Avocado
Horses, cattle, goats, rabbits, and birds have been poisoned from eating the leaves and other parts of the Guatemalan variety of avocado Persea americana. The Mexican, or smooth-skinned fruit, variety does not appear to be toxic. The flesh of the ripe avocado fruit of neither variety is toxic. Horses are most likely to eat avocado plant parts if they are pastured in avocado orchards and normal forages are depleted.
Horses, after eating the fruit, seeds, or leaves of avocado trees, develop a variety of clinical signs, including colic, diarrhea, and edema of the ventral abdomen, head, and neck. In severely affected animals there is marked edematous swelling of the head that is painful and causes respiratory difficulty. Fluid may develop in the chest cavity. Goats experimentally poisoned with avocado leaves died within 48 hours of receiving the leaves, and showed heart damage. In addition to the cardiotoxic effects of avocado, lactating mares and goats develop a noninfectious mammary gland inflammation and decreased milk production.
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