Grass Sickness

[Emma_]

Hi i am currently completing a course in Equine behaviour and training and want to know more about grass sickness.
Such as signs, causes, treatments and prevention.
If anyone can help
thanks

 

[forever broke]

Glad to hear you're trying to find out about grass sickness, it should be more well known in my opinion. I'd never heard of it until my lad got it, and we spent a week wondering what it was before a second vet realised.
This is the best website for information:
http://www.grasssickness.org.uk/
but briefly:
Signs - muscle trembling, patchy sweating, total loss of appetite, passing very few poo's, 'elephant on a tub' stance, rapid weight loss, droopy eyelids, in acute cases reflux of gastric fluid from nose and death within 24hrs.
Cause - unknown, but suspected link to botulinum toxin in soil.
Treatment - none. In chronic cases, intensive nursing can pull them through but it's supportive treatment, and works in very few cases.
Prevention - difficult since the cause is unknown. Try to disturb soil on pasture as little as possible, and try not to graze horses on paddocks where cases have occurred previously. Feed hay all year round to stabilise gut, avoid Ivermectin-based wormers. There's more but I can't think of them just now...

 

[Carojo2010]

Emma if you want to contact me I will help you as much as I can - I have had personal experience with GS and spent hours on the internet looking into it, sadly I lost both my horses that got it, but am more then happy to help you in any way I can. x