Hemlock Water Dropwort - poisoning

[Alison@Hatherland]

I have an ill Belted Galloway and am wondering if she's eaten Hemlock Water Dropwort. We have plants of it along the river and my Dexters have always ignored it - so have not worried about it before.
We found the Beltie looking very sorry for herself yesterday - v. lethargic, scouring and her coat looking very dull and lifeless - lying down away from the rest of the herd (mixed Dexters and Belties) and obviously very unhappy. We brought her in - temperature about normal, and she had a long drink and chewed very half-heartedly at some hay. Our vet saw her this morning and we have given her Vetrumex (synthetic rumen extract) and Ketol - but she's still not graet at all. Does anyone out there have any ideas? Could it be poisoning - and what else can we do for her? She's a sweetie - 20 months old and about 3 months in calf ( to a Dexter bull) and goes by the name of Kylie (!).

[Duncan MacIntyre]

I think that almost every case of hemlock poisoning involves the eating of the roots. This often follows ditch cleaning or other operations which involve digging the plant up and leaving the roots exposed. I have also seen it where a large number of cows were overgrazing and area laced by ditches and had eroded the banks with their feet, exposing the roots. Two limousin cows were dead and one actually had a piece of root in her mouth. Both had numerous bits of root in the rumen contents. Unless your hemlock has had roots exposed it seems ulikely to me that it will be to blame. Death from hemlock is also usually very quick. By all means have a look around and see if you can see anywhere where roots are exposed.

Whilst your cow may be suffering from poisoning of some plant origin I would be looking at possibility of infectous enteritis of some sort, and no doubt your vet will have been thinking along those lines. In ruminants antibiotics are not always the answer to that sort of problem. Dung samples can sometimes show the cause but by no means always - whilst positive identification of say, salmonella is relevant, a negative result does not really mean a lot as many bacteria which can cause acute enteritis in cattle are only present in the faeces for a short time.

Whatever the cause of scouring fluid and electolytes will be lost and you should ask your vet if giving of lectade or equivalent would be appropriate, or electrolyte replacement made specifically for larger animals such as Agger "Restore" - this can be given by mouth if she can drink or if she has deteriorated your vet may come back and give it by stomach tube and pump. Intravenous fluids for adult ruminants are not an easy matter but may be considered.

Duncan

[Alison@Hatherland]

Thanks for this Duncan. I've found plants with the tops eaten, but no exposed roots - so it looks unlikely to be poisoning. Are the Vetremex and Ketol the same as an electrolyte? It's always such a worry when they look so bad and you just wish they could tell you what's the matter.
Alison