Worms and Teeth

[Soda-pop]

A.) Is ponazuril an appropriate wormer for a sheep? If not, what's a good general wormer? (We only have one sheep and I live in SoCal)

 

B.) Is it difficult to file down teeth yourself with some instructions? Does the sheep need to be sedated? If not, does anyone have any good instructions?

 

Maude the OLD pet sheep appreciates it!

 

Paige

[juliepoudrier]

Paige,

Ponazuril seems to be approved to treat protozoal issues in horses, and may work as a coccidiostat, but I didn't find any information to say that it is effective against basic intestinal worms of the type you'd be treating sheep for, nor did I find anything to indicate that it's approved for use in sheep. If horse wormers are what is most readily available to you, you could try Safeguard paste or even Ivermectin. If you are concerned about tapes as well, then Valbazen would be the wormer of choice. I would probably choose the latter simply because it would cover tapes along with everything else.

 

I've not ever floated sheep teeth and don't even know if it's something that's ever done as a rule. Someone like Bill F. might know.

 

J.

[Bill Fosher]

I don't know nothin' 'bout floatin' no teeth.

 

Approved dewormers for sheep is a short list in the US:

 

Levamasole, sold as Prohibit drench. On indefinite back order due to Chinese earthquake.

Albendazole, sold as Valbazen drench.

Ivermectin, sold as Ivomec sheep drench and as a generic sheep drench.

Moxidectin, sold as Cydectin sheep drench.

 

There are many cattle and horse products that are commonly used off label, but by law those should come only from a vet. Many vets will be happy to sell you a single dose of an appropriate chemical and instruct you on its correct administration.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Bill, is there any hope for Tramisol/levamisol? That's all I use now pretty much (now that I'm breeding). I don't use Cydectin anymore because I won't put anything made by Fort Dodge in my animals anymore. And the other things just don't work.

 

I'm not in a crisis here - I just wormed and normally that's it for me until lambing, if we get any warm weather then even. But I'm hoping it will be back then.

[juliepoudrier]

Becca,

As I've been making the rounds of the local feed/farm stores it seems that there is still some product on the shelves. You may just want to buy what you can find (if you can find it) and store it yourself for future use.

 

J.

[Bill Fosher]

I think the answer is to buy it and hoard it as Julie says. In powder form stored out of the light, it should keep pretty much indefinitely, I'd think.

[Soda-pop]

Thanks for the info, guys!

[Little Bo Boop]

Around here the Levamasole, comes in a bolus, about 1/2 a bolus for 50lb. sheep. They're kind of pricey, .99 a pill, but I've found them to be really effective for worming my sheep. Valbazen and the ivermec. just wasn't cutting it. Within a couple of days of administering the Levamasole my sheep looked 100% better. I don't like trying to fight them to get the bolus in (even with a balling gun I'm still not coordinated enough) I just put half a pill in a syringe, little water, and make a slurry out of it, works pretty good.