All my horses are ill.... VERY LONG

[KrisRose]

I hav'nt had experience with a poisonous weed in the hay, but I have hard about it. It was a small news item about hay that was in Florida which had, I believe, Allysum in it. It was from MI which is why it stuck in my mind.
Also, there was a case of a weed growing in a pasture which was reported in one of the horse mags. It was in Equus I believe and the common name of the weed is Tansy. it stuck in my mind because I had it growing in my garden at the time.
I think you should take Redkans advice and post on a horse forum.

 

[karanleaf]

Pips I certainly hope that your horses start a recovery soon

I agree that you stop feeding the new hay. I would be taking a few bales apart and inspecting them very closely... Ask the supplier if the are any Cherry trees in the area where the hay was baled. And looked to see if there are any Cherry trees in you pastures or within reach of your horses on the other side of the fence.... This also could be the cause... as leaves from the cherry tree are very toxic If it is the hay they may not have gotten a large dose gut a small dose may cause troubles... I am just shooting out posabilities here... there are soo many weeds out there also check to see if there are any sugar maples they are trouble too. Yes check any horse forum you can find there is answer out there.. I hope you find it soon. You might contact your local extension office they may be a big help. Ours here is for many things.

edited note: this may not be your case , I also looked through a few sites on toxic plants 7 effects on horses... but most due suggest to use some actvative charcoal ask for a University or local college Vet from your area

Quote from :
Ohio State University Extenision Horse Nutriton Bulletin
WILD BLACK CHERRY, CHOKE CHERRY, AND PEACH (Prunus spp.) – Many species of cherry and peach are poisonous. These species are characterized by alternate toothed leaves, white or pink flowers, and fleshy fruits (cherries or peaches). Crushed twigs and leaves yield a strong cyanide odor. Two native species of cherry are common in Ohio. Wild black cherry (P. serotina) is a large tree that is distributed widely throughout the state in woodlands, old fields, and along fence rows. Choke cherry (P. virginiana) grows as a large shrub or small tree and is scattered throughout Ohio in a variety of habitats, though it is more frequent northward. Peach (P. persica) is a small introduced tree that occasionally escapes from orchard cultivation through seed.

Seeds, twigs, bark, and leaves contain a glycoside (amygdalin) that quickly breaks down by hydrolysis (from bruising, wilting, frost damage) to form the highly toxic compound hydrocyanic (prussic) acid (or cyanide). Poisonings occur most frequently when wilted leaves are eaten, but have also been reported when leaves are consumed directly from the tree, or sprouts, or in dried hay. The amount of hydrocyanic acid formed once the plant material is ingested is affected by the type of stomach juices and the kind of feed the animal had previously consumed. Ruminant animals appear to be more susceptible to poisoning than horses.

Cyanide poisoning results in hypoxia (deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissues). The first symptoms appear within a few minutes following consumption of plant material. Affected animals exhibit excitement, incoordination, convulsions, rapid and labored breathing, bloating, and coma. Death can occur in less than an hour due to internal asphyxiation.

Here is a post I gave some one a couple of weeks ago on theEasyGarden Forum You might want to take a look she had posted good pics of the trees she had on her property . This might help. Her post was: Please ID me... Elderberry Maybe? Cherry Varieties??

I pray your horses do well soon... Karan

 

[MissPrissy]

I know absolutely nothing about raising horses so I can't help you. I am so sorry you are having these troubles.

 

[helmstead]

Have you inspected the hay for blister beedles?

 

[reallemons1]

My friend had something similar happen to her horse. She only had 1 so I don't know if it was contageous. It was an infection in the lymph glands, can't remember the name. Vets had a hard time diagnosing it. Lymphomia or something like that. Never found out what caused it. The whole leg swelled, fever, lameness. The leg (it affected the rear leg) eventually abcessed through at the hock and corenet band. The hoof seperated and was close to falling off due to swelling. The vets wern't totally sure what was going on. Treatment was antibiotics, amoxicillin and sulfa (can't remember name) until swelling and abcess was gone, about 6 weeks. Also hosing and the massaged the leg with something. It took a lot of work and dedication, but the horse made a full recovery except a small scar. Best wishes to you and your horses.

 

[horsejody]

I would contact your local extention office and ask about having your hay tested. Also, make sure you talk to whoever you bought your hay from. Others may be having the same trouble.

 

[arlee453]

horsejody anticipated my only suggestion - to call the hay seller and see if anyone else has had any issues.

I know nothing much about horses except they are big, beautiful expensive fertilizer machines, so not much help except to say that I sure hope you get some answers soon and that your guys all make a quick and complete recovery!!

 

[pips&peeps]

Thanks for all the replys. I have lived here for over 10 years and have not had any problems with poisons of any kind.

We do not have opossums here. I have one cherry tree that is not close to the horses, it's in the garden. The horses are in dry paddock type areas, no grass is growing right now.

I am going to call the State Vet that comes out and works with my chickens because he is actually a horse vet stationed at WSU. I will also contact the extension office later as it is around 6:30 am.

Update: My show horse fell or something during the night as he can hardly stand and now has injuries to the insides of his back legs. Nothing major, but something more to deal with. They all seem better this morning, but not back to normal.

We borrowed some timothy hay from our neighbor for a couple feedings. We usually don't buy timothy as we find it hard to maintain their weight on it.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I'm glad you are getting another vet's opinion. I hope they figure out what is really going on. Your story reminds me of some American Saddlebreds that were poisoned so they would not be at a major show as competition for someone else. The legs were overnight very swollen. They had been injected with posion in their legs. I really hope that is not the case as most of those horses had to be euthanized I know at one stable a horse had EPM and it had weird signs of the disease that took a long time to find the actual problem. His legs were very swollen but then if you don't have opossums that probably isn't what it is. GOOD LUCK! I hope you find the cause ASAP.

 

[patandchickens]

Oh gee, that's no good

<hug>

First, it is NOT the kind of problem you get from EPM or from cherry or maple poisoning, or in fact most toxins of whatever sort nor most diseases, so I see no reason to concern yourself about those things in general.

The three things that come to mind for me are hoary alyssum poisoning (which could be in your new load o' hay, or in the pasture), walnut (or butternut or heartnut) shavings in your bedding or parts of the plants themselves being eaten by the horses; or Potomac Horse Fever. From what you describe my first bet would be hoary alyssum poisoning from the hay. Not that it *couldn't* be something else but it is far far likelier to be one of the above.

I am not sure there is a lot you can do in really *any* of those situations other than remove any alyssum or walnut if that is the problem and treat the laminitis the way you normally would (and as aggressively as possible). Make sure the vet is really going after it as much as possible, to support the coffin bone etcetera.

Very best of luck, will think good thoughts for you,

Pat