Best Puppy Tips: Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets

Written by Senior Editor Peter Gehr

Best puppy tips: top 10 plants poisonous to pets may come as a surprise to a lot of people, and these plants are quite common in gardens across the country. The effects of these plants can be serious, and some have resulted in the loss of pets. Realizing that many homes feature these plants and some are very popular worldwide, I felt compelled to share these details as it would be important to be aware of these dangers.

I’m not suggesting that you should panic and run to your garden with a shovel and dig up any plant on this list, but it sure helps to have the knowledge of the consequences if your pet happens to come into contact with one of them.

Golden Retriever. Best Puppy Tips: Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets

Golden Retriever. Best Puppy Tips: Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets

One practical step may be to be sure that your dog’s food bowl is nowhere near a plant that may shed its petals or foliage. Dogs are not as sensitive as cats when it comes to eating, and will just scarf down whatever is in the bowl.

Use common sense and if you’d rather be fully protected from harmful plants that may cause sickness (or worse) to your pets, perhaps a review of what you have planted in your garden is in order.

Best Puppy Tips: Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets

Autumn Crocus

1. Autumn Crocus

Azalea

2. Azalea

cyclamen

3. Cyclamen

Daffodils

4. Daffodils

Dieffenbachia

5. Dieffenbachia

Kalanchoe

6. Kalanchoe

Lilies

7. Lilies

Oleander

8. Oleander

Sago Palm

9. Sago Palm

Tulips

10. Tulips

To give you an example of one of the above listed plants poisonous to pets, the Sago Palm, which I see in many gardens and parks in my area, the dangers of this plant to a dog are alarming.

A veterinarian Steven Garner said,

“Among things that can kill pets it ranks higher than snake bites, car injuries and rabies and is on par with distemper, parvo heart and kidney disease and cancer,” he said. “The seed pods are the most toxic and only have to be mouthed by a dog or picked up by a kid to cause toxicity. Children have been found poisoned from casual contact.”

“The toxin attacks and kills liver cells and shuts down the digestive and excretory system.”

“Some animals, usually small ones with large exposure doses present with fulminating liver disease, hemorrhage and shock within 24 hours of ingestion,” Garner said. “These animals are difficult, but not impossible to save.”

“I have seen hundreds of Sago poisonings in my practice history and the frequency seems to be increasing,” Garner said. Source

httpv://youtu.be/g-ONmPoeF0E

A comprehensive list of all toxic and non-toxic plants can be found here at the ASPCA.

Take these best puppy tips: top 10 plants poisonous to pets and make the right choices in your garden for your pet, and be mindful when taking your dog for walks to parks or forests where some of these plants may be growing wild. Sago palm is particularly nasty, and, if you are in the process of planning your garden, then it may be advisable to look over this list carefully when considering your plant choices. Or, if you already have some of these in your back yard, it just may be a good time to rethink to protect your pet from future harm.

10 thoughts on “Best Puppy Tips: Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets

  1. Wow – I never knew how many plants could get pets sick. Daffodils, Live and learn. Thanks for the info!

    • Hi Kathy. Glad you liked the post. It’s so important to be aware of the toxic plants that can wreak havoc on pets. I’ll be posting more about this soon, so please visit again. Thanks!

    • Hi Andi, thanks for visiting. Great to see some good information on dangerous flowers, and your link is appreciated. We’re going to be expanding on our post with more details in the near future. Please visit again for updates. Thanks for your contribution for making pet owners aware of these dangers.

  2. Wow, so many of these plants are so common around our homes here, I had no idea the list was so long

    • Hi Amanda. Yes, exactly! It’s amazing how common these poisonous plants are. Most gardens have at least a few of these plants on the list, and they can really cause problems due to their toxic petals, leaves, roots or berries.

    • It’s amazing how common some of these dangerous plants are isn’t it? It’s probably unknown to most people, but is definitely worth spreading the word about what plants can cause health issues to dogs.

  3. I had no idea that tulips and daffodils were toxic to dogs like that. We have a huge tulip festival all over the city each year now for the past 60 years and have never heard any warnings like this.

    • Yes, it’s surprising to note the dangers of tulips and daffodils to dogs. As awareness increases and the effects are made more public pet owners can keep a close eye on their pooches to help them stay away from these flowers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *