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/anima...ats-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