Having a green thumb is very rewarding-especially here in Oregon where it seems everyone other than me is a master gardener. Growing flowers, fruit, vegetables, bushes, trees and so many other plants that make a yard and home look and feel great is very satisfying.They’re satisfying for Pets, too, as vegetation provides lots of stuff to explore-places to hide and bury bones or treats, new smells to sniff, and items to dig up. It all makes for a smorgasbord of new things to taste, chew and play with.
While plants may look harmless many varieties can contain deadly toxins for your Pets. Since they love to snack on plants, to help keep Pets safe, it’s a good idea to investigate your indoor and outdoor plants. You’ll want to identify all of your plants to determine whether any parts of the plant including the leaves, fruit and seeds are toxic to your Pets. Ingesting even a piece of the plant or just getting the secretion of a plant in their mouth can be irritating and potentially toxic to Pets. Don’t forget even seeds or pits in the trash or on the ground can cause poisoning if your Pet chews or swallows them.
There’s a great list on the humane society website, which offers information about plants that are toxic to Pets . And while this list is helpful, it includes common toxic plants only, and does not include rare plant species. If you’re unable to identify some of your indoor or outdoor plants, you can consult sites such as Wikipedia or your local plant nursery can often help identify a plant from either a cell-phone photo or clipping.
A safe home, garden and yard keep will help avoid the need for emergency care due to the ingestion of toxins. If toxins are ingested, timing is critical and it can be deadly if your Pet ingests a toxin while you’re away from home and unable to help.
While it’s best to maintain a Pet-food only diet for your furry family members, I know how that goes. So it’s important to remember to keep a watchful eye on any non-Pet food you give your Pet as the known list of toxic items is ever-changing as new poisons are found. I, myself, am guilty of feeding my dog items such as grapes and raisins that are now found on the list of toxic foods.
Here are a few other resources we’ve found helpful in avoiding Pet toxins.
Animal poison control
Humane Society list of toxic foods
To keep everyone as happy and healthy as possible, if you’re not sure how a particular plant or food may affect your Pet, it makes good sense to play it safe and remove or relocate the item in question.
