Death Cap Mushroom – Toxic Plant of the Week

Death Cap Mushrooms

It’s Monday again and I’m excited to learn about another plant your horse can’t eat. Today we’ll take a closer look at a plant no one wants to try, the Death Cap Mushroom.

A Little About Death Cap Mushrooms

Amanita phalloides is the Death Cap Mushroom, which has a wide, smooth green or yellow pigmented cap that can be sticky. Gills are white, crowded and finely attached to the stalk. Younger mushrooms have a fine membrane covering their gills. Stalk is white with a bulb at the base.

How Dangerous Is It?

Horses don’t really eat mushrooms so it’s not a huge concern. However, this is one toxic little fungus that should really be avoided…and that goes for you, your dog and your kids. Contain amatoxins and even a small dose can kill.

All parts of this mushroom are toxic and can be fatal to equines.

Death Cap Mushrooms

Image from Dan Molter under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license

What To Look For

You know your animal the best, so you should know when something is amiss. Death Cap Mushroom toxicity symptoms generally occur within 10-16 hours after ingestion and can include gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, jaundice and coma.

Learn More

Be sure to check out the Death Cap Mushroom page to learn more about the plant and while you are at it why not check out more toxic plants?

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*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.

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