It’s Monday morning again and time to learn about another plant your horse can’t eat. Today we’ll take a closer look at an incredibly common house plant, the Crown of Thorns.
A Little About Crown of Thorns
Euphorbia milii is the Crown of Thorns, a small evergreen shrub with purple or brown stems & branches with thorns. Leaves are sparse & oval shaped and bright red flowers grow in clusters.
How Dangerous Is It?
This is a plant that horses would have to be pretty hungary to eat, the spikes and red flowers are clear signs of danger. Luckily any horses exposure to them is likely to be limited. Crown of Thorns contains phorbol esters which can alter enzyme & protein functions and promote tumors & cytoskeletal damage.
All parts of this plant are toxic, and the thorns can do mechanical damage to equines.
What To Look For
You know your animal the best, so you should know when something is amiss. Crown of Thorns toxicity symptoms can include irritation, blistering & swelling of the mouth, gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, drooling and weakness.
Learn More
Be sure to check out the Crown of Thorns page to learn more about the plant and while you are at it why not check out more toxic plants?
*It should be noted that I’m not a veterinarian. This information is written specifically for horses and should be used for reference purposes only. If you think your horse has eaten something toxic call your vet right away.