LIVER PROBLEMS

[Jade Raleigh]

Hello everyone…

Back in September my boy ( 6yr old cob ) came in from the field with Diarrhea, he was very unwell for a few days. Bloods were done and he had raised GGT and GLDH levels and he was slightly anemic. We put him on restore ( Global herbs liver tonic ). He was put on an antibiotic. Next blood showed a slight improvement in the GGT but the GLDH went back to normal.

His last two bloods have been showing a slight increase in his GGT and GLDH ( still slightly anemic). He is still on the tonic. We have checked his paddock a number of times and we can’t find anything unusual. He is in good form.

We moved to this yard in January, he also developed mild copd, the other ponies are the same. He was put on meadow grass haylage in July. We are going to take a blood on the other ponies, and treat for liver fluke.

Does anyone else have any sort of experience with this sort of thing because we can’t find the cause !!

 

[nagblagger]

Hi, have sheep ever grazed in fields? I had a donkey who was extremely ill, liver readings off the scale...my vet contacted the donkey sanctuary for advice and they asked that question. I am not an expert but I gather it can lie dormant In the ground. He needed treatment for the liver fluke for 2 summers as he relapsed, but now 10yrs later still going strong.The treatment was unlicenced for equines at that time (sheep treatment) but it worked.

 

[Jade Raleigh]

Hi, have sheep ever grazed in fields? I had a donkey who was extremely ill, liver readings off the scale...my vet contacted the donkey sanctuary for advice and they asked that question. I am not an expert but I gather it can lie dormant In the ground. He needed treatment for the liver fluke for 2 summers as he relapsed, but now 10yrs later still going strong.The treatment was unlicenced for equines at that time (sheep treatment) but it worked.

There was cattle on the field about a month before this happened!

 

[PurBee]

The liver fluke snail that is part of the liver fluke life cycle, prefers really quite wet soils/mud, climatic conditions. Flukes are certainly more of a risk in boggy fields, low fields near ponds/river….marshy type lands, that often have sitting water/ or water-logged often.

If the land is dry, well drained its far less likely for the field to support the full life cycle of flukes, but as poster above said - if sheep are brought in off wetter lands, grazed on drier land and pooping eggs of flukes, then rotated grazing to go off again on wetter lands…thats a way fluke eggs are moved from their normal preferred habitat, and subsequent grazers are at risk for ingesting eggs.

Flukes often are dismissed in horses, but they have been known to infect horses, so its worth treating for that. Flukes love to grow in the ducts of the liver, and there’s a common risk of them blocking the ducts, so we would see liver symptoms, with unusual bloods as you describe.

If all ponies are affected its evidently something to do with the grazing land. The common equine toxic field plants lists are worth embedding the images in your mind, as they all tend to cause liver stress while the body deals with the toxin.

Some more common plants people overlook are ‘horsetail’ , and ‘ferns’ - these prefer to grow at the edge of fields where its damp and shadier, or all over a wetter, shady field.
Hedgerows can often contain some creeping vine type plants which are toxic to horses. If you want to add pics of the field/plants/hedgerows we can help i.d plants.

Was the grass long and overgrown when you moved there or short, tight grazed? In old long grasses there many moulds and funguses that can cause liver issues if eaten over many weeks.

I’d also give the ponies protexin gut balancer to aid the bodies natural defences to pathogens via the gut microbiota.

Another thing to consider is lung/heart parasites…im not too sure about these types in horses but heart worm and lung worm cause coughing in dogs and cats, so potentially any lung/heart parasites could show up as copd-type symptoms in the horse. You’d have to ask your vet about medications for those specific parasites as the generic equine parasite formulas all target gut specific parasites, and possibly wont affect the other ‘organ specific’ type of parasites.

If you know the history of the land and what was grazing there before, that can help a great deal and help you join the dots. If it was over-grazed and over-stocked by animals that are not poo-picked …like cows /sheep…it could be a toxic field in terms of all kinds of bacteria from the poop and should be rested for a whole year to make it safe for grazing again. Over-stocked land is advised against due to this.

