Post by Calaminty Jane on Apr 11, 2014 8:22:36 GMT -5
"Complexicating" Worms
by Geoff Tucker, DVM
Every once in a while, a new word needs to be made. This one is a verb. Complexicate, as in "I will complexicate this." You can do all the grammar things we learned a long time ago to this word. For instance, "He is complexicating things."
Now that we have the syntax understood, let's take a look at the usage. For this example, let’s discuss deworming our horses. It started for me in 1974 when our esteemed veterinarian entered the barn with foil packets in his hand and announced, "We now have medicine to combat parasites!" Huh?? What’s a parasite? Did we have a problem that needed combating?
And so, horsemen became indoctrinated into the art of combating parasites. From powders and liquids we gave with stomach tubes, to pastes, injectables, back to pastes, then pellets we went to every six weeks alternate chemicals, use one chemical for a year, go continuously. No, four times a year. Now you understand the word complexicate. But, scientists didn't stop there.
Today, the Gods of the Parasite Wars dictate to not use chemicals Instead, look for parasites in horse poop. In other words, stop preventing through chemicals and wait until there is a problem. Let's follow the logic.
Once parasites have invaded the horse, set up shop in the gut wall, migrated and encysted, returned to the inside of the intestines, become adults, laid eggs, and passed out into a pile of poop, that’s when you should squirt a tube of something into your horse, have half of it fly out of the mouth and end up on the stall wall, and become confident that you have done the right thing for your horse?
To uncomplexicate this deworming debacle, ask how you deworm yourself or your kids. I recently saw a package of Strongid (for human use) on the shelf of my local Walgreens pharmacy. If ivermectin is approved for use in humans, why don't we deworm ourselves? Because we don't eat where we defecate. Not very complicated. Knives and forks are good parasite controls, not just good manners. Washing your hands helps, too.
If you clean up the manure where your horses eat, then parasite problems go away. As long as you have stalls and fences, your horse lives in an unnatural environment. If you don't want to use chemicals and your horses are confined to a dense area, then use a pitchfork and wheelbarrow, and clean your pasture at least every other day. Clean stalls daily. Keep hay away from manure. Break the parasite cycle. This is what all of us should do first. Then use fecals to check how effective you are. Only then should you use chemicals. 795529
I love to uncomplexicate things.
Geoff Tucker, DVM is the author of The Ten Irrefutable Laws of Horsemanship, has an equine practice limited to traditional equine dentistry, and offers the online school of equine dentistry. Find him at TheEquinePractice.com
by Geoff Tucker, DVM
Every once in a while, a new word needs to be made. This one is a verb. Complexicate, as in "I will complexicate this." You can do all the grammar things we learned a long time ago to this word. For instance, "He is complexicating things."
Now that we have the syntax understood, let's take a look at the usage. For this example, let’s discuss deworming our horses. It started for me in 1974 when our esteemed veterinarian entered the barn with foil packets in his hand and announced, "We now have medicine to combat parasites!" Huh?? What’s a parasite? Did we have a problem that needed combating?
And so, horsemen became indoctrinated into the art of combating parasites. From powders and liquids we gave with stomach tubes, to pastes, injectables, back to pastes, then pellets we went to every six weeks alternate chemicals, use one chemical for a year, go continuously. No, four times a year. Now you understand the word complexicate. But, scientists didn't stop there.
Today, the Gods of the Parasite Wars dictate to not use chemicals Instead, look for parasites in horse poop. In other words, stop preventing through chemicals and wait until there is a problem. Let's follow the logic.
Once parasites have invaded the horse, set up shop in the gut wall, migrated and encysted, returned to the inside of the intestines, become adults, laid eggs, and passed out into a pile of poop, that’s when you should squirt a tube of something into your horse, have half of it fly out of the mouth and end up on the stall wall, and become confident that you have done the right thing for your horse?
To uncomplexicate this deworming debacle, ask how you deworm yourself or your kids. I recently saw a package of Strongid (for human use) on the shelf of my local Walgreens pharmacy. If ivermectin is approved for use in humans, why don't we deworm ourselves? Because we don't eat where we defecate. Not very complicated. Knives and forks are good parasite controls, not just good manners. Washing your hands helps, too.
If you clean up the manure where your horses eat, then parasite problems go away. As long as you have stalls and fences, your horse lives in an unnatural environment. If you don't want to use chemicals and your horses are confined to a dense area, then use a pitchfork and wheelbarrow, and clean your pasture at least every other day. Clean stalls daily. Keep hay away from manure. Break the parasite cycle. This is what all of us should do first. Then use fecals to check how effective you are. Only then should you use chemicals. 795529
I love to uncomplexicate things.
Geoff Tucker, DVM is the author of The Ten Irrefutable Laws of Horsemanship, has an equine practice limited to traditional equine dentistry, and offers the online school of equine dentistry. Find him at TheEquinePractice.com