Hello,
I recently did a hair analysis on one of our competition horses, and it came back showing that he was very high in several heavy metals, which were Iron, Chromium, Lithium, Aluminum, Arsenic, and mainly Lead. We tested other horses on the same property and on a similar diet, and they didn’t have these high levels, so we are guessing he’s been dealing with this overload since before we purchased him. We use activated charcoal for ourselves for detox and I’ve read articles on detoxing horses high in heavy metals, but I am struggling to find dosages. Can you offer any insight or help?
Kimberly responds:Hi Courtney.
Detoxing your horse is a good idea and the Vet Dtox™ may be very helpful, however, please note that Lithium, which is a salt and used in psychotropic drugs, will not be adsorbed by the Vet Dtox™, as charcoal is not interested in minerals or nutrients. However, to aid in detoxing the heavy metals, you can add the Vet Detox™ powder to the horse’s food or water to administer to him.
Please note: never administer it as a loose powder, unless of course it is in a capsule or tablet, as it must be mixed in a liquid first and then added to food. There is no taste to the charcoal, so it should work even for fussy palates.
It is important to note that charcoal is not soluble, so it will sink to the bottom of the water trough, therefore, it will be necessary to stir it up when it settles to the bottom. Stirring it once a day should suffice.
Below is the dosage chart and a link to a short list of the many poisons that activated charcoal adsorbs.
We hope this helps!
5.7 Diarrhea Horses, cattle 50 - 200 g Foals, calves, pigs, sheep, goats 15 - 50 g Piglets, lambs, dogs, cats 3 - 10 g Poultry, birds 1 - 2 g
Poisoning .75 g per kg body-weight.
Method of administration:- oral administration, preferably in the feed or drinking water.
5.8 Overdose (symptoms and measures): Not applicable.
5.9 Special warnings for the target animals: None.
5.10 Withdrawal periods: Zero days.
5.11 Special warnings for operators: None.
List of poisons charcoal is known to adsorb: https://charcoalremedies.com/poisons/
