2007 Volume 60 Issue 1 Pages 47-51
Four miniature horses died within two days of feeding on wild grasses, making circling movements and suffering from convulsion and astasia. At necropsy, the horses showed impaired blood clotting, their lungs and brains were congested, various organs were fragile, and patches of hemorrhage in organs were observed. Although water hemlock was found in the grass field, it was difficult to confirm that water hemlock had been ingested. The gastric contents of the deceased horses were too fine for macroscopic identification of the consumed grasses. Cicutoxin was identified in the gastric contents of two deceased horses by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These observations showed the effectiveness of gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of the gastric contents in the diagnosis of plant poisoning.
