Check your plants

I just got back from the vet an hour ago. The cat ate part of a plant I thought was safe, it wasn't. I have had a philodendron for years, no problems. They are used in reptile tanks so I assumed they are safe. They aren't. My cat apparently ate part of it today. When I arrived home from work I found piles of vomit and a very messy litterbox. It occurred to me to check possible culprits, the plant was missing leaves. We are lucky. My vet stayed open for me and gave her fluids and anti nausea meds. She should be fine. Needless to say the plant is now out on the porch until I can dispose of it. Please check your plants.

Keep your fingers crossed that Mokey continues to improve. We have snow tonight and the emergency vet is an hour away.

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on January 12, 2016 at 10:36pm

Yup. Lots of ordinary houseplants we think of as harmless are not at all good for pets. There's a PDF here, where you can see a list without having to click through an annoying endless series of pages: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/plants_poisonou...

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Permalink Reply by Linda on January 13, 2016 at 7:39am

Good thoughts that Mokey is much better this morning! Those are bad plants for cats. Reptiles are entirely different critters for any kind of plants. They are also not toxic to dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on January 13, 2016 at 10:04am

Oh no! I hope kitty does well. Lots of plants can be toxic, and the list is different for dogs and cats. MOST dogs won't eat most of the toxic plants (rhododendron is toxic, for instance, but I have never ever seen a dog try to eat a rhododendron).

Jack eats Christmas cactus flowers, and I think technically they are on the toxic list, but he doesn't eat enough to matter.

Not a lot of cats will actually ingest a plant, but many will bite at them. Some need to be eaten in quantities to be toxic, others will cause localized reactions or burning even if just nibbled.

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on January 14, 2016 at 8:36pm

I dunno... my greyhound ate some yellow oleander pods one time. Vet remained calm (though I was freaking) and the dog was fine...but oleanders are horrid and one wonders why any critter would ingest any part of the things.

LOL! I had a cat once that would eat a houseplant right down to the ground. He especially favored umbrella plants. This is one reason why we have dogs now.

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on January 15, 2016 at 8:08pm

Mokey seems to be fully recovered. It was scary for both of us. Becca, has been extremely annoyed at the extra attention Mokey is getting. Her resource guarding issues have cropped up again. Consistently is Becca's best friend.