TABLE 4-5.
PLANTS CAUSING GASTROINTESTINAL OR HEPATIC DISEASE
| PLANT | COMMENTS | SIGNS |
|---|---|---|
| Cocklebur | Erect annual herbage in sandy soils, flood plains, and overgrazed pastures; seeds are toxic | Within hours to days of ingestion—anorexia, vomiting, colic, dyspnea, gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, hepatic damage, death |
| Senico-groundsel, Crotalaria, heliotropism, amsinckia (fiddleneck), echium | Pyrrolizidine alkaloid; excreted in milk and urine and can cross placenta; young more susceptible | Dullness, weakness, weight loss, icterus, fibrosis, hepatocytomegaly, bile duct proliferation, photosensitivity; subcutaneous edema, diarrhea |
| Lantana | Found in sandy, tropical areas; berries, leaves, and hay are toxic | Chronic toxicity—slow hepatic failure; icterus, photosensitization, weakness, bloody diarrhea, cholestasis, hepatic toxicity |
| Sneezeweed, bitterweed, rubberweed | Grows in overgrazed pastures; all parts of plant are toxic | Acute toxicity—gastrointestinal upset, depression, serous nasal discharge, salivation, bloat; chronic toxicity—vomiting, bittermilk lesions, hepatic and renal congestion, gastric edema, aspiration pneumonia; pulmonary edema |
| Cabbage, kale, rape, mustard, wild mushroom | Remove from diet; add iodine to diet (for goiter) | Gastroenteritis, hepatic necrosis, photo-sensitization, goiter, hemolysis |
| Horsebrush | Stop grazing, keep animals indoors | Bighead, itching, uneasiness, inflamed eyes, blindness, serum discharge from scabs; degenerative changes in liver and elevated liver enzymes |
| Clover (crimson, red, subterranean burclover) | Photosensitization | |
| St. John's wort | Perennial herb; grows along roadsides and in overgrazed fields; remove from diet and keep animals in shade | Increased respiration, diarrhea, pruritus, dermatitis, diarrhea, death |
| Blue-green algae | Toxic after a bloom | Vomiting, diarrhea, liver failure, photo-sensitization; necropsy findings include swollen bloody liver, edema around gallbladder, centrolumbar apoptosis, and necrosis |
| Pokeweed | Vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, weakness, dyspnea, prostration, tremors, convulsions | |
| Gossypol (cottonseed) | Toxicity seen in younger pre-ruminants | Poor performance, convulsions, cardiac toxicity |
| Rhubarb | Contains oxalic acid | Gastrointestinal toxicity |
| Oak | Acorns and oak buds are most toxic | Abdominal pain, pseudomembranes in gastrointestinal tract, bloody diarrhea, depression, renal toxicity |
| Castor bean | Beans most toxic | Gastrointestinal irritation, bloody diarrhea, central nervous system disturbances |
| Mistletoe | Berries not toxic | Nausea, diarrhea |
| Others: | ||
| English ivy | ||
| Sesbania | ||
| Narcissus | ||
| Elderberry | ||
| Spurge | ||
| Buckwheat | ||
| St. Anne's lace | ||
| Milkweed | ||
| Parsley, giant hogweed |