| Many of our lovely garden plants are | | | | quickly (and painfully) if enough is eaten. |
| poisonous to children, but children don't | | | | It should be placed under something heavy |
| usually go into the garden intending to eat | | | | such as rocks, logs or pot plants. Another |
| them! We can warn our children away from | | | | idea is to use a piece of metal pipe, so long |
| pretty berries and they will (usually) take | | | | as it is long and narrow enough to exclude |
| notice. But what about our pets? Some plants | | | | animals' paws and noses. This is a good idea |
| are absolutely toxic to cats and dogs | | | | for positioning rat poison, too. |
| | | | |
| For instance, the bulbs or rhizomes of | | | | Always keep pets and children off lawns that |
| lilliums, iris, lily of the valley and | | | | have been sprayed with weedkillers until the |
| agapanthus are lethal to cats. The poison | | | | spray has dried and preferably for |
| hidden away in these otherwise delightful | | | | twenty-four hours afterwards. |
| plants will destroy your cat's kidneys | | | | |
| completely, should they be ingested. While | | | | Symptoms of poisoning in dogs and cats |
| this sounds like bad news, it's not very | | | | include stumbling, salivating, vomiting or |
| likely that pussycat will dig up the plants | | | | having seizures, or other unusual behaviours. |
| especially to have a chew at the roots. On | | | | Take the suspect product or plant with you |
| the other hand, some cats love to chew at | | | | when you go to the vet. |
| anything, so if you dig the plants up for any | | | | |
| reason just be aware of the problem. | | | | The shellback or paralysis tick, in those |
| | | | areas affected by this little pest, can also |
| There are also a range of plants that are | | | | cause some of the above symptoms. It is |
| extremely poisonous to dogs. These are called | | | | smaller than the bottle ticks that have a |
| the dogbanes because they are the bane, or | | | | metallic blue colour when full of blood, and |
| nemesis of dogs. In this case, it is the sap | | | | larger than the tiny grass tick, which causes |
| that is the problem; so if you have a | | | | nothing more than irritation and itch. If you |
| mischievous puppy or dog that likes to chew | | | | are unfortunate enough to find one on your |
| plants in your garden, beware! | | | | pet, it will have a wrinkled back, rather |
| | | | like a shell. Often the first symptom you |
| Many of the dogbane family come from the | | | | will notice is that your pet has difficulty |
| tropics, flower for long periods and have | | | | walking, for the back legs quickly become |
| sweet perfumes. They include such diverse | | | | paralyzed. These days, an injection will save |
| plants as the frangipanni, the mandevilla | | | | your pet's life so long as you get it quickly |
| group, eg, Brazilian jasmine, oleanders, | | | | enough. In the old days, coffee