Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim is a global, research-driven pharmaceutical company embracing many cultures and
diverse societies.

Our Company

Innovative medicines for people and animals have for more than 130 years been what the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim stands for. Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies and to this day remains family-owned. Day by day, some 50,000 employees create value through innovation for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing. In 2016, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of around 15.9 billion euros. With more than three billion euros, R&D expenditure corresponds to 19.6 per cent of net sales.

Social responsibility comes naturally to Boehringer Ingelheim. That is why the company is involved in social projects such as the “Making More Health” initiative. Boehringer Ingelheim also actively promotes workforce diversity and benefits from its employees’ different experiences and skills. Furthermore, the focus is on environmental protection and sustainability in everything the company does.

More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found on www.boehringer-ingelheim.com

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health in the UK

We were founded in the 1950s, and established a UK presence in 1980, initially focusing on equine respiratory disease. Since that time, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has expanded to one of the largest veterinary pharmaceutical companies in the UK, and is also one of the fastest growing.

Ranking among the top 10 animal companies in the world, innovation is and will always be at the heart of all our activities.

Through the discovery of new pharmaceutical solutions, molecules or vaccines we can offer added value to the veterinary surgeon and animal owners.

In the UK, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health promotes a wide range of both therapeutic and preventative products, dealing with both companion animals (dogs, cats, and horses) and farm animals.

The following information is intended for UK residents only.

• Please contact us at [email protected] for all enquiries regarding veterinary information in the UK.
• Please visit NOAH(link is external) (National Office of Animal Health) or the NOAH Compendium(link is external) to access veterinary medicines datasheet information.
• More information about our prescription only products is available to veterinary surgeons via the links below.
• Also available is further information on our Natural Care Range of non-prescription products for veterinary surgeons, owners and keepers.

Companion

Canikur Pro(link is external)
Metacam(link is external)
Pexion(link is external)
Semintra(link is external)
Seraquin(link is external)
Vetmedin(link is external)

Equine

Equitop Myoplast(link is external)

Farm

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea(link is external)
Mastitis(link is external)
Milk Fever(link is external)
Swine Vaccines(link is external)

Other Natural Care Range Products in Our Portfolio

Dermocanis

Dermocanis Shampoo is unique cleansing shampoo containing Borage Oil, a naturally occurring highly refined source of essential fatty acids (EFAs). EFAs are known to be vital for the maintenance of optimal canine health, demonstrated in a superb coat and skin. In particular, Dermocanis' high Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) content has proven benefits for skin quality.

Diakur

Diakur® Plus is a palatable, easy-to-use nutritional supplement that provides a source of energy and electrolytes for young animals.

It is especially beneficial for calves under stress due to changes in feed or environment

Viacutan

Essential fatty acids are nutrients which cannot be made in the body and have to be provided in the diet; they are essential for the formation of new cells and to keep the skin in good condition.

Viacutan uses the Borage oil GLA (gamma linolenic acid) essential fatty acid and is a balanced combination of plant and fish oils. This provides a very high level of biologically active GLA and is used as a dietary supplement to help skin conditions in dogs and cats.

 

[News]

Planning safe grazing key to beating parasites at grass

SHEEP


With lambing well underway and many sheep turned out, farmers without worm control plans in place for this season’s grazing should act now, according to Nicky Bowden, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Animal Health Ruminant Veterinary Adviser.


Attention should shift to controlling parasite burdens in ewes to minimise pasture contamination with worm eggs. The NADIS Parasite Forecast1 for April suggests that farmers implement forward planning measures, including using safe grazing for lambs, which should reduce the risk of future infection by gastrointestinal worms, including Nematodirus, that can limit growth.


Pasture management is a key part of parasite control, stresses Ms Bowden. She says: “Identify areas of potential safe grazing. For example, land grazed only by cattle last year, re-seeded pasture, or silage aftermath, which will become available later in the season.


“Where safe grazing is limited, it should be reserved for ewes with twin lambs. Ewes with singles can be turned out onto contaminated pasture and monitored for signs of disease”


Strategic worm treatments for ewes and lambs should be based on farm parasite history and regional parasite forecasts.


Ms. Bowden continues: “Effective parasite control in spring aims to minimise future pasture contamination with worm eggs passed by adult ewes, known as the peri-parturient rise. This reduces the likelihood of lambs becoming infected when they later graze the same pasture, which can lead to worm scour in the summer.


However, the need for parasite control should be balanced against the need to preserve wormer efficacy in the face of increasing anthelmintic resistance.


