Inverell Veterinary Clinic routinely performs in-house faecal egg counts (FEC) on small and large animal species and offers professional advice on treatment protocols and management strategies to combat internal parasites.
What is a FEC?
Faecal egg count is an estimation of the number of eggs/gram of faeces in a representative sample from the animal/herd/flock at the time of sampling.
Why do a FEC?
- Diagnosing worms by clinical signs alone can be inaccurate and can cost $$ in lost body condition and can save $$ if drenching is not required.
- Monitoring worm production can enable better management of livestock classes.
- Early intervention can reduce treatment costs.
- Regular FEC assessment can help prevent the onset of drench resistance developing.
- We recommend a 2nd FEC 14 days after a drench application to ensure the treatment has been successful.
It is very important to identify a parasite burden by FEC to allow effective advice tailored to your individual situation. Monitoring the worm egg type and number (FEC) in large animal species in each clinical situation may vary the treatment approach.
What do FEC Results indicate?
The eggs within the faeces are identified, counted and than used by the staff at Inverell Veterinary Clinic to develop a targeted treatment protocol for your property. In some circumstances we may recommend further testing such as worm larval culture to identify specific species (some worms (e.g. strongyle spp) have the same egg type).
To supply a faecal sample either print the submission form available to bring in to the clinic with the freshly collected faeces or pick up a free faecal egg count kit from the clinic.