I’m
posting this again, just in case someone with knowledge missed it…
The horse
I’d planned on riding in Tevis, Ray, had been diagnosed with severe
anemia 2 weeks before Tevis. His bloodwork
shows he is not improving at all, although, also indicated a one-time event , so, he should be improving
since that event (whatever it was) has long passed. I just remembered today
that there are maple trees near his pasture. I told his owner that wilted maple
leaves are known to cause anemia and he mentioned that he did see Ray grabbing
a bite off the tree. Now, it’s supposed to be “wilted” leaves that causes problems, and
these leaves were pulled right from the tree, so maybe that’s not it.
Does anyone know if fresh leaves might cause a lesser problem than the wilted leaves.
He
doesn’t have these other symptoms assoc. with maple leaf poisoning:
Symptoms
most commonly seen in affected horses include, but are not limited to:
lethargy, anorexia, abdominal pain, brown mucous membranes, ataxia, colic,
reddish-brown urine, an increased heart rate, fever, difficultly in breathing,
abortion, weakness, and dehydration. Horses may show some or all of the
symptoms and to various degrees depending upon the level of toxicity.
If we
hadn’t been getting ready for Tevis, the anemia might not even have been
detected. In the last two 30 mile rides that we did, he had some muscle
trembling afterwards, along with being abnormally slow to recover.
