# Does Johnson grass cause diabetes in horses??



## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I was told yesterday by a hay customer that JG can cause diabetes in horses. Has anyone else encountered this? I'd never heard of horses contracting diabetes until yesterday. Several yrs back I had a horse that would impact if fed Coastal Bermuda hay & veterinarian advised me to feed it straight JG hay. This horse died of old age.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Only if they're drinking high fructose corn syrup cola's.

JG can cause cyanide poisoning from what I've been told. Diabetes in horses is not something I've heard of except as a symptom of diseases like Cushings. Grass founder (laminitis), according to my farrier, is sometimes mistaken for diabetes. In both cases, it is a result of high sugar content feed.

Ralph


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Back in my youth I had a horse grazing on pasture grasses(mostly common Bermuda) founder eating only what was in the pasture. Yes my horse hay customers have lectured me on JG with Prussic acid(cyanide) poisoning. They failed to understand PA poisoning dissipates in stored hay if stored for a few weeks unlike Nitrate poisoning that never goes away.


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