Pets and plants.

Oh deary me. Monty Don commented on Gardeners World about cats and lilies. I am still able to look in on the GW Forum. Wowee the Caven suddenly came alive. The 'Ladies' tending the couldron, and adding more eye of newt, and heart of mouse etc. Suddenly Monty is having all mannner condemnation called down upon him.
I remeber well that not all that time past, GW forum members were on a witch hunt over cats. Now a different story.

I grow lilies and the worst that has happened to me is. A brand new white shirt still bares the pollen stain from a lily.

Folk so often comment upon, 'Mother Natures' warning markings.. Insects etc, brightly marked etc. Read my colours. Keep OFF.

Animals are so well provided for. OK in this instance a cat or dog might take a sniff at a lily. Very seldom will an animal ignore its basic instincs. In cases where a cat or dog has fared worst for eating parts of lilies or many other plants. We need to familiarize ourselfes with what an animal sniff actually says. There may be indicators of a good medicine in there somewhere. Perhaps the animal is deeply troubled by whatever. Typical scenario. Pussy cat or dog has an upset tummy. They can't say to us. Boss. I've got bellyache. Watch them. They are carniferouse animals, mear eaters. Now they are eating grass. Why? They know the latter will become an emetic and make them sick. Oh us know it all humans. We have so much to learn.

 

I understand the worries though Mike......just got a new puppy and fresh concerns about his well being have surfaced.
Knowledge, training and awareness are important. I will still grow lilies; me too, the only casualties have been stains on clothing.
Cats and dogs have always been here without any being poisoned or affected by what grows here.

 

Owners should focus more on what is *in* the house, when it comes to pets being poisoned, than what is outside the house! Far more dangers than they realised and the consequences can be just as grim.
Mind you, sometimes it is the owner who proves to be the "hidden danger" to their pets health. I'd say more so than lily plants in all honesty.

 

Have to agree with that....the home is full of poisons and other dangers. It seems we have to have sprays and concoctions to maintain our clinically clean homes

 

Definitely many cleaning products but I was referring more to the items pets are likely to have access to because their owners are unaware of the consequences: e.g. chocolate; grapes; raisins; sweeteners (or products containing them).

 

I thought Monty made a fair point on GW alerting us to the dangers of lillies in the garden whilst saying it shouldn't be too much of a concern, just to be vigilant. One can cut off the stamens to avoid the possibility of poisoning, staining of clothes etc
If one checks (as I did) which plants are likely to be poisonous before getting a puppy or a kitten, the list is alarmingly long- we'd end up having no garden at all if we took all the advice to the extreme!
I do so agree about there being greater risks in the home, especially in foodstuffs we'd consider to be safe and therefore a treat. I stick to specific dog/cat foods and treats, never human foods, it's not good for them for a variety of reasons.
As for cleaning products, yes, we are encouraged to be sparklingly clean, spotless and germfree. Well, that's why we humans suffer for the odd germ, don't we? Let's abandon housework, eh?
With respect,Mike, I don't understand your point about 'Ladies' and 'couldrons'. I'm sure both male and female members contributed to that thread. It seemed quite a balanced discussion, IMO.

 

Never knew grapes were bad for dogs until last year.
I remember growing up and regularly giving our pets choc bars. How they survived I dont know but we live and learn
Hoping carrots are ok........last dog loved them, runner beans, gooseberries too. With a new puppy any views on these folks?

 

Must animals will not eat nasty things, unless they are hungry (nowt else to eat) or eat it when eating something else by mistake or if an animal knows it's at his/her end of life

 

Had 2 GSDs, and up to 10 cats. When I noted it, cats and dogs pick "certain" grass to eat, they know. never had an issue with plants with either. I just do my job and not spray any poisons on anything. I have heard some of the "lawn" chemicals cause cancers to animals, not from eating from rolling on it, then of course licking their fur.

 

As I remember the lilly and cat problem was not the cat eating the lilly, it was the cat getting covered in pollen and then licking it off in the usual way they groom themselves.

It's probably over done though, most things are, regarding poisonous plants.
It's often brought to our attention by someone who has just started to grow plants and didn't realise you cant eat everything you grow.

 

All are fine, carrots are good fresh from the fridge as a treat for teething puppies. Just watch them whilst they are eating for choking etc.

Avoid nuts, tomatoes, garlic, onions, chives etc too.

 

Thanks Mark

 

Just to clarify, @Mike Allen , dogs aren't carnivorous, they are omnivores, and need a mix of both meat and plant matter to provide a complete and healthy diet for them.

I'm also uncomfortable with your tone regarding "witches" on other forums, though I realise I could be taking that more seriously than it was meant.

The subject of "poisonous" things for animals gets murky I think in part because there is a general assumption that if something is said to be posionous an animal will die regardless of how much they eat. In reality most posionous plants - daffodil bulbs/leaves are the one we always see at this time of year - taste so unpleasent that the animal will usually stop eating after a couple of bites. Enough to cause a nasty upset stomach, but nothing more serious - and, as others have said, most animals will soon learn to avoid eating them.

The problem items are a very small number that are appetising/appealing to animals, readily available, and fatal in relatively small doses. Grapes/raisins in dogs are an issue because there is no link between dose and effect - a 2kg chihuahua could eat a hot cross bun and be fine, a 25kg lab could have a single grape and go into kidney failure. There is no way of predicting how a specific dog will react, and so we have to treat them as potentially fatal in all cases. With cats, antifreeze is a huge issue as something about it's smell/taste attracts them, and the ethylene glycol it contains again causes major kidney damage. Same with lilies; it only takes a small amount of the pollen to send a cat into kidney failure. This does seem to be a bigger problem with cut lilies in the house than garden plants - I'm not sure if that's because cut flowers are dropping their pollen more easily, or because house cats are more curious about new and interesting objects.

I don't include chocolate in that list, despite it's reputation as a posion; the fatal toxic dose is much higher than most people realise, so although I'd never recommend giving it to a dog, the occasional stolen cream egg isn't going to do much more damage than a bit of diarrhoea in most cases.

@Verdun, yes, as @Mark56 said you're absoloutely fine with carrots etc. I've met some dogs who are partial to pumpkin in the autumn too. Good for teeth and much lower calorie than dentastix etc. If he's a pup who likes the taste of his own poo a bit of pineapple on his dinner can sometimes work well at putting them off!

Sorry all, I'll take my work hat off now...

 

Hit the nail on the head there @"M" !

 

Many thanks 2nd Basoon. Yes I should have remembered, all my dogs were great veg eaters Thanks again.