Author Topic: Grass Sickness Again (Read 3743 times)

sabrina · « **on:** June 13, 2012, 07:12:45 pm »

Friend just up the road from me lost her darling little mule to grass sickness on Monday. So sad for her, she lost a mare to it last year and now feels like giving up the ponies as it just to much to bare. After all these years it is the one worry all horse and pony owners dread as there is still no 100 per cent cure and most case end in death.

Rosemary · « **Reply #1 on:** June 13, 2012, 07:28:11 pm »

What a shame - always a worry.

clydesdaleclopper · « **Reply #2 on:** June 13, 2012, 09:12:22 pm »

That's awful for her.

It's such a shame we seem to get so much of it up here.

lachlanandmarcus · « **Reply #3 on:** June 13, 2012, 09:54:14 pm »

I dont think I could bear to lose more than one to it either, one is terrible but two...please pass on TAS thoughts and condolences......

WarescotFarm · « **Reply #4 on:** June 13, 2012, 10:01:50 pm »

oh that is constantly on my mind
we have our mini fala in the garden and can't rest the land and i am always worrying about it
we try and give her a few days off and in another field we can borrow very occasionally but i don't think it is enough
i worry we may have to sell her
what are the signs?

lachlanandmarcus · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:26:04 am »

This is the best summary I found (thanks Shaka!)
"There are three forms of grass sickness, subacute, acute and chronic. Although not all horses show all the signs, the major symptom is paralysis from the horses gullet downwards. In the acute strand, symptoms are a lot mroe severe, come up without warning and the horse will often sadly die within 2 days. Muscle tremors and damp sweat patches also come up. Gut paralysis is very serious, it leads to signs of colic, like rolling, looking at flanks, kicking belly, droooling etc. Stomach liquid may start to pour from the nose that smells really rank and they can get constipated.

In subacute, symptoms are similar to acute but are less severe. Horses can have swallowing dificulty, sweating, muscle tremors, quick weight loss and have mild to medium colic. Some die and some may have to be put down within a week, but some move on to chronic.

In chronic grass sickness, the symptoms occur more slowly and only a few cases show mild, intermittent colic. There is some loss of appetite, one major symptom is rapid weight loss which can lead to the horse becoming skin and bone. Horses have been knownto recover from this. "

jaykay · « **Reply #6 on:** June 14, 2012, 09:02:00 am »

grass sickness This article is suggesting it's maybe caused by Clostridium botulinum - gives some risk factors too. Scary

sabrina · « **Reply #7 on:** June 14, 2012, 12:39:18 pm »

What I do is keep my ponies on their vits and mins all year round. they are in at night on hay. May not help but I have always done this. Trigger seems to be a dry spell then wet weather which brings on a spurt of grass. Ponies can graze a field for years with no problems but add a new pony and it will be the one to go down with grass sickness. I wonder if animals become immune after time.