[AlpacaTalk] Hay Warning
This affects horses so I assume it affects Alpacas Just be careful.
Will
www.OnlineStockYard
Poisonous beetles blamed for horses' deaths
Associated Press
Oct. 30, 2007 03:36 PM
SIERRA VISTA - A poisonous beetle is to blame for the deaths of two
horses in southern Arizona.
Annette Gerhardt noticed that two of her horses were acting
lethargic, uninterested in their food and appeared uncomfortable.
She said she thought the horses had colic, so she gave them banamine
injections and watched them carefully. When the horses got worse,
she took them to a veterinarian in Benson to get more aggressive
treatment.
But it was too late.
Gerhardt's horses, a filly named Sedona and a mare named Mandy, died
of blister beetle poisoning despite intravenous fluids and vigilant
monitoring. Sedona died Friday and Mandy died Sunday.
The poisonous blister beetle is attracted to the blooms of flowering
alfalfa plants, meaning hay is especially vulnerable to
contamination.
Gerhardt later found more than 30 dead beetles in one flake of hay
that she had used to feed her horses before they became ill.
"It doesn't take very many beetles to make a horse sick, and since
the beetles swarm, they could be in one small area of the hay, while
the rest of the hay is fine," said Nancy Leveranz, the veterinarian
who treated the horses.
The toxin present in the blister beetles, cantharidin, is extremely
stable and remains toxic even in dead, dried-up beetles. It's
therefore possible for animals to be poisoned by ingesting dead
beetles, or even parts of beetles, in hay that has been cut and
baled much earlier in the year.
"These were beautiful, sweet animals that just didn't stand a chance
against this horrible insect," Gerhardt said.
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posted by Chaddo at 6:38 PM
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