The emergence of anthelmintic resistance (AR) means that farmers’ choice of current treatment options should be a compromise between reducing pasture contamination and avoiding high selection pressure for AR.


Ms. Bowden adds that: “The continued effectiveness of dosing ewes at lambing time may influence the choice of wormer, and when and how frequently to treat ewes during, or after lambing.”



SCOPS2 currently recommends two options when treating ewes:


1. When using long-acting formulations, particularly with moxidectin, treat early in the post-lambing phase before immunity is fully restored

2. Leave a proportion of the ewes untreated


Ms Bowden states: “There are no hard and fast guidelines on how many ewes to leave untreated, but leaving around 10% untreated may be sufficient to delay selection for AR strains. This is most effectively achieved by targeting treatment to gimmers, young ewes, ewes nursing twins or triplets, and ewes in poor body condition”.


From April to June, severe nematodirosis can break out suddenly in lambs aged 6-12 weeks, especially after a cold late spring. Changes in temperature can trigger a mass synchronised hatch leading to severe production losses and even death in lambs grazing contaminated pastures. The NADIS1 and SCOPS2 websites provide regular regional updates on nematodirus hatch.


Safe grazing precautions can prevent nematodirosis outbreaks. Where this is not possible and local conditions are such that an early hatch occurs, then a prophylactic drench with a Group 1 white wormer may be considered.


In spring, nematodirosis outbreaks may have to be differentiated from coccidiosis, which may occur in grazing stock. Stress is a major factor in triggering coccidiosis outbreaks, and is characterised by loss of weight or condition, diarrhoea (with or without blood), and death in severe cases.


NADIS1 recorded a high-risk of liver fluke disease in North, West and Central Scotland, West Wales, and parts of Cornwall; with a ‘medium-risk’ in Eastern Scotland, and areas of North and South West England.


Sheep on farms with a known fluke population, or in a high-risk area, should have already been dosed in the autumn or early winter but chronic liver fluke may still be encountered in sheep flocks in spring and animals may need to be dosed again.


Ms. Bowden recommends: “Using an alternative to triclabendazole at this time of year may be appropriate where the majority of fluke are late-juvenile or adult. A flukicide containing nitroxynil such as TRODAX® is effective against the stages of fluke responsible for chronic disease and preserves the use of triclabendazole for treating young, immature fluke, which causes the more serious acute fluke disease.


CATTLE


For cattle farmers, this spring brings a range of challenges.


Farmers need to choose between a strategic or targeted parasite control plan for first year grazing cattle. A strategic plan entails grazing management, or early season strategic treatments, whereas a targeted approach requires regular monitoring and treatment interventions only where needed.


Housed yearling cattle not dosed in the autumn may be at risk from type II ostertagiosis towards the end of the housing period. The disease presents as intermittent diarrhoea with loss of appetite and rapid loss of body weight. Ms. Bowden warns: “Mortality in affected cattle can be high unless animals are treated promptly with a wormer effective against both inhibited and developing larval stages of the gutworm parasite, Ostertagia ostertagi, such as IVOMEC® Classic injection or Pour On, or EPRINEX® Pour On”


Prevention of parasitic gastroenteritis (PGE) in growing cattle is best achieved sustainably by annual rotational grazing (cattle/sheep/crop). On farms where this is not achievable it is recommended that before using pastures, famers assess the parasite risk and when aftermaths will become available. When making these decisions COWS3 recommends that each farm considers four points:


1. Production objectives for the type(s) of cattle present

2. Farm infrastructure, particularly in relation to pastures, grazing management and handling facilities

3. The presence of helminth parasites, such as lungworm and liver fluke

4. The efficacy of available wormers


Ms Bowden says: “To be effective, strategic anthelmintic treatments need to begin early in the grazing season, at or around turnout, to ensure worm eggs do not add to pasture contamination. Thereafter, aim to minimise pasture contamination up to mid-July, by which time the over-wintered population should have declined to insignificant levels. Treated cattle should remain set-stocked, or be moved to safe pastures when these become available.”


For a targeted approach farmers should ensure that effective, regular monitoring and diagnostic procedures are in place to act promptly if required.


Farmers are encouraged to start planning lungworm prevention strategies with their animal health advisor now, particularly on farms with a previous history of lungworm.


Lungworm disease typically occurs in grazing cattle from July onwards. On farms where the disease is endemic, vaccination should be considered as an integral part of the overall worm control strategy. Otherwise, worm control strategies should balance the need for exposure to the parasite to build immunity with prevention of disease. Farmers should discuss this with their vet or animal health advise.