Dropwort is deadly if hungry cattle eat its roots
I got a phone call from Donal recently.
He had a cow that he found dead out in the field.
I went out to look at her and her surroundings.
With the recent drought, there wasn’t a lot of grass around, and animals have been scavenging for anything that they might eat.
Donal lived in a slightly disadvantaged area and the fields were a bit on the wet side.
As we walked the land, we came across some Water Dropwort that had been unearthed, and this looked very suspicious to me.
Water Dropwort is a funny old plant. It grows very well in lowlands where there is water, in places like ponds, the banks of streams and slow flowing rivers marshy ground etc.
This plant looks like sticks of celery with heads of parsley on top. The roots have been likened to white carrots or parsnips and are called dead man’s fingers in some places.
The heads, apart from looking like parsley, even taste like parsley. Humans have been known to die from eating these heads, thinking they were safe to eat. It is the roots that are the real killer for cattle.
They possess the most deadly toxin of all in this part of Europe. If the roots are cut open, you see a yellowish coloured liquid which will stain your skin. Normally, these are beneath the ground, but in the present climate, animals are liable to root and upset ground that they otherwise would not.
It is assumed that cows can safely eat the leaves in small quantities. But, grabbing hold of the stems, they may pull up and expose the roots.
In the majority of cases, death comes swiftly and the animal is found dead.
If you find the animal before she dies, she is most likely to be convulsing with a lot of saliva coming from her mouth.
I guess the animal could be confused with one suffering from grass tetany, the differential diagnosis would have to be made fairly quickly.
The black of the eye might be fairly large and obvious and the animal may be suffering from a fair degree of pain.
The literature tells us that the diaphragm would also be convulsing, and this means that the animal would find it very difficult to breathe properly.
The only thing that can be done for this animal is to sedate it, trying to control the spasms and calm down the heart rate. The next step would be to empty the rumen and try and flush out the intestines.
All the remaining animals should be removed from the vicinity and the dangerous plants wired off so that they cannot be eaten by others.
In times past, this plant was used to make up a deadly cocktail which was given to criminals to put them to death. Indeed, the famous Greek philosopher called Socrates received this poisoning following his farcical trial which condemned him to death for corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and for not believing in the Gods of the time. They were wicked men back in 399 BC.
I followed Donal’s cow to the knackery, hoping to confirm the diagnosis of Water Dropwort poisoning. All we look for are the remains of the plant stem or evidence of the roots in the rumen of the dead animal.
The moral of the story is to be very careful of where your animals can reach and eat when the grass in the field has been exhausted.
If you need to know more about this plant, or to see pictures of it, just ask your local vet.
- Paul Redmond, MVB, MRCVS, Cert DHH, Duntahane Veterinary Clinic, Fermoy, member practice of Prime Health Vets
