With the hot and humid weather we are having in Pennsylvania right now, everyone should be on the lookout for strange behavior in your horses that may indicate health issues. The best thing to do no matter whether your horse is currently healthy, is to KNOW your horse. Know how he eats, know how much he drinks. It is more important than you know.Feeds containing corn, which almost every sweet feed does, can become potentially deadly in hot and humid weather. The corn can become moldy in the individual bags or even in the field before it comes to the mill.
Most mills do test feed batches for mold and other things, but remember, it can happen AFTER you buy it. You probably should not buy more feed than would last you a week to a week and a half. Feed should be stored in a place that prevents it from becoming too hot.
Once the humidity in the bags increases, the corn can start to mold and produce mycotoxins such as aflatoxin. Horses who consume this alflatoxin has different reactions depending upon many factors, such as breed, general health, immune function, etc.
Symptoms of this many times deadly disease are as follows: First and foremost!!!! - Your horse will stop eating or drinking or both If your horse does not eat, and he generally is a hearty eater, PAY ATTENTION!
Other signs include, but are not limited to: Edema (swelling in the legs) Straining (they can't urinate) Jaundice (you can normally see this in the whites of the eye) Inflammed or discolored gums (sometimes a purple line indicating toxicity) Kidney damage (no urinating) Teeth grinding General mopey look (they just kind of hold their heads down and look depressed) Dehydration
Dehydration can happen in just a couple of days in the high heat. Horses that aren't drinking are in big trouble. If your horse is displaying this type of behavior and are not eating, call a vet. You need to keep them hydrated with IV fluids to help sustain them through. I know there is a lot more research and information I could add to this article.
It all started with one of our horses that just didn't act right. He really wasn't eating and just acted kind of depressed. He wasn't really acting too weird, just wrong for him. We called our vet on Sunday and they didn't show up until Monday afternoon. By the time they got there, they recommended taking the horse to the hospital and it was just too late. He was too dehydrated and had too much liver and kidney damage from the dehydration and toxin. We had no clue at that point what it was. When a second horse started exhibiting symptoms, and one of us remembered an article about Purina and the feed recall they had for exactly the same thing, at least we had something to go on. The horse received IV fluids twice a day and antibiotics (which were mainly just for the extra things that happen when they are immunosuppresed). He pulled through.
Just remember, if your horse is acting not like himself, pay attention!
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