Bloat and colic in horses experimentally induced by the ingestion of Panicum maximum cv. ‘Mombaça’

Abstract

In the Amazon region, sprouting pastures of Panicum maximum cause colic and death in horses and mules. To produce the disease two experiments were performed with growing P. maximum cv. 'Mombaça' in penned horses. In Experiment 1, at the beginning of the raining season, 10 horses were fed with recently harvested sprouting P. maximum. Two horses showed colic on the 5th and 11th day after start of the ingestion. In Experiment 2, also during the raining season, the same 10 horses used in Experiment 2 were divided into two groups of 5 horses each. Group 1 received sprouting P. maximum immediately after harvested and Group 2 received the grass 24 hours after harvested. The control group consisted of four animals which were placed in individual pens and fed with Pennisetum purpureum and commercial ration twice a day. One horse from Group 2 showed colic on day 13th after the start of feeding. The other horses of both groups showed intestinal bloat. In both experiments affected horses recovered after the end of the administration. The control group did not showed clinical signs. These results demonstrated that the disease is caused by the ingestion of sprouting P. maximum during the rainy season. The results in experiment 2 showed that P. maximum do not loss toxicity 24 hours after harvesting. Clinical signs suggest that primary alteration caused by P. maximum is intestinal fermentation followed by bloat.

Poisoning by Megathyrsus maximus (Sin. Panicum maximum) cv. Colonião in horses in the state of Rio de Janeiro

“…The clinical signs (Cerqueira et al 2012) , macro and microscopic alterations found in this study did not differ substantially from those described previously by other authors (Cerqueira et al 2009, Dias et al 2014, Dória et al 2015.…”

“…A clinical picture of horse colic associated with M. maximus was initially described by Cerqueira et al (2009Cerqueira et al ( , 2012 in the state of Pará. Modifications introduced by genetic selection in M. maximus are suspected to lead to significant economic losses for ranchers, as they cause fermentative colic in horses and cattle (Embrapa 2009, Riet-Correa et al 2011, Soares et al 2014a, 2014b.…”

Timpanismo gastrointestinal em equídeos alimentados com Panicum maximum com alto conteúdo de amido

“…Nas necropsias dos equinos intoxicados, os achados macroscópicos eram caracterizados por distensão das paredes do estômago, ceco, cólon maior e cólon menor pelo acúmulo de gás. Alterações clínico/patológicas semelhantes a estas são descritas nos casos de timpanismo intestinal dos equinos, causado pela maior produção de gás ou sua retenção em segmentos intestinais (Archer & Proudman 2006, Cerqueira et al 2012. Além da intoxicação por P. maximum (Cerqueira et al 2009(Cerqueira et al , 2012, o timpanismo intestinal pode ser causado por mudança súbitas das dietas, hipocalcemia aguda, deslocamentos do cólon, compactação e consumo de grande quantidade de alimentos verdes fermentáveis; no entanto, na maioria dos casos é idiopática (Allen & Tyler 1990, White 1990, Radostits et al 2000.…”