Arsenic

Veterinary, horse care, and training issues.

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karenkarenn
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Arsenic

Postby karenkarenn » Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:07 am

Hello,
Does anyone know what the limit is for horses ( esp. Pregnant Mares)
for Arsenic in the drinking water?

We have been having a serious level of Arsenic in our drinking water for the last five years now and just NOW our home owners assoc are trying to solve the problem.
I have left a message with our vet, he isn't around.
Karen

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karenkarenn
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Postby karenkarenn » Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:10 am

Just to add our levels of Arsenic is
.025 and the max is .01
K

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Diane
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Postby Diane » Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:28 pm

It can cause birth defects. The dog that came with a property we bought a few years ago had a litter shortly after we adopted her. One of 7 pups was deformed. I don't know how high the arsenic levels are in the well but no one drinks the water except the dog.

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Postby xfactor fan » Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:36 pm

It can also cause fertility problems. However it is tolerated by mammals, and stored in body fat. It has been fed to horses as a "tonic" for a long time. Phar Lap may have been poisoned by his own trainer who mis calculated the dosage in the secret tonic Phar Lap was getting.

Mild symptoms include increased appetite, water retention, over production of the oil glands. Which makes the horse look fat and glossy. Because the arsenic is stored in body fat, if the horse starts loosing weight--like starting training, the arsenic comes out of the metabolized body fat and is dumped into the bloodstream. Which of causes a number of problems.

I wonder how many of the great racehorses that proved to be sterile at stud had been given large doses of arsenic during their racing careers?