Symptoms of Ragwort Poisoning

HaffiesRock

HaffiesRock

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Good mooring all.

Sorry for the subject matter so early in the morning.

Please could someone tell me about ragwort poisoning? In particular the kind where a horse may have eaten a large quantity of ragwort over a short time (for example if it was pulled from the field and left in a pile where the horses grazed and it ate some) How much would need to be eaten before symptoms started, hw long between consumption and symptoms and what could the symptoms be?


I'll just add that this hasn't happened to my ponies.

Thanks
 
Someone I know horses suffered from ragwort poisoning a while back. I do remember her horses suffering from lethargy and what looked like depression. If I remember correctly it affects the liver. They were treated successfully by the vet. She also gave them 'milk thistle' - a herb that supports the liver and liver function.
 
As I understood it, it is a cumulative issue, so not something that will normally present symptoms within a set period of time like most other toxins. Photosensitivity is another symptom, as well as general liver dysfunction symptoms. But then you might not have any symptoms at all if the horse hasn't had exposure to it before or since.

I would also look to why the horse ate it, even wilted horses tend to leave it as it is still incredibly bitter. Was the pile in a fatty paddock?
 
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littleshetland said:
Someone I know horses suffered from ragwort poisoning a while back. I do remember her horses suffering from lethargy and what looked like depression. If I remember correctly it affects the liver. They were treated successfully by the vet. She also gave them 'milk thistle' - a herb that supports the liver and liver function.
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This ^ but can get alot worse with no warning signs! My mare had a liver infection and there was no symptoms really other than being a bit quiet, that was until it caused a nasty impaction colic that nearly killed her .. She had to be regularly blood tested for months after to check the liver enzymes and it affected her for a long time despite it not being caused by ragwort, so it did heal eventually.
Vets said hers was a very mild case as these things go, so i wouldn't want to see a bad case :(

Personally if i knew my horse had been in contact with ragwort like that id be booking them in for a blood test and buying some milk thistle but im understandably a bit ocd on it now !
 
We dont know that it was eaten. Basically my friend pulled the ragwort over the weekend and accidentally left a pile within reach. It is a large field with grass so no reason for the horse to eat it. As far as we can see, the pile wasn't touched and was removed as soon as we realised. I ask as friends horse wasn't well last night. She appeared slightly colicky, lethargic and laid down a lot, but not rolling, belling kicking or looking at her sides. She was also off her food. The vet was called and everything explained to him. He didn't sound concerned and advised to give some bute and to watch her. Spoke to the vet a few times over the evening who said the mare was the 4th colic case he'd spoken to people about in the last 2 hours so something was going on last night. She did perk up after a couple of hours and started to eat and looked much brighter so she was watched overnight and looks better this morning, so hopefully it was just a mild bout of colic. We had a lot of rain yesterday morning so could be the cause?

The vet didn't seem to think it was anything to do with the ragwort, but I just wanted some more information, just for my own knowledge bank really for future.
 
I would say the rain might've been more the cause as if it has been dry, and the grass reasonably short then the dust/sand/dirt gets splashed up onto the grass and ingested :(
 
Sometimes the symptoms don't show for a good length of time.
The worst I have seen was when a young girls horse became ill, lost weight and no amount of feed changed that, she just kept dropping. Then she started to walk into things, her head was always low, her coat very poor.
Unfortunately the girl was feeding her high protein food, lots of grass (would fill a bucket many times a day as the horse was in as she was stumbling and half blind) I don't know when the vet was called, (I didn't know her very well at the time) but the girl kept the pony alive and thin and unhappy for quite a time before she was pts. Autopsy showed acute liver damage and it was attributed to the previous home.
The pony had been bought from a Welsh farm riddled with Ragwort a couple of years before.
I have photos of the mare during her illness and shortly before she was pts Haffies, if you want to see them let me know, I'll not put them on here as it wasn't my horse
 
Nugget La Poneh said:
I would say the rain might've been more the cause as if it has been dry, and the grass reasonably short then the dust/sand/dirt gets splashed up onto the grass and ingested :(
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We are pretty certain it was caused by the rain, but were understandably worried when we realised there was a chance the ragwort could be eaten. I have suggested she feed some milk thistle just in case and she got some advice from the vet regarding the colic, so fingers crossed that is the end of it.

It was horrible to see, so hope I never have to witness a serious colic :(
 
JavaJaneW said:
Sometimes the symptoms don't show for a good length of time.
The worst I have seen was when a young girls horse became ill, lost weight and no amount of feed changed that, she just kept dropping. Then she started to walk into things, her head was always low, her coat very poor.
Unfortunately the girl was feeding her high protein food, lots of grass (would fill a bucket many times a day as the horse was in as she was stumbling and half blind) I don't know when the vet was called, (I didn't know her very well at the time) but the girl kept the pony alive and thin and unhappy for quite a time before she was pts. Autopsy showed acute liver damage and it was attributed to the previous home.
The pony had been bought from a Welsh farm riddled with Ragwort a couple of years before.
I have photos of the mare during her illness and shortly before she was pts Haffies, if you want to see them let me know, I'll not put them on here as it wasn't my horse
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Yes please, I would like to see the pictures. Can you PM them? if not i'll PM you my email.

All horse owners know the dangers and do everything in their power to eliminate the vile stuff, and although I know Ragwort damages the liver over time, I don't really know enough about the symptoms, so I'll be reading up on it today.

Thank you all.
 
RW poisoning can take two forms - one where a horse eats large quantities over a short period (dried RW becomes more palatable so burning it is the best idea) or the other where there is a slow drip feed issue where the horse is eating small amounts over a long period of time. The effect is the same - it destroys parts of the liver (which due to the type of posioning cant generally regenerate). Typical symptoms are lethargy, off food, photosensitivity (can look a bit like mud fever). If you are concerend this may have caused the horse in questions symptoms you should blood test to check liver enzyme levels - if these are raisd (and you get results within 24 hours), you can treat with milk thistle, hepatosyl and ensure you are not taxing the liver with food supplements etc or meds (bute for example makes the liver work harder). There is a lot of literature out there and you should always remeber that horses have differing thresholds. Im sure i read somehwre that acute cases (lots eaten in a short period of time) were more treatable but its worth reading up.
 
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