What Can Horses Be Allergic To?

Airborne agents Just like people, horses can develop sensitivities to molds, dust, pollens and other airborne allergens. Signs: Environmental allergies stimulate either respiratory or skin reactions. Most horses experience one or the other, but not both at once.

What foods are horses allergic to?

Symptoms can be gastrointestinal, dermatologic, or both. Diet items reported to cause adverse food reactions in horses include lucerne, barley, beet pulp, bran, buckwheat, chicory, clover, malt, oats, potatoes, St. John’s Wort, and wheat, feed additives.

Can horses be allergic to anything?

Like people, horses can be allergic to various substances, including plant particles and other substances in the air (called allergic inhalant dermatitis or atopy) or in food. These substances are called allergens.

What are the symptoms of a horse allergy?

Some of the horse allergy symptoms include: itchy, watery eyes. runny nose. sneezing.
Symptoms include:

• dizziness.
• hives.
• low blood pressure.
• nausea.
• swollen throat and tongue.
• vomiting.
• weak, fast pulse.
• wheezing.

How common is allergy to horses?

Horse allergies affect as many as 5% of people with allergies. 1 Horse dander is able to travel long distances in the air and has been found hundreds of yards away from horse stables.

What are 3 things horses should not eat?

Here are eight foods you should never feed your horse:

• Chocolate. ©russellstreet/Flickr CC.
• Persimmons.
• Avocado.
• Lawn clippings.
• Pitted fruits.
• Bread.
• Potatoes and other nightshades.
• Yogurt or other milk products.

What is poisonous to horses?

Weeds: Onions/garlic, ground ivy, milkweed, bracken fern, cocklebur, horsetail, white snakeroot, St. Johns wort, star-of-Bethlehem, sorghum/sudangrass, yellow sweet clover, blue-green algae, bouncing bet, larkspur, mayapple, skunk cabbage. Trees: Black locust, oak (green acorns), horse chestnut, boxwood, holly.

Can horses have food allergies?

Food allergy in horses is rare and extremely difficult to diagnose. This is confounded by allergy tests that often show hypersensitivity to something the horse commonly eats. Clinical signs of food allergy include hives, itchiness, and possible self-trauma due to scratching.

What can I give my itchy horse?

Treatment: Antihistamines or corticosteroids may help ease the itch and inflammation, providing relief to the itchy horse; antibiotics or antimicrobial shampoos can help prevent secondary infections. Pentoxifylline can be used to decrease skin reactivity, and in some cases allergy serum is worth trying.

Does Benadryl help with horse allergies?

Diphenhydramine (brand name: Benadryl®, Vetadryl®, Banophen®, Genahist®, Diphenhist®, Unisom®, Sominex ®) is an antihistamine used in cats, dogs, ferrets and other small mammals, birds, horses, and cattle to treat allergic reactions, motion sickness, and vomiting.

What plant are horses allergic to?

Several trees are poisonous to horses, including sycamore, yew and oak. However, the most common concerns we see from horse owners are around acorn poisoning and atypical myopathy from sycamore seeds.

What does a hay allergy look like?

True hay fever rashes cause red, raised welt-like bumps called hives. Hives are extremely itchy and can occur anywhere on the body. They can range in size from as small as a pencil eraser to larger than several inches across. Hives can also occur along with swelling of the skin (angioedema ).

How do you test a horse for allergies?

There are two tests currently available for food allergy testing in horses: intradermal testing (known as a skin-prick test) and a blood test that measures a specific protein, or antibody, called immunoglobulin E.

What plants cause hives in horses?

Plants are not generally palatable and are generally avoided.
Common pasture plants causing irritation:

• Conyza canedensis (Horseweed/Fleabane)
• Euphorbia esula (Leafy spurge)
• Juniperus occidentalis (Western juniper)
• Ranunculus spp. (Buttercup)
• Vicia villosa (Wooly vetch)

How do you treat skin allergies in horses?

Symptomatic treatments to control the itch in the short-term may be needed, and may include topical cortisone, soothing shampoos and conditioners, fatty acids, and oral (Prednisolone) or injectable (dexamethasone) forms of cortisone.

How do you treat a horse with allergies naturally?

Flaxseed is one of the highest natural vegetable sources of Omega 3 fatty acids. It helps reduce immune response to common allergens and has been shown to reduce inflammation caused by Culicoides. As an oral supplement, horses tolerate ground stabilized flaxseed well.

What vegetables are poisonous for horses?

Onions & Garlic – Along with leeks, shallots and chives, onions and garlic are members of the Allium family, which if ingested are toxic to horses. This plant family contains the chemical N-propyl disulfide, which damages red blood cells, and in turn can lead to anemia.

Are potatoes poisonous to horses?

Potato poisoning in horses only occurs when a horse is fed a large amount of potatoes, which are sometimes viewed by farmers as cheap and filling feed. Such feedings, however, are dangerous because horses are vulnerable to alkaloids, chemical compounds found within the potato and other members of the nightshade family.

What is the healthiest food for horses?

Their natural diet is mainly grass, which has high roughage content. Horses should be provided with a predominantly fibre-based diet, either grass, hay, haylage or a hay replacement in order to mimic their natural feeding pattern as closely as possible.

Are apples harmful to horses?

Almost any fruits, and many vegetables, are safe treats for healthy horses. Apples and carrots are traditional favorites. You can safely offer your horse raisins, grapes, bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe or other melons, celery, pumpkin, and snow peas.

What foods and plants are poisonous to horses?

Poisonous Plants for Horses

• Bracken Fern. Bracken fern is a plant that’s found throughout North America, but most toxicities occur in the north western states.
• Buttercups and Pokeweed.
• Yew Plants.
• Nightshades.
• Alsike Clover.
• Ragwort.
• Red Maple Trees.
• Poison Hemlock and Water Hemlock.