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  Discussion on ALERT something I did not know- but should have!!!!
Author Message
Member:
Cindylou

Posted on Monday, Nov 22, 2004 - 6:59 pm:

I recently met a woman who had a horse go into toxic shock from OIL based fly spray- no matter the type- just check the label. She called the company and they said they lose about twelve horses a year from toxic shock- and the FDA knows about it. Her horse had used this particular spray( oil based is much more effective than water based) for years- and suddenly went into convulsions while standing in the pasture in the rain. what happens is the toxic chemicals get into the blood stream and for some horses( some 12 a year) it is deadly. The vet arrived and asked immediately what type of fly spray she used- and explained his fears. The horse survived- but I was horrified at this information. Has anyone had similar situations? Why would these products have a warning label on it so horse owners could decide just how important keeping flies off their horse is to them considering the risk. I will check from now on! Just wanted to pass this on!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004 - 7:13 am:

Cindy your post raises more questions. First I am unsure what "toxic shock" means. This term is usually used to refer to when bacterial toxins which are active on the cardiovascular system overwhelm it, causing a life threatening DrOp in blood pressure. The oil is not the likely cause as normally this would be mineral oil or similar product and non-toxic enough to be given orally by the gallons safely. Other important questions that need to be answered are:
  • What evidence do we have that the insecticide was the cause?
  • Which insecticide was applied?
  • Was it applied according to directions?

DrO
Member:
Canter

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004 - 2:09 pm:

Cindy,
I wonder if what you were told isn't one of those "urban legend" types of myths. Several years ago, after washing my gelding, I applied fly spray and was told that the water in the horses coat would "transport" the pesticides into his blood stream and make my horse sick. Being new to horses at that time, I had a mini panic attack and called the vet. I was re-assured that there was no danger. Since then, I've been told this same thing by a few long-time horse people but have learned to ignore it.

Fran
Member:
Cindylou

Posted on Saturday, Nov 27, 2004 - 9:08 am:

The reason I posted this was to inform- not to scare anyone. This was told to my by the person it happened to- she is a medical doctor and actually was paid by the company for the vet bills. It is rare- to be sure- but the company acknowledged what happened. I then talked to my vet( we have the same one) and said I could not believe what had happened- he confirmed everything. My advise would be-if you use oil based fly spray- you call the company and ask them. Twelve horses a year is miniscual- but I figure if I can use products that don't have this risk- even though they don't work as well- I will do it. Again-she used this spray on her horse for years- but at that point- it was toxic-I also wonder what it does to us? I wear gloves when applying fly spray- just makes sense to me.
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