New dewormer becomes available for cattle producers

Cattle producers are gaining a novel defense tool in the fight against parasites. Valcor, a new beef and dairy cattle dewormer from Zoetis, is now available for purchase with a prescription by a veterinarian. Valcor is a dual-action injectable with the antiparasitic agents doramectin and levamisole. 

Treatment, Control 

Valcor can treat and control, in beef cattle at two months or older, 35 internal and external parasites, including gastrointestinal roundworms, nematodes, lungworms, grubs, and mites. For dairy cattle, producers can use the dewormer with replacement heifers less than 20 months of age, says Mark Alley, senior technical services veterinarian for Zoetis.

The two active ingredients cause parasite paralysis and death. Doramectin channels into the nervous system of nematodes, killing the activity of its nerve cells, while levamisole paralyzes worms.

Alley says the dewormer is also best used when administered as a subcutaneous injection in the neck at a dosage rate of 1 milliliter per 55 pounds of body weight.

Valcor comes in 100 and 250-milliliter bottles. It is also available in 500 milliliters in a case of six bottles. As for cost, it would be comparable to competitive dewormers, which range depending on size from $75 to $100 a bottle, he says.  

In a company study with more than 1,500 head of about 520-pound heifers sourced from the southeast United States, the dewormer had a 99% efficacy based on fecal egg reduction counts compared with a group treated with Ivermectin via the dewormer Noromectin, which had an 85% efficacy. The research also showed a production gain of 9.3 pounds over 56 days. 

“We had over 291 eggs per gram for the Valcor treated group and over 250 in the Noromectin treated group on arrival. Around 14 days later, we wanted to see how well the product worked, and we were very happy to see we got a 99.9% reduction with the Valcor treated group compared with the 95% reduction in our Noromectin treated group,” says Alley. 

Why Valcor? 

According to Alley, in 2022, about 286 million doses of parasiticides were sold in the U.S. — that dose in this calculation was based on a 500-pound animal. Still, none of the more than 39 million U.S. beef and dairy cattle were given an injectable imidazothiazole. 

Alley says that using levamisole from the imidazothiazole class of dewormers in Valcor makes the product stand out from the competition, which uses other antiparasitic agents. 

“This gives us a great opportunity to be able to incorporate this class of dewormer and, hopefully, be able to get much better control than we historically have gotten with some of the other dewormers that we have available to us,” he says. 

Fighting Parasite Resistance 

For most producers, parasite resistance to dewormers is another challenge to controlling and treating cattle herds for parasites. In 2012, a group of parasitologists and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified different practices that cause resistance, such as treating too often, treating the whole herd, and under-dosing. 

“Things that are becoming very important for decreasing the chance of the dewormer resistance are making sure we select the right dewormer, and there are some susceptible worms on the pasture, especially in the terms of refugia. So, selecting your parasiticide family becomes everything,” says Alley. 

Safety Tips 

Producers are advised not to treat cattle with Valcor within 15 days of slaughter. It is also not for use in breeding bulls, female dairy cattle 20 months of age or older, including dry dairy cows; not for use in beef calves less than two months of age, dairy calves, and veal calves. For more information: http://zoetisus.com/valcor-pi