Ragwort is a plant which when eaten, causes liver disease.
Ragwort poisoning
is an extremely dangerous condition in which horses start eating the ragwort
plant (usually dried Ragwort). This usually happens when the plant is dried and
gets mixed up in hay. Ragwort poisoning is caused by chemicals in the Ragwort
plant which are toxic to the liver. These chemicals in Ragwort do not usually
cause your horse to suddenly go off colour but gradually eat away at the liver
until it is too late. The trouble with the liver is that you do not see a sign
of the problem until a significant proportion of this organ is already damaged.
The trouble with
Ragwort-in-Hay poisoning and the liver damage that it causes is that there are
not really any medicines available that can help your horse. Normally time is
the healer and your vet may prescribe vitamin mixes to help things along.
Luckily though in the world of plants there are lots of herbs that can be
extremely helpful. The most famous of these is Milk Thistle. This is a very
useful plant but there are hundreds of others like Eclipta alba many of which
are more effective than Milk Thistle. Combined with other supplements to help
liver cells grow back more quickly and you may be able to save your horse.
The good news is
that ragwort poisoning is in some cases reversible. The liver can grow back to
a large extent. If you use a sensible nutritional approach with the advice of
your vet quite often things get back to normal. The difficult again is that so
much damage has been done before you notice a problem and Ragwort can hang
around in your horse’s bowels for a long time.
Horses can
generally tell which plants are good to eat. Ragwort is bitter when fresh but
when cut and dried it looses this taste and it is easier for horses to eat it
accidentally with hay. When included in hay cuttings Ragwort is particularly
dangerous.
How do I tell if my horse has Ragwort poisoning?
- Loosing weight, off food and quiet?
- Yawning
- Pain from gut area
- Droppings dry or watery
- Head pressing
- Yellow colour to mouth and eye (Jaundice)
- Head pressing and not coordinated
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Preventing Problems: Make sure
you know what
Ragwort
looks like dried and fresh. Make sure none is in your pasture. If you know
Ragwort is around use the Pysllium husks in ClearOut to stop food stagnating in
your horse’s guts and flush it out.
See also Ragwort Poisoning and Ragwort Control for more
information.
Ragwort Control & Links
West Sussex
www.westsussex.gov.uk/environment/ragwort/problem.htm
The Donkey Sanctuary
www.the
donkeysanctuary.org.uk/campaign/ragwort.htm
Rag-Fork
www.ragfork.co.uk/ragwort.html
Bristish Horse Society - The Ragwort Bill
www.bhs.org.uk/News-PR/15.10.03.htm
Ragwort UK
www.ragwort-UK.com/ragwort.html
Devon
www.devon.gov.uk/lsg/ragwort.html
Free veterinary advice helpline: 01243 773363 (UK)
Free veterinary advice helpline: 0044 1243 773363 (International)
Mobile veterinary advice line: 07734 240 709 (UK)
All numbers available 9am - 5.30pm UK time.
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