Understanding Forage Poisoning In Horses

Forage poisoning is a serious condition that occurs when a horse consumes vegetative matter that contains high levels of the bacteria clostridium botulinum. Eating spoiled plant matter can damage your horse's nervous system, as the bacteria release a toxin when ingested, and this toxin can damage nerve pathways. If left untreated, your horse can experience paralysis, and the condition can also be fatal, so it's important to be aware of the signs of this type of poisoning. Here's what you need to know about forage poisoning in horses:

Symptoms

It can take a couple of days after your horse ingests spoiled vegetation for them to display symptoms. This is due to clostridium botulinum requiring time to colonise your horse's digestive system and start releasing the damaging toxin. Early signs of forage poisoning include loss of appetite, difficulty swallowing, saliva coming out of your horse's nose and panting. As the condition progresses, your horse will appear weak, have trouble walking and holding their head up and may spend much of their time lying down.

Diagnosis And Treatment

Your vet will diagnose forage poisoning by taking details of your horse's symptoms and testing samples of their faeces and stomach contents for the presence of undigested contaminated vegetative matter or clostridium botulinum. When making their diagnosis, they will also take into account whether there have been other recent cases of forage poisoning in your local area.

Some veterinary clinics keep a stock of antiserum that can be used to target clostridium botulinum, but it's not always effective, particularly in the late stages of poisoning. Whether or not this antiserum is used on your horse, your vet will keep your horse's strength up by providing them with intravenous fluids and nutritional supplements and helping them to mobilise their joints using physiotherapy. Antibiotics will be prescribed, and these can also be useful for protecting against aspiration pneumonia, which can occur in horses that are having difficulty swallowing.

Prevention

There is a vaccine that can protect your horse from forage poisoning. If you live in an area known for the presence of clostridium botulinum in vegetative matter or grazing ground, ask your vet for information on the vaccine. Forage poisoning can be passed to foals during pregnancy, so vaccinating pregnant mares is generally recommended.

The longer your horse is left untreated, the greater the risk of paralysis and death. So if you suspect your beloved animal has consumed contaminated plant matter, seek veterinary services immediately.