Plants dangerous to pets

[Stephen Tashiro]

There are online lists of plants that are "toxic" to pets. (e.g. https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/cats-plant-list ). But where's a list of toxic plants that actually attract pets to eat them?

If the numerous toxic plants were equally attractive to pets then shouldn't every pet that ventures outdoors get poisoned?

[Stan Calow]

Well we have some of those plants on the list on our yard and not seen any interest from the dogs in them.

One not on the list that I always thought attracted them is grapes. They're sweet with a strong smell, so we do our best to keep the dogs away. Is it not true that its toxic?

[John Ziebron]

Pets, especially dogs, are like us humans in that we don't all think alike. For instance, we all have various levels of common sense, much of it based on experience. And my many years of experience with dogs indicate to me that they are the same in this way. It is a myth that dogs can sense whether a plant is poisonous to them. But dogs typically don't go around just eating any old plant. If they don't feel good and need to throw up they instinctively will eat grass. While I'm not saying that a dog won't eat a toxic plant it is rare and usually there will be an alternate reason for them doing so like getting a bug or maybe an attractive, fragrant flower.

[Lee DeRaud]

Well we have some of those plants on the list on our yard and not seen any interest from the dogs in them.
Yup. We're overflowing with various succulents (including aloe, which I never thought of as poisonous): never saw a dog that would even lick them.

Sago palm seeds are both attractive to dogs and downright deadly in any meaningful quantity. Somebody gave me a couple of the plants in pots, they ended up getting planted out front away from temptation...turned out they're both male(?)/seedless anyway.

[Alan Rutherford]

There are close to 1000 plants on that list. We have no animals except for the chickens, and they are a crop, not pets, and pretty self-sufficient. But if we had pets and that list is what we had to watch out for, I'd give each pet a copy of the list and say "Good luck, Buddy".

[Lee DeRaud]

There are close to 1000 plants on that list.
I didn't get deep enough into it to see how detailed it was. It would be helpful if it included (1) toxicity levels, (2) what specific parts of the plant are dangerous, and (3) whether any given plant/part is actually likely to be attractive/tasty to my dog.

I have a suspicion that if I got rid of every plant on the list, I might as well put down gravel from the house to the property line all the way around.

[George Yetka]

Depends on the breed. I had an English bulldog for 13-1/2 years that wouldnt put anything near her mouth if it wasnt handed to her or put in her bowl. I would not worry too hard unless your dogs put everything in their mouths. In that case I would determine what plants are in their area and limit them to just that area once it proven safe. Keep their heads out of the bushes when walking them.

[Stan Calow]

I will say that I had a hemlock plant pop up in my wildflower bed. It looks like Queen Annes's lace which is a pretty common weed around here. It wasn't until I looked close that I realized what it was. It seems to be popping up a lot this year in the midwest. Bad stuff for humans and animals.

[Bill George]

I just chopped down a Poke Weed in the back yard, had one in the dog free side yard a year ago. I will spray the stump when it starts back up. Birds can eat but humans and dogs very deadly.

[Mel Fulks]

I just chopped down a Poke Weed in the back yard, had one in the dog free side yard a year ago. I will spray the stump when it starts back up. Birds can eat but humans and dogs very deadly.

Yep, but there is a way to make it safe to eat ,and it is probably still a staple in some rural areas. Makes one wonder who figured it all
out. Martha Stewart ?

[Lee DeRaud]

Yep, but there is a way to make it safe to eat ,and it is probably still a staple in some rural areas. Makes one wonder who figured it all
out. Martha Stewart ?
There's a lot of that. Rhubarb leaves are toxic, as are taro leaves and roots, both due to high levels of oxalic acid. I always wondered how poi ever got invented, as one assumes at least a few people got poisoned as the recipe was being perfected. (For some very low value of "perfected".) Must have been some very hungry people involved, or at least some unpopular relatives.

[Bill George]

Well I have had two dogs that dug up and ate Rhubarb and lived and doing just fine perhaps they did not eat the leaves? Poke Weed they say, but not me that if you pick the leaves and boil 3 times, throwing away the water each time... it tastes just like Spinach?

[Warren Lake]

Mel I think snoop dog helped her.

Hopefully the dog didnt find his stash

[Mel Fulks]

Snoop Dog and Martha Stewart. One looking for human cred and one looking for street cred .
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE !

