Plants and Pets

Before bringing plants into your home, check to make sure they aren’t toxic to pets or children.  This “Pet-friendly plants” list is a great starting point.

I’d seen this listing of common house plants that are “Pet-friendly plants” and “Toxic plants for pets” at my Veterinarian’s office the past few times I’ve been.  Each time I thought “this would make a GREAT blog post!”  I’ve taken photos with my iPad and made a mental note to post something…

Then I build something and forget (again, and again).

This time, my Vet gave me a tear-away page to bring home with me.

I’ve searched online and I cannot find the original version of this anywhere, so my post will have to be based on a few iPad photos and a scan – I apologize for that – but the information on here is fantastic and really important if you have pets (and I’d hazard a guess that these would be toxic to small children as well).

Pet-Friendly plants – Plants & Pets

Above is the poster our vet in her office, but the best I could get (beyond this photo) was a scan of the tear-away to create a pdf file:

Click the image for the original pdf which is much clearer to read.

This listing of pet-friendly plants and toxic plants to pets is not comprehensive and a more complete listing for dogs cats and horses can be found at www.ASPCA.org.

Given that we are entering cooler weather, and the inclination to bring some greenery indoors is high, this listing of pet-friendly plants and toxic plants to pets should be foremost on your mind before buying anything.

Again, I apologize for the quality, but hope you find the information as valuable as I did.

Update:  we lost our kitten, Phoebe, to a daylily in our yard.  She was a house cat and on one of her first ventures out she must have licked a leaf (to our Vet’s best guess).  None of our other pets had/have ever bothered with the outdoor daylilies that are scattered all over our neighbourhood, so it came as a complete shock when our tragedy hit.  Please do your own research regarding the toxicity of outdoor plants in your area and at the first signs of a lethargic or limp pet, head to the vet immediately!