Gina

Equine Fecal Test Kit – Horse Parasite Testing Kits from ParaScreen Labs

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DO YOUR HORSE A FAVOR….ParaScreen-e Labs, developers of the Equine Fecal Test Kit, made for horse parasite testing, has been providing personalized, world-class equine laboratory testing for over 25 years to the veterinary community.

The lab, New England Horse Labs,  is inspected and certified by the USDA-APHIS and passes various proficiency testing every year to maintain this status.  ParaScreen-e now offers the equine fecal test kit directly to every horse owner and stable manager/owner for as little as $19 per sample, which includes a free, postage paid mailer with easy instructions.

Targeted equine deworming is recommended by veterinarians based upon fecal results, the environment, exposure to parasites, age and use of the horse, etc.  Also, equine deworming strategies are critical to providing the best possible care for our horses armed with the knowledge from a fecal analysis.  Experienced technicians will examine, identify and report to you and your veterinarian if your horse has any intestinal parasites.

To get started, please contact us for more information and convenient ordering.

Gina

The Importance and Reasoning for Equine Fecal Egg Count Exams

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The fecal egg count exam is an important tool veterinarians use to determine parasitic infections in horses.  A fecal egg count exam is a simple, fairly inexpensive test that provides information about a horse’s health and if the present deworming program is effective.

 

When a veterinarian orders a fecal egg count exam, they are looking for intestinal parasites.  Intestinal parasites reproduce by laying eggs which pass through the horse’s gastrointestinal system via feces.  If there are eggs in the feces, then there are living adult parasites somewhere within the horse’s intestines.

 

A typical fecal test will report on two important findings:

 

  • Are there any eggs in the feces?
  • If there are, what is the type of parasite laying the eggs (strongyle, roundworm, whipworm, tapeworm, pinworm) and how many eggs are there, reported as “eggs per gram” (or EPG).

 

Traditionally, a horse with more than 200 eggs per gram of feces would be considered a candidate for deworming treatment (although this range can vary between veterinarians).  Some horses may require as few as two deworming cycles per year while others may require five or more.  Appropriate deworming products to use may vary from horse to horse, farm to farm and veterinarian to veterinarian.

 

For reporting on fecal parasitic egg burden in equines, New England Horse Labs offers two types of fecal exams:  Qualitative and Quantitative.  In our experience, the qualitative (modified Wisconsin) analysis is more precise for finding and identifying eggs in low-burdened animals, thus, reducing the number of false-negatives.  The quantitative (McMaster’s) analysis is valuable for establishing a baseline and for monitoring any patient on a deworming program.