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Poisonous Plants….More to stay away from

Poisonous Plants….More to stay away from

Sep 24, 2011 | Ailments, Pests, Uncategorized

I got started on poisonous plants last week and couldn’t get the doctors to stop so this week I am going to cover a few more, concentrating more on weeds than decorative plants.  A couple of items I learned from the docs this week:  most poisonous weeds like fence lines because they don’t get mowed there, low soil pH can promote weed growth and most horses will only eat poisonous plants if there is nothing else available or it is baled in to hay.

Deadly Nightshade

This is a very common plant seen on fence lines.  A very small amount of nightshade can be deadly!  Nightshade acts on a very specific portion of the nervous system leading to colic-like symptoms, dilated pupils, disorientation and loss of muscle control.  Keeping fence lines sprayed with herbicides on a regular basis or manual removal are the only ways to control this weed.  Don’t forget to check pastures occasionally, especially around trees, for additional plants.  Treatment is a drug called physostigmine or pilocarpine.

Bracken Fern

These ferns are commonly seen in wooded areas.  The most common way horses eat these ferns is if they are turned out in damp wood areas with limited roughage.  Symptoms are usually slow to present with the most common sign being weight loss.  Other symptoms include a decreased appetite, in-coordination and a characteristic wide leg, arched back stance.  The toxic portion of bracken fern causes a Vitamin B1 deficiency.  Treatment with Vitamin B1 is very effective if signs are caught early.

Lantana

Many plants we use to attract butterflies are also poisonous to our horses.  Lantana is one of these.  Just like many other poisonous plants, horses will avoid them if given enough roughage.  Here at the office we keep our butterfly attracting plants outside the fence or away from horse areas to minimize risk of ingestion.  Lantana will grow wild in fields and along driveways and fence lines.  Horses do have to eat a large volume of lantana to cause toxicity.  Symptoms of large volume ingestion begin with photosensitization (sunburn on white markings), decrease appetite followed by yellowing of the skin and colic symptoms.  If horses eat small amounts over prolonged periods symptoms may begin with a bloody diarrhea, listlessness, colic symptoms and sores on the gums and tongue.  Treatment is only supportive, such as fluids, and often unsuccessful.

Milkweed

Milkweed is another common butterfly garden plant.  Unlike lantana, milkweed usually doesn’t grow well as a wild plant.  However, it can escape from gardens to grow in protected areas such as against barn walls, pump houses or the like.  Also unlike lantana, very small quantities can cause toxic signs with 1 pound capable of causing severe symptoms in a 1000 pound horse.  Symptoms include profuse salivation, colic symptoms and seizures.  Treatment can only be started within a few hours after eating and is often unsuccessful.  Prevention is the best treatment for milkweed.  Milkweed is also very poisonous to other pets like dogs and cats so be very careful with this plant!!

Many horses are naturally curious.  Unfortunately much like your 2 year old child, they explore with their mouths!!  Frequently walking your pastures on the lookout for poisonous plants is key to control.  Look for a seminar on poisonous plants in 2012 from Springhill Equine.  It will be held at the office so even us office cats can learn all about what plants to avoid.

Thanks for visiting my counter!  May your litterbox be clean and your food bowl full.  Tony

 

Tony’s Don’ts

Tony’s Don’ts

Sep 10, 2011 | Ailments, Feed, Leg issues, Pests

Tony here. I heard a lot of talk around the office about veterinary don’ts this Labor Day weekend. Recently I’ve thought of topics that I would like to add to your list of Veterinary Don’ts.

While the logic may sound a bit backwards, don’t give antibiotics to your horse if you suspect he has a foot abscess.

An abscess in the foot requires coaxing. Although it makes sense to treat infection with antibiotics, it really just needs a way out.  Soaking the foot with salts, and drawing salves like ichthammol, that bring in moisture (water follows salt) softens the hoof horn, so the abscess can break through. Your farrier or the vets “digs” with the hoof knife around the sole of the foot where the horse is painful and/or the surface is irregular to give the infected tract an exit. If your horse has to be on antibiotics for more severe complications or another medical condition, that is a matter to discuss with the doctors.  Antibiotics simply slow the maturation of the abscess, delaying healing.

On that matter… be careful not to overuse antibiotics in general.  Antibiotic resistance, as seen with the emergence of MRSA, is an ever-pressing issue in medical treatment.  It is important to avoid unnecessary antibiotic use, while treating your horse appropriately for their condition.  I am no microbiologist (I prefer rodent-ologist), but I can tell you that the art of what the bug is and what antibiotic kills (or doesn’t kill) it is a complicated process. If the docs prescribe you antibiotics, keep using them until the prescription is gone (which should be after the symptoms resolve completely). If you’ve run out of your prescription, and you don’t think the infection is completely resolved, let us know. We always recommend a culture if we suspect a serious infection –this will give us a sensitivity profile of the microbe to a variety of antibiotics, telling us what will work.  We will start treating with an effective antibiotic as soon as possible. In the meantime, help us have a bacterial population with sensitivity to the things we have that kill them.  Don’t change antibiotics, or repeatedly start and stop unless necessary. And  don’t keep giving your antibiotics if your horse develops diarrhea or colicky signs, call Dr. King or Dr. Lacher instead.

We animals can be pretty good at sensing what is and isn’t good for us, but sometimes we just can’t resist eating what will make us really, really sick (like those silly dogs and their chocolate).  Horses have the added pressure of sensing their environment with trimmed sensory whiskers.

As a result, don’t forget to check your alfalfa thoroughly for blister beetles.

Blister beetles can result in a painful death for your horse. They live in hay.  Blister beetles can be toxic dead or alive. There are 2500+ species of blister beetle worldwide, but it is the three-stripe blister beetle shown below that can be toxic to a horse with ingestion of only a dozen insects. A defensive chemical called cantharadin results in blisters when the insect is crushed against the skin, hence the name. The beetles cause severe intestinal wall inflammation, and can result in kidney failure and death in about 72 hours.  Poisonings occur in horses, sheep and cattle. Double check through each flake of hay to make sure there aren’t any beetles. Hay qualities that are considered more risky for infestation with blister beetles include later cuttings, southern sources, and the presence of more blooms or weeds. Buy first cut hay to avoid infestation.

If your horse ingests a toxic level of blister beetles, he will begin to show signs of colic, straining to urinate, and frequent progressing to no urination. Call immediately if you discover your horse has ingested these buggers.

Thanks for visiting my counter, may your litterbox be clean and food bowl full!