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  Discussion on Oat and round bale allergy
Author Message
Member:
Heidim

Posted on Monday, Oct 9, 2006 - 4:17 pm:

We're considering buyihg a horse with allergies to oats and round bales. We feed square bales, but it makes me wonder what questions to ask to know if the content is right. Is the problem that there might be oat straw in the round bales? We feed hay with about 70% alfalfa. The rest is grass.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006 - 6:58 am:

The important questions are, "how does the allergy express itself?" and "how were the allergens diagnosed?".

If it is with respiratory disease, cough and dyspnea, I would say the horse is allergic to hay molds (which are more prevalent in round bales) and had a allergy test (skin or blood) done that misidentified oats as a cause of allergies. For more on this condition see the article on heaves in the respiratory disease topic.
DrO
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