Is your straw toxic?

[Oldred]

Sounds a bit barmy but would be grateful for anyone who has experienced problems with their horse/pony like.....signs of liver damage i.e. lethargic, off feed, incoordination or worse and/or had blood tests showing raised liver enzymes (sp?) like GGT's and been unable to pinpoint cause, i.e. not ragwort poisoning.

A friend with 9 horses has narrowed down the above symptoms to possbily the barley straw she has used as bedding. There have been other instances of this happening around the world but nobody in this country seems to have any info. Two other yards have had similar problems. Our research has thrown up mycotoxins as a possible source - fusarium producing DOM toxin to be precise!

We are currently talking to labs to get the straw analysed and would be interested in any other cases. Also, we want to alert people who may have horses with these levels or problems but are being told by vets they have ragwort poisoning - which they may have of course. However, if it is another problem e.g. contaminated straw their horses may still be exposed to the toxin without them knowing it.

 

[Weezy]

Gosh, sounds very interesting and will be interested to hear what the analysis throws up - personally no, we have no probs at all with our straw.

 

[spaniel]

This is fascinating and would explain why the whole yard is having problems rather than one horse.

I remember your initial post on this so would be interested to hear updates as and when.

 

[JGKJ]

Hi. Not sure how this will be help, if any!

My pony has showed all of these symptoms on 2 occasions. The second time he had all of the above symptoms, ie complete lack of co-ordination (wobbling all over the shop) stopped eating his hard feed, which over a course of a few weeks led to him stopping eating altogether. As he was 33 and had become extremely weak and thin (also having cushings) we knew there was no going back for him on this occasion. We had the vet run blood tests and the following levels came back as high. His Liver was comletely shutting down. The numbers in brackets are what they ares supposed to be. Kelly was PTS 4 weeks ago.

Total Protein: 77 HIGH (55-67)
ALP: 610 HIGH ( 1-320) This one has shocked me the most i think, its double what it should be.
GGT: 180 HIGH (0.1 - 64)
GLDH: 119 HIGH (< 15) Less than 15.
Bile Acids: 36.0 HIGH (< 30) Less than 30

Dont know if this is much use to you but thought i would share my experience.

 

[fairhill]

My old horse had liver problems many years ago - hers was severe, and had serum coming out of her legs!
We never found the cause for her (it definitely wasn't ragwort), but she was bedded on shavings, so couldn't have been straw. We put it down to contamination from the field, from fertiliser run off, or dumped paints further up the hill. She was the only horse affected on the yard.

It's very interesting about the toxin in the straw, and I hope your friend's horses make a full recovery.

 

[Oldred]

Thanks for replies. Some progress - it seems there has been a big problem with mycotoxins last year due to weather conditions possibly. We have an expert looking into it as well and apparently this person did a lot of investigating last year on behalf of big animal feed companies who were obviously very worried.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[Judie]

Hi, might not be related by 'Kibob' is currently, as we speak, having problems with her shetland, and the vet has told her it's liver damage, is there anything that can be done if it's the same thing, other than move off straw, if she on it that is?

 

[kibob]

Hi

Similar situation going on here - please read my post in NL I think it is now on page 4 or 5.

My pony has been stabled on and off throughout the winter _ she's a hardy type so only comes in when weather is really bad (she shares her stable with another pony and he is currently fine). she has been bedded on straw (likewise so have my other 4 horses - all are fine). There is no ragwort on my land, however, where she was kept previously had a lot of ragwort - also though alot of grass so I would be suprised if she had eaten the ragwort.

Possible she has been suffering with SOPD for a few years and it has gone unnoticed. Her breathing used to get heavy when the weather was really hot - I always put it down to her very thick coat and the fact that she tends to stay a tad overweight, despite my best efforts.

I don't know if this helps your friend but feel free to pm me any questions.

J