Poisonous Plants - Degus and other pets

[ilikedegus]

Not sure how many degus will come into contact with this, but I can see dogs might:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/pets-health/11816754/Dog-killed-by-poisonous-popular-house-plant.html
(not sure what Groupon has to do with it, they aren't the supplier!)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycas_revoluta

[Maravilla]

Taken from the interview:

"The labelling on the packaging said 'not for consumption, for decorative use' but it didn't say anything about being toxic and the plant is not on the poisonous plants for dogs list.

Well, wikipedia (at least in English) says

Cycad sago is extremely poisonous to animals (including humans) if ingested. Pets are at particular risk, since they seem to find the plant very palatable.

The English (and the Spanish) wikipedia has a whole chapter about its toxicity. The German version just has one sentence saying that all parts are toxic without any further information.

Another Swiss source says that it is toxic+, which means slightly toxic. But at the same time it says that the letal dose for dogs are 2 pieces of its seeds.

I feel sorry for this lady but yes, she is right, when buying plants, especially exotic ones (which are far less popular), one should always keep in mind that those might not be suitable for children or animals.

[animalmadchloe]

How awful I once injested a poisnious plant as a child and had to be rushed to hospital to gave my stomach pumped, dont remember it tho But it comes up at family parties lol

[moletteuk]

I could imagine it would be easy to forget to check every plant that comes into your home or garden for toxicity, especially if you've been keeping plants longer than you have had pets or children. I still think it's the householder's responsibility rather than the plant seller.

Oh no Chlo, I bet they really torture you with that story!

[Kins]

Aug 26, 2015 9:37:38 GMT moletteuk said:

I could imagine it would be easy to forget to check every plant that comes into your home or garden for toxicity, especially if you've been keeping plants longer than you have had pets or children. I still think it's the householder's responsibility rather than the plant seller.

I'm inclined to agree with you there moletteuk

It is very sad, but as pet owners we have to think about these things. Just like with certain foods (e.g. degus and sugar or dogs with dried fruit, chocolate, grapes, onions etc) you have to be very careful with your pets.

[Maravilla]

It is a little bit off topic, therefore just a short note on this.

By choosing exotic plants for garden, balcony and terrace we also push back native animals. There are a lot of plants which maybe look nice and beautiful but which are of no use for bees, insects, butterflies (and their caterpillars) and also birds (as those don't find enough insects). Two typical examples for such useless ornamental plants are (at least here in Germany) forsythia and cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus). The second plant is also poisonous. But also the rhododendron could be incorporated in this list.

[ilikedegus]

Maravilla I totally agree with you about plants for bees and other insects.

For about the last 2 years, nowadays I always think whether the flowers of a plant are going to be useful to bees (particularly) before I put it in my garden.