Plant Poisonings
Plants and plant products in the garden and home can poison domestic pets. There are isolated reports of such poisonings, but no published data on their overall occurence in Australia.
In an attempt to provide useful data on pet poisonings, veterinary practices in Queensland were surveryed to identify actual causes of poisonings. A recent article in the Australian Veterinary Journal reported on the study.
The plants and plant products that caused major poisonings included:
- Allium cepa (onion) - Dogs
- Cycad seeds (probably sago palm seeds) - Dogs
- Lillium species (Christmas, Easter or November lilly, asiatic and oriental hybrid lillies) - Cats
- Duranta erecta (golden dewdrop) - Dogs
- Cardiac Glycoside-containing species (species of Allamanda, Cascabela, Nerium) - Dogs
- Vitis vinifera (grapes, raisins, sultanas) - Dogs
- White cedar fruit - Dogs
- Persea americana (avocado) fruit - Birds
Certain types of plant poisonings are life-threatening and require emergency veterinary intervention.
In particular, the potential for fatal poisoning of dogs by onions, either alone or incorporated into cooked dishes, cycad seeds, Duranta erecta, oleanders, cats by Lilium species and pet birds by avocados needs to be better recognised by owners of companion animals.
Grape, raisin or sultana poisoning of dogs is a recently recognised, potentially fatal syndrome that also needs to be better known by dog owners.
Previous page: Australian Canine Eye Scheme
Next page: Dog Training @ RivaPetz