephone number of the vet who made
Equimax.

He refused to give information as he thought a class action law suit might
occur. Shires have had their horses fecal samples checked when they used
Equalvan Gold and their samples were clear of parasites. So why has Pfizer
doubled the dose of Praziquantel for tape worms? I did find a company in the US
that has pulled Equimax from their product line saying it was no longer
available. Please pass this warning to your horse friends and if anyone has had
an experience with thisproduct please let me know.

Sincerely Ruth Freeman

Wow good to know. Bad for young horses but I don't I'd want to use it on a mature horse either.

I've used it on my gelding just in February and had no problem with it.

Equimax ...must keep this in mind as I do want to deworm for Tape worms in the fall...I've come to realize after deworming this year that all the wormers I've been using the last couple of years had nothing for tape worms and there is a lot of horses in the area coming from Qc ..what other wormer out there for tape besides Equimax??

I have used it also on my horses before with out any problems.. hmm good to know.. thanks

We use either a double dose of Exodus (pyrantel pamaote) or Zimmectrin Gold (1.55% Invermectin, 7.75% Praziquantel) to do for tapeworm.

Glad we never used that one!

There is new info on this wormer put on line from a US Vet. Her practice only prescribes this wormer, it is not for sale over the counter, as it is made for larger horses. Most wormers will treat an animal up to 500 kg and this wormer is for up to 700 kgs. She suspects that people are simply giving a full tube of wormer not realizing that they are actually over dosing.

It can be used with caution.