Barbers Pole Worm
Koda's Barbers Pole worm
Our first experience with Barbers Pole worm was with Koda, one of our favourite, poddy Elliottdales, being diagnosed with a nasty case of Barbers Pole worm.
Koda had not been his usual self for a couple of weeks but we couldn’t work out what was going on. Initially we thought he was being bullied by his paddock mate, Mr Banks, a young Elliottdale ram, of the same age, so we separated them. This didn’t seem to do much and Koda was still a little quiet. The following day, he went off his food, which was very unusual for Koda as he loves his tucker. The next afternoon he was lethargic and listless, his temperature was normal, but his eyes were dull, and his gums and eye membranes were pale, indicating possible anaemia. So, we called the Vet.
Dr Jim came out early Friday afternoon and checked Koda out. His temperature was still within the normal parameters, but he was indeed anaemic. Jim tried to get him to walk, but a couple of steps was all he could manage. I thought he looked as if he had a headache as he kept leaning his head against the wall, and after watching him for a while Jim agreed.
Jim diagnosed a worm infestation and decided, due to the anaemia, it was probably Barbers Pole worm. I had read a lot about this and had seen a lot on sheep pages about how distressing this parasite can be along with its high mortality rate, but we had never had a case on our farm. I didn’t expect this, as there was no Bottle Jaw, but apparently that is not unusual.
Barbers Pole worm adults attach themselves to the abomasal (stomach) wall and suck the blood of their hosts, thus causing the anaemia and extreme weakness. The worms need to be eradicated and supportive treatment needs to be administered. Dr Jim treated Koda with Dectomax, to kill the worms, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory for the head pain, an antibiotic as his temperature was at the high end of normal and a Vitamin B Complex to help with the anaemia. He also took a faecal sample back to the Clinic to check it for worms. In the meantime, we had to try and get Koda back onto some food.
The faecal sample turned out to be positive for worm eggs and lots of them. They were very tiny, so Jim could only guess from the symptoms, Barbers Pole was the culprit. This didn’t really matter as the treatment would kill whatever species of worm they were. Fortunately, Koda was still drinking, so we swapped his water over to Lectade, which is an oral hydration therapy of Glucose and minerals and offered him anything we could think of to get him eating. The only thing that would tempt him were Rose leaves and the flowers. He didn’t seem to like lowering his head to eat, possibly due to his headache, so we fed him by hand for a couple of days. Each day we tried him with his usual grain feed and hay and each day he refused. All he would take was the Lectade. He spent most of his time sitting down, but at least his eyes were brighter.
By day three and the final dose of painkiller, he seemed happier to put his head down and enjoyed a lovely mix of roadside grass we picked for him. For the first time he put his head in the bucket to eat. By afternoon he ate some Lucerne hay and a small amount of chaff and grain. I think he was finally on the road to recovery.
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Day five and he was almost back to his normal self, eating his usual grain mix and hay, grazing with his flock mates and for the first time heavily into the loose lick mineral mix. It will take a little while to get some weight back on him, as under that fleece he is very light. We are much relieved and grateful for our Vet’s knowledge, and on Dr Jim’s advice we drenched the rest of the flock as we suspect we may have not had enough hot days (generally three weeks is needed) to kill the worms at ground level, so our usual Summer drench routine has been thwarted by the strange weather we have been experiencing. So far, Koda has been the only one affected, and hopefully none of the other sheep will be. If they are, we will know exactly the treatment they need.
Symptoms of Barbers Pole worm
Symptoms
* the symptoms we saw.
Lethargy *
Dehydration *
Rough coat *
Incoordination *
Anaemia – pale mucous membranes of eyes and gums *
Bottle Jaw – possible but not seen
Diarrhea – possible but not seen
We also saw headache and not eating *
Treatment
If you need to treat a severe case of Barbers Pole worm. I can certainly attest the following treatment worked for us, but your Vet will be needed for the dosage:
Worm treatment that kills Barbers Pole worm – Dectomax was Jim’s chosen treatment, as a long-acting alternative to our usual treatment of Q drench
Painkiller – in this case Finadyne
Vitamin B Complex
Alamycin
Follow up with offerings of preferred feed, Lectade, loose lick Minerals. If the patient appears to have a headache, lift the food so he/she does not have to reach to the ground.
