# HELP LIVER FLUKE nearly killed my horse



## molski (9 December 2007)

Just got a new mare had her a few wks. She came down with colick couldnt understand why vet came out and jabbed her for worms. Worked for a few hrs, she was also highly aneamic, went down with it again vet came bac and by chance said lets try for liver fluke, gave her a paste and she is now slowly getting better, fingers crossed she makes it.
HELP, does anyone now how long it is before she is able to start work?
And if any lasting effects AND if it will now be on our pasture for other horses to get?
Many thanks x x


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## vicijp (9 December 2007)

After a few weeks the contamination will be low, unless of course you have sheep or cattle on the same land.
If she was wormed with Nilzan Gold, the blood test should return to normal after 2 weeks.


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## Maisiesmum (9 December 2007)

My friend's horse in the same field as mine has just had bloods and the vet mentioned liver fluke.  Can you tell me more about the symptoms or how I can find out more information?

Another horse in the same field had to be put down a couple of years ago after chronic diarrhea and weight loss accompanied by a very low red cell count.  The new mare is showing similar signs of abdominal discomfort and has a very low red cell count too.

Obviously we are all very worried and the lady who's horse died is very upset that this might have been undiagnosed liver fluke.

Also, does anyone know which (if any) of the standard womers will shift them? 

Any help would be gratefully received.


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## vicijp (9 December 2007)

You will need Nilzan Gold, your vet should be able to provide a single dose.
Like any worms, they will look poor, but it will knock them about a fair bit also.
Is there cattle and sheep on the land? I have no idea how long they live etc.


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## Maisiesmum (9 December 2007)

There are only horses on the field most of the time but he may put sheep on sometimes, I'm not sure.  Apparently the vet who came said it looked like good fluke habitat as it's very wet.


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## vicijp (9 December 2007)

A bloke near to me had a problem with it last year, cattle had been on the field years before but not for a while.
I had one horse with it, who had been grazed with one other horse(was ok) amongst sheep and cattle for a few months before coming here. He had been out on our grass for a couple of months, and no others have had a problem so I dont think horses 'spread' it that much.
Personally would get the horse in and make sure its warm and well fed, it usually triggers a virus.


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## Charlie77 (11 December 2007)

I didn't realise that Horses could get it! My Dad runs a sheep farm &amp; they have lost a few sheep with It, but a lot of farms in our area have lost a lot of sheep with it ( some thing to do with the extra wet - warm summer apparently? )


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## loobiloo (12 December 2007)

Although horses aren't a natural host they can get infected with the same fluke species that affect cattle and sheep and it's probably most likely to occur during the wet weather as flukes like damp, warmish conditions. Signs include anaemia, jaundice etc like other worm problems, as well as (but not always) heart murmurs. As horses aren't the usual host because the fluke aren't well adapted to them they can get infected in other areas such as the lungs or under the skin.  Outside the host they can survive for up to a year in other life stages and from first infection the cycle lasts approx. 3 months. Usual long-term damage can occur to organs as with other internal parasites depending on the site of infection - sorry for so long a post, hope that helps!


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## Genna00 (7 March 2011)

I just had one 2yo put down last night. Vet assumed we hadn't fed and wormed her which made me very upset aswell as loosing her. They go down hill within a few weeks and then its too late, especially after that wet spell we had a few wks back. All the other horses are still looking really well apart from 1 but hopefully she's on the mend after a dose of Facinex. 
Just red up on internet and it's been quite common in Ireland. Why aren't vets more aware about it around here rather than acusing owners of starving their horses when we're trying to nurse them and make them better.
Good to read your forum thankyou, I was feeling a bit in the dark about it all, cos I thought no one knew about it in horses!
We have sheep and cattle also, and there used to be milking goats on the land.


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## riding_high (8 March 2011)

my horse had it a few years ago, he went very lethargic, aged overnight, was out of breath just shaking his head and went off his food. after numerous blood tests the vet said that he thinks it may be liver fluke but the only way to be certain was to do a liver biopsy. vet did a biopsy and it showed a lot of fluke in his liver.

he was given some medication (can't remember the name of it now) and i was told to move him off the land asap, i did that and he started to recover. however 3yrs later he is still not 100%, he still has alot of liver damage and it won't ever get any better. if he gets the slightest of infection it wipes him out now.

i was told that slugs/snails can carry the fluke and spread it in their slime. just so happened that next door was a beef and sheep farm, there was lots of slime around the field and also after i moved (about a month later) we found out that the field i was renting used to be a snail farm 2yrs previous to me moving there.

i knew sheep and cattle could get it but until my horse got it i never even thought about horses having it.

ETA just noticed this post is from a few years ago! oops. lol


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