Poison garden: what plant-loving pet owners need to know
By Kim Campbell Thornton
June 10, 2009
I confess: I have a black thumb. Plants routinely die under my care (although I have remembered to water the tomatoes we’re growing on our balcony, so they are thriving). Sometimes I wish I were better at caring for them, but not when I write articles about toxic plants and pets. My dogs and the late cats have all been plant nibblers, so I’m grateful that we’ve never had any bad experiences.
I wrote about toxic plants for my current column. As is so often the case in nature, the most beautiful are also frequently the most deadly. I knew that, but one interesting thing I learned is that plants can vary in their toxicity depending on how cultivated they are. In the case of rhododendrons and azaleas, for instance, the more domesticated cultivars are less toxic than wilder varieties. That’s probably why one person I interviewed said her dog nibbles all the time on rhododendron leaves with no ill effects.(She’s going to make him stop.)
The University of Illinois (and no doubt other colleges of veterinary medicine) has a poison garden where students can learn about toxic plants, and a poison garden is an attraction at Alnwick Castle in the north of England. John Tegzes, a veterinary toxicologist whom I interviewed for the column, says it’s difficult for vets to keep up with which plants are toxic because gardeners go around the world seeking out and introducing new plants to the U.S. every year. South Africa is a prime source for ornamental (and potentially toxic) plants.
Lots of us here are probably familiar with the toxicity of lilies to cats, but it comes as a surprise to some unsuspecting pet owners. Just a little nibble of a single leaf or petal can cause kidney failure and death. There’s even speculation that the pollen or the water in a container holding lilies is toxic.
The takeaway?
Know the scientific names of any plants in your home or yard for easy ID.
Don’t assume that your pet won’t eat a plant. As my mother used to say, “There’s always a first time.”
I always suspected my dear little kitty, Ethel Mae, died of kidney failure because she nibbled on an Easter lily or some of its pollen, which I placed in the middle of my dining room table, completely ignorant of its toxicity until it was too late. Cat owners - please do not buy Easter lilies - even a little bit can bring on a dreadful end to one of your cats.
Comment by perkysmom — June 10, 2009 @ 10:04 am
I worried more about poisons in pet food, when I still had living pets, than anything in my garden. Nothing I ever grew killed or harmed a single pet, the “Premium Pet Food” I shelled out good money to buy, THAT killed several. Some of it was bought at a veterinarians office, who instructed me to force feed it to my suffering pets.
Vet got their blood money and I got dead pets.
More melamine was just the ticket too, their kidneys died very fast.
I could have fed them hemlock and they would have suffered less.
Perhaps a helpful article on the hazards of home cooking for pets would be of more use to the pet food sponsors of this site?
Just to jack up the fear level for pet owners.
There are plenty of “dreadful ends” for pets these days and a lot of them are for sale in any pet supplies store near you! No need at all to plant toxins or poison, it comes in a bag or can now, for your convenience.
Along with shiny collars for the new “replacement” pet. And “books by experts”, can’t forget that. Maybe a new “dog friendly ” car purchase too.
Don’t neglect the yearly, expensive, blood tests for that “new” pet either.
Along with a trip to the doggie park for your pet to contract a resistant infection or parasites, that is a MUST do for the responsible pet owner.
A list of safe plants, that was not an option for an article, huh?
Thought not.
Comment by Imissmypets — June 10, 2009 @ 2:17 pm
You got a lot of unresolved issues there, dear. I suggest some therapy.
And by the way: You can change names, but not IP addresses. Just sayin’
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 10, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
Comment by Imissmypets — June 10, 2009 @ 2:17 pm
pet food sponsors of this site
Um - not in this reality.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — June 10, 2009 @ 3:49 pm
Ok, a lateral on the topic at hand, if I may:
My friend Amy Stewart has a new book out called “Wicked Plants”, which is now an Indie List Bestseller. I haven’t had a chance to get a copy yet, but I was at pre-publication talk during which she read excerpts and she’s in her usual good form.
“A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend…”
She also has a poison plant garden, carefully fenced off, at her home.
http://www.amystewart.com/wickedplants.html
You also might find this little accessory she’s taking along on her book tour interesting. So far so good with airport security.
http://blog.amystewart.com/200.....n-box.html
I suppose the relevance of this to the blog is that we could speculate which plant we’d like to use on the trolls that drop by.
Comment by Susan Fox — June 10, 2009 @ 4:56 pm
Ooooooooooooo! LOVED the Amy Stewart book and blog. If it keeps raining, I’m going to have to get that book.
What’s the deal with walnuts and dogs? I, of course, have a walnut tree so I can use ground walnuts instead of part of the oil and flour in baked goods. Never in million years did I realize this would make my baked goods toxic for Pepper!
Comment by Dorene — June 10, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
Dorene, I think it’s only moldy walnuts that are dangerous. And Susan, I had seen a review of Wicked Plants and meant to include a link to it, so I’m glad you mentioned it. Sounds fascinating. I’m going to look for it.
Comment by Kim Thornton — June 10, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
What about herbicides: Roundup etc. How do they rank in terms of threat to pets that might munch on vegetation treated with them?
Comment by EmilyS — June 10, 2009 @ 7:01 pm
It’s worth clicking on the link to her column - more detail there including yard chemicals.
Comment by kb — June 10, 2009 @ 8:47 pm
Hey, you have given me a great excuse now for why I have the least “gardened” yard in my neighborhood…I can say it is for the safety of my pups (and not laziness and no green thumb which is the real truth)!!
Thanx…
Comment by Carol V — June 11, 2009 @ 4:13 am