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Discussion on Excessive wood consumption (dead trees)
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Member:
Jjet
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Posted on Friday, Aug 1, 2003 - 9:25 pm:
I read the pica info and the previous posts about wood chewing don't sync with my question. I wonder if excessive wood ingestion, and I mean excessive, could contribute to laminitis? Late last winter one of my mares (5 year old) virtually consumed half of a downed pine tree in her pasture. The tree had been killed in a fire several years ago but the trunk was very large and is decomposing slowly. The bark was long gone before we got the mare, but the part she ate was the softer (Partially decomposing, I assume, but normal appearing) outer layers of wood, down to a hard core which was not chewed.
This mare was receiving two large flakes of excellent quality alfalfa/grass hay twice a day, but there was no pasture grass. She was in excellent flesh and the pasture gave her plenty of room for exercise (about two acres). Subsequently in early spring she had a mild bout with what was diagnosed as laminitis. There was no rotation of the coffin but the lameness has persisted up to recently. I am just now gingerly riding her and she is much better but I would say not completely sound, still has a very short stride. She is shod with frog support pads after a period unshod. As she had had no lameness problems before, I thought the excess of wood consumption just previous to this problem may have had some significance.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Aug 3, 2003 - 8:51 am:
Does not seem likely with the implied time differential Jan. Pine is not toxic and if she did not colic, founder is not a likely sequelae.
DrO
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