Ever since I have discovered that several vegetables and fruits are harmful to horses, I have been digging more and more. What about tomatoes? Are they healthy for horses too? Some sites suggest that tomatoes are healthy for horses while the others mention the toxic impacts of tomatoes on horses.
Well, that was confusing for me, and I am sure many people have similar confusions. But it is essential to make sure that you are feeding only healthy food to your horses. Anyways, I read some research articles, and I found some really helpful information regarding this question; here is what I found.
Can horses eat tomatoes? No, tomatoes are harmful to horses. Despite being delicious, tomatoes are toxic for horse health. Tomatoes contain atropine, hyoscyamine and solanine which are toxic elements. Solanine can cause serious digestion issues, and throat swelling and hyoscyamine affect the saliva production.
Apart from tomatoes, the green leaves on the top of tomatoes are also toxic for horses. Furthermore, tomato plants are also toxic. Unfortunately, horses cannot vomit, which means if a horse accidentally eats tomatoes, there is no way to expel tomatoes.
Symptoms of Tomato Poisoning In Horses
Protect your horses from tomatoes, but just in case, if your horse accidentally eats tomatoes, you should know the signs. If you catch any of these symptoms in your horse, immediately take him to a vet.
Depression and nervousness are the primary symptoms of poisoning. Tomatoes lower the heartbeat and respiratory rate; the horse appears weak and helpless. In some cases, the horses salivate more than usual, and they cannot stand. Furthermore, diarrhea is common in such situations. The longer it takes to treat your horse, the higher are the risks.
Some Horses Are Immune to Tomato Poisoning
Despite being severely toxic, tomatoes do not harm some horses. It is mainly because they are immune to the toxic elements found in tomatoes.
Some horse breeders claim that they regularly feed one tomato to their horses and it has never caused any harm. In fact, they believe tomatoes are healthy for horses if they are properly ripened, and the leaves on top of tomatoes have been removed. Whereas, many cases have been reported in which horses died of tomato poisoning; all horses are not immune to tomato poisoning.
Precautionary Measures
Horses are prone to eating tomatoes at farms. It is essential to check your farm for toxic plants from time to time. Apart from tomatoes, several other vegetables and fruits belong to the same toxic, nightshade family; make sure you never feed any potatoes, pepper or eggplant to your horses. Unlike potatoes, most of the horses like the taste of tomatoes and hence, the fanciers need to be more careful.
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