EFFECTS OF THE DAILY FEEDING OF PYRANTEL TARTRATE ON ANOPLOCEPHALA INFECTIONS IN 3 HORSES - A PILOT-STUDY

Four horses passing eggs of Anoplocephala spp. in their feces were pla ced in two separate pastures at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Un iversity of Florida in early December 1991. Three were given 2.6 mg/kg of pyrantel tartrate and the remaining horse served as the nontreated control. Fecal samples were examined by a modified Wisconsin flotatio n method (5 g feces) twice a week. After 30 days of treatment, the hor ses were euthanized and necropsied. No tapeworms were recovered from t he small intestine and cecum of the three horses given pyrantel. The s ingle nontreated control had 12 adult Anoplocephala Perfoliata in the cecum and 1 adult A. maqna in the jejunum. Therefore, tapeworms in the pyrantel tartrate treated horses were eliminated, whereas tapeworms i n the nontreated horse persisted through the 30 day trial.