Worming Shock
I came across this video and this guy lays out the topic of what he's calling 'worming shock' clearly and concisely.
https://youtu.be/Z2Bi3d6pmwo?si=HOwqXgUyqA8e6_7-
Herbal deworming options often tend to act to drive down parasite load without eliminating it right away, so we have often used them initially to help an animal with a heavy parasite load to prevent what this gentleman dubbed 'worming shock', but we expect a quick reduction in parasite load and/or evidence that anemia is diminishing or we alter treatment protocol to get faster results.
If the parasite that's causing grief is barber pole worm, our first tool in our arsenal is copper oxide wire particle boluses, also known as COWP boluses. There are studies that have shown 80-95% reduction in eggs on FEC (Fecal Egg Count) within 24-48 hours of administration. It turns out that barber pole worms seem to target copper deficient animals and they suck the copper out of them. This obviously feeds a downward spiral that starts with a mild copper deficiency, so high strongyles (barber pole family of parasites) loads go hand in hand with copper deficiency. In fact, years before someone decided to package COWP boluses into a 'goat size', we were using copper oxide wire particles almost exclusively to control barber pole infestations in goats using calf boluses and a trusty scale to break them down into different sizes.
Next we will turn to either Molly's Herbal formula 1 (3 days in a row), followed by Molly's Herbal formula 2 (one day a week ongoing) or essential oils two days in a row and once a week thereafter. The essential oil concoction that we put together is one drop each of oregano, clove bud, wild orange and lemongrass diluted in 2cc of olive oil per 50 pounds of goat. The essential oils have the added bonus of providing some antibiotic type properties that can be helpful in preventing 'worming shock'. Many people will include a bit of cayenne pepper in their treatment because it stops blood loss by encouraging clotting.
We've never lost an animal to worming shock and we've had our share of totally anemic animals to deal with, often because we were asked to help others or we offered to help someone who clearly needed it or we bought an animal in distress.
As people often say, prevention is the best cure.