Fingers crossed for your ponies swift recovery. Are you able to move them to different land if this has been ongoing for months? I’d be tempted to pull them off the land completely if youre able…i understand thats not easily possible in certain situations.

 

[Jade Raleigh]

Thanks so much for your help!

The field is reasonably dry, Good drainage. So as far as I’m aware horses used to graze the land. Then the field was empty when we moved in at January. ( It’s a rented paddock near the yard ). There was a few cattle put on it for 1-2 months ( Around June ). Then we took it in August. The field was very overgrown when we put them on it so we strip grazed the paddock ( as the ponies are good-dooers! ). The grass underneath is brown. I don’t have pictures but I will take some when I’m back down in an hour or so. I have seen little black dots on some of the white clover underneath the long grass ?.

We do have a field but it is currently being fenced so hopefully we can get them off the yard as soon as possible.

 

[nagblagger]

I would still have suspicions on the other animals bringing it in if you had no previous issues prior to them coming. Nothing can be proved but strong coincidence..My equine vet found the donkey sanctuary vets extremely helpful giving him advice as I gather it is quite common in donkeys, so if your vet is unsure maybe advise him to give them a ring. I did treat the other equines in the same field at the same time and they were all ok, I didn't blood test them all as limited funds at the time. My landowner rotates cattle and sheep through the fields but before they arrive they are all wormed/treated for liver fluke to try and minimise the risk to his fields. He was horrified they had been contaminated and since this episode there has not been any re-occurrence, touch wood, that's over 12 years ago, (thought it was 10 but just been working it out, time flies)

 

[Burnttoast]

Consider mycotoxins as well - it's been a good year for all kinds of fungi and moulds because of the damp, particularly where there's standing hay/lots of vegetation. Black dots on clover might be symptomatic of a mould. A mycotoxin binder is easy to add into the diet and not too expensive.

 

[PurBee]

Thanks so much for your help!

The field is reasonably dry, Good drainage. So as far as I’m aware horses used to graze the land. Then the field was empty when we moved in at January. ( It’s a rented paddock near the yard ). There was a few cattle put on it for 1-2 months ( Around June ). Then we took it in August. The field was very overgrown when we put them on it so we strip grazed the paddock ( as the ponies are good-dooers! ). The grass underneath is brown. I don’t have pictures but I will take some when I’m back down in an hour or so. I have seen little black dots on some of the white clover underneath the long grass ?.

We do have a field but it is currently being fenced so hopefully we can get them off the yard as soon as possible.

The black spot clover sounds like a potential liver damage culprit. Clovers have a fungus thats really bad for horses. They can consume just some fresh growing red or white clover, but not a field full of it -and not the clover which is white/pink blush called alsike clover.
Old growth clover is a real issue as it develops these moulds/fungus, which are terrible for horses. Take a peek at this article about liver damage to horses on clover:

https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/forage/clover-causing-sunburn-and-liver-problems-in-horses.

If the field was long and overgrown when they went in there in august, there’s a potential for the grass heads to have been infected with ergot fungus, which is toxic if consumed in large amounts. Many areas of the uk reported this year of having ergot infected fields, in august/sept - where the grass head look like theyve got tiny black mouse-dropping growing out of the seed head. Did you notice that?

I personally loathe grazing old long growth fields for all the moulds, funguses and mature toxic plants that have a higher chance of lurking. It does depend on the climate of your area - as to how quickly moulds/funguses grow on the long growth. Im in a wet climate west ireland amd theres no way i can grow a field all summer for winter grazing as it’s turning blotchy black about now, november. By end of december most grass is yellow/brown.

 

[Jade Raleigh]

For some reason all the photos I’m trying to upload are too large ? But there is some black dots of the clover in the paddock, although there isn’t much clover in the field.