liver fluke pour-on medication

[Louisa Gidney]

In view of the wet weather, I thought it might be a good idea to dose the cattle while they are housed. Duly went to local animal health store, explained I really don't like injecting cattle, what could they recommend. A pour-on seemed the ideal treatment. Fortunately I read the small print, before parting with cash, which stated the product should not be used on cows for 60 days prior to calving. Since first calves are due at the end of the month, I decided to postpone the job. The salesman was unaware of this clause and I hate to think what might have happened if I hadn't read the small print. So just a word of warning for anyone else thinking on these lines.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Cydectin triclamox pouron does fluke and worms, has withdrawal of 143 days for meat, not to be used in cattle producing milk for human consumption, but is safe in pregnant and lactating cows.

Closamectin pour on has only 28 day meat withdrawal, and the restriction on use in cows likewise only applies t dairy cows, safe at any stage of pregnancy for beef cattle.

These two have different ingredients for fluke, and advice should be sought from your vet on how to use these products to avoid developing resistance.

Duncan

[Rob R]

I think Closamectin was the one Louisa was looking at - the 60 days condition is for dairy cattle with milk going into the human food chain, so it's OK for sucklers. We drenched the entire herd at housing after coming off the Ings. It's been a very bad year for fluke & lungworm down here, on the back of 2012. We normally don't treat at all but I've done it twice in the breeding stock this year, once for followers with ivermectin & albendazole respectively. We thought they'd be bad for fluke last year (2012), after such a wet summer but they were clear & were just lacking in some minerals, as the forage was so rubbish. I think it had a knock on effect, dragging their immune systems down along with the late, cold Spring.

[Louisa Gidney]

But, after calving, I want to take some milk for cheesemaking. I've been practising my dormant skills on shop milk ready for the real stuff. I've joined a Folk Dance group and we're getting very competitive about what we contribute to the pooled supper. We've got beekeepers, allotment holders, homebakers but no-one else with cows, so I can corner the cheese contributions.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

So do we assume that the members of the folk dancing group are human?

Seriously though, Fasinex 240 was for a while the only product licenced for use in dairy cows, but now Zanil (containing oxyclozanide) and Albendazole are also licenced, but all are oral drenches. At least if they are housed they will be easier caught - you certainly could not use a pouron outdoors on Bute today!

[Kate]

We have a problem with liver fluke (two types in France) and also paraphistome in our location in France - at housing we take dung samples from all our groups of animals and get the vet to test for all the different parasite types this costs ( £10 per sample).

This year we have a heavy Paraphistome and lungworm burden - we have wormed everyone with Imena L which treats for fluke (adult and immature) and paraphistome (adult only)( Oxyclozanide ) as well as having levamisole in,so treating lungworm and other gut worms! This is an oral drench - hard work in our charolais herd but easier in the dexters . Then several weeks after we have unfortunately had to worm again as the young paraphistome had developed into adults (this time using Zanil (adult liver fluke only) - just for fluke and paraphistome (oral drench again)

Very interesting to note that the Charolais and limousin animals had a much heavier worm burden - and were showing signs of coughing and weigh loss - The dexters had a very low worm burden, even though they had been grazing much wetter and poorer land and still looked fine !!!!!!!!!!!

Not that this helps with the initial question asked but thought maybe of interest !!!

Kate Pude
03 Allier
France

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Hello Kate,

I am a wee bit confused by your post - oxyclozanide is the active ingredient of Zanil, but you seem to be saying different things about them - or am I reading it wrong?

Duncan

(pedantic nuisance)

[Kate]

Your never a nuisance Duncan - I love reading your posts - I think I have confused everyone - all I was saying is Imena L (don't think you can get this is UK ) is Oxyclozanide and levamisole and Zanil is just
Oxyclozanide but both ONLY treat adult fluke and adult paraphistome - so we have had to treat twice (this year as so wet and warm) so that the immature larve at the first treatment have developed into adults to be eradicated for the second treatment !!!

Hope this makes sense
kate

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Thanks Kate,

we have Combinex in UK (remember that place?) with triclabendazole and levamisole, and it always annoys me that they have combined the very best flukicide with one of the most useless compounds for treating immature worms in the autumn. At last with Cydectin Tricalmox we have the best of both worlds, but just appears on the market as they start to scare us about resistance in fluke to tricalabendazole.

Duncan

PS the only serious argument I ever had with Bernard Stamp was "is Bonsai long or short?" I think Bernard was right!