Re: [AlpacaTalk] Hay Warning
Thanks for this warning. I have read about these beetles before and I'd
hate to find them in my hay. Thankfully, we don't feed very much
alfalfa but that's no guarantee, I imagine, that they can't be found in
grass type hays as well.
Heather
On Nov 2, 2007, at 6:38 PM, hazmatter1 wrote:
> 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 8:07 PM
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