[Jim Koepke]

If the numerous toxic plants were equally attractive to pets then shouldn't every pet that ventures outdoors get poisoned?

It may have been during my days working on a horse ranch that an older hand told me poisonous plants tend to taste bad to animals and tend to not be eaten by them.

Not sure if this is a valid statement. In my own experience, fast forward 60 years, at one time a neighbor kept their cow in our pasture. Unbeknown to us there were some toxic plants in the pasture. The cow ate everything but them. Made it easier to find them and eliminate them.

jtk

[Pat Germain]

One not on the list that I always thought attracted them is grapes. They're sweet with a strong smell, so we do our best to keep the dogs away. Is it not true that its toxic?

Grapes are indeed extremely toxic for dogs. Based on what I've read, there's something in grapes which can destroy the dog's kidneys. I get arguments about this from people who tell me they give their dogs grapes all the time with no issues. Well, the amount of grapes necessary to become toxic varies greatly on the specific grape and size of the dog. Why would anyone want to risk that?

For decades I've heard and read poinsettias are toxic to animals. But I have since read that's a myth.

[Warren Lake]

my sheep dog used to like Lettuce, I asked her if she was a long haired guinea pig. She also stole my spaghetti once, think she had a well rounded diet.

[Pat Germain]

my sheep dog used to like Lettuce, I asked her if she was a long haired guinea pig. She also stole my spaghetti once, think she had a well rounded diet.

I had two beagles and the only thing they would NOT eat was lettuce and parsnips. The male Beagle once jumped up on the dining room table and snatched a one year supply of heartworm medication. Of course, it was in his belly within a second. I tried to induce vomiting by giving him hydrogen peroxide. He gulped up multiple doses and just kept wagging his tail and looking at me. He never did vomit and he was somehow just fine. His stomach was cast iron.

The female Beagle pushed out a dining room chair, jumped up on the chair, jumped up onto the dining room table then jumped up on a console to snatch Mrs. Pat's bottle of vitamin D. She managed to get the bottle open and eat every capsule. She was in the doggie ICU for several days and managed to survive. My daughter accidentally locked her in the pantry one day. When I got home, I opened the pantry door to find her wagging her tail standing atop a HUGE mess with a VERY bulging midriff. Then, when I went to feed the male Beagle, she also wanted dinner!

I think whatever switch tells dogs they are full is missing in Beagles. Beagles; the ultimate chow hounds.

[John Ziebron]

It's not just beagles. And I know it has nothing to do with the breed so it may be genetics. I've had dogs where you could dump a 50 pound bag of dog food on the floor and they would just eat a little and walk away. And I've had others that would keep sucking that food in until they would probably explode.

[Derek Meyer]

We have three dachshunds - two standars and one miniature. The miniature eats only as much as she wants, and will leave food in the bowl if she is not hungry enough. The standards eat like wolves and will eat everything they find. Our male will even try to get food the other dogs don't eat, so we have to watch him.

I'm pretty sure if we left the food bag out and open, the miniature would not care and the other two would be fat and sick from eating too much.

[Lee DeRaud]

my sheep dog used to like Lettuce, I asked her if she was a long haired guinea pig.
My dog, disgusting pig that he is, likes kale. I've tried to convince SWMBO that's it's a gateway drug to quinoa, but she gives him bits of it anyway.

[Mel Fulks]

Kennel Club said Kale is good for dogs, just checked.

[Tom M King]

Our dogs, Havanese, love any crunchy vegetable. They think the part of lettuce that we throw away is the greatest treat of all.

[Lee DeRaud]

Kennel Club said Kale is good for dogs, just checked.
Cooked leaves, probably. Raw stalks have calcium oxalate: kidney damage.

(Not sure what "kennel club" you're citing...found this on the AKC site: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/can-dogs-eat-kale/)

[Alan Rutherford]

I had no idea there was such a variety in canine dietary preferences and then there was this in Monday's newspaper:

"Tallahassee's first off-leash dog park and bar...designated areas for large and small dogs, cool and shady areas and a bar serving beer, wine, coffee, kombucha and other beverage."

[Mel Fulks]

American Kennel Club ….. I don’t trust the foreign ones !

[Lee Schierer]

Our cat would chew on any flowers we brought into the house. He particularly went after Poinsettias.

Plants for cats (https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/houseplants/7-plants-to-grow-for-cats)