Grass Sickness Sadness :(

C

Cheshire Chestnut

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 October 2013
Messages
2,018
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
A good friend of mine is having her horse PTS today after being diagnosed with grass sickness this morning. Vet has done an emergency biopsy on her intestine and said it's grass sickness with next to know chance of recovery. I'm heartbroken for her and feel like she's had so many years stolen from her with her horse, who was young, fit and full of life :(

I've had horses all my life and I have luckily never experienced it first hand and therefore don't know much about it. All the online pages just state there's not that much research to support what really causes it - really? No one really knows??

Has anyone had a horse who's had it? What happened?
 
I have had two friends with horses with grass sickness at total opposite ends of the country. Sadly both were pts. They now believe it may be a toxin or bacteria in the grass but no one really knows.
 
It's prevalent in Scotland. It mainly affects young horses. There are two types, acute, which kills in hours or chronic, from which they can sometimes recover but it can take years to get them back to normal. Danger time is rain after a dry spell.

It's not picky, the Sheik Mohammed lost Dubai Millenium to it a few years back.
 
Very sorry to hear this, I lost a lovely youngster 11 years ago to acute grass sickness. If you (or your friend) are on Facebook, then head over to the Equine Grass Sickness Awareness and Equine Grass Sickness Fund pages. Everyone is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. There is a vaccine trial for the disease currently underway.
 
Thanks for your replies. Sorry to hear of your losses, it seems it's a horrible illness and one people don't know enough about sadly :(

The vaccine would be good if it can prevent so many deaths - I really had no idea just how many horses were subjected to grass sickness, the number is massive!!
 
How very sad, it was prevalent in the area of south west Scotland where I used to live. Knew of several lovely horses who succumbed to it leaving devastated owners. I hope one day they find a cure.
 
joycec said:
It's prevalent in Scotland. It mainly affects young horses. There are two types, acute, which kills in hours or chronic, from which they can sometimes recover but it can take years to get them back to normal. Danger time is rain after a dry spell.

I lost my beloved 7 year old mare to this horrible disease on Thursday, we are in Scotland (she was stabled in Midlothian) I didn't realise it is prevalent in Scotland, anyone know why?
Click to expand...
 
horsebenny said:
joycec said:
It's prevalent in Scotland. It mainly affects young horses. There are two types, acute, which kills in hours or chronic, from which they can sometimes recover but it can take years to get them back to normal. Danger time is rain after a dry spell.

I lost my beloved 7 year old mare to this horrible disease on Thursday, we are in Scotland (she was stabled in Midlothian) I didn't realise it is prevalent in Scotland, anyone know why?
Click to expand...


I think it is because of the number of times you get the right weather conditions for it, which I think is rain and warm after a dry spell. I know that in the past people have been advised not to graze field that have caused the disease on days when that happens.

I am so sorry you lost your mare to it :(
Click to expand...
 
Cheshire Chestnut said:
A good friend of mine is having her horse PTS today after being diagnosed with grass sickness this morning. Vet has done an emergency biopsy on her intestine and said it's grass sickness with next to know chance of recovery. I'm heartbroken for her and feel like she's had so many years stolen from her with her horse, who was young, fit and full of life :(

I've had horses all my life and I have luckily never experienced it first hand and therefore don't know much about it. All the online pages just state there's not that much research to support what really causes it - really? No one really knows??

Has anyone had a horse who's had it? What happened?
Click to expand...

I am so sorry for your friend's loss.

There has been over a 100 years of research-its multifactorial and therefore extremely difficult to research. If you look on the EGSF website, there are links to various projects and papers. There is a vaccine trial running currently that will be so important as to how research continues.
 
It always greatly saddens me when i hear about grass sickness and atypical myopathy. I am so sorry for your friends loss x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top