Here's a little something to chew on...
I'll never forget the first time I sprayed my kitten, Hobbes, with water. It hurt me more than it hurt him…and I told him that, out of fear he would never ‘head-boep’ me the same way again.
Why was my cat acting like my Monstera was cat nip when in fact it’s known to be slightly toxic to cats? Are animals not meant to be naturally deterred by things that are bad for them?
Stranger Things
Now, there’s no need to toss out your poor Snake Plant, no one is hinting at a Stranger Things episode here, but what you do need to know is that on a certain level, some of your houseplants may be considered harmful to pets and small children…should they ingest a fair amount of the plant.
What are Calcium Oxalate crystals?
Indoor plants considered toxic contain insoluble crystals of Calcium Oxalate. It’s a biomineral found in plant tissue that helps the plant function. Sometimes the crystals are arranged in such a way to make the plant harmful to grazing animals. In this case crystals look like needles, and when the plant is damaged these needles embed themselves in the oral cavity.
Now, although these symptoms can be serious, a LOT of these crystals would have to be ingested for it to be severe. Mostly the leaf munching culprit will just feel irritation, which explains why your pet will continue its aphid-like behaviour.
Veterinarian, Jeanine Holt dishes the dirt:
"I wouldn’t say that we often get animals coming in because they’ve eaten houseplants, more often what’s dangerous to pets in the house is human medication or food, like xylitol toxicity, chocolate and marijuana.”
"Some common things that are known to be poisonous like avocados – we see pets eat them all the time and are fine, so it also depends on the animal. Clinical signs depend on what the toxin is but most commonly include vomiting and diarrhea, salivation, excessive tearing, swelling of the lips and mucosa when they’ve touched a plant and it’s burning them.”
Plants to keep out of reach
From Jeanine’s experience she advises that most plants with a white sap should be kept away from curious pets, including Euphorbias, Rubber Plants and the African Milk Tree, and of course Cycads.
But if you have curious little humans or animals around that love putting things in their mouths, it’s best to keep the toxic plants out of reach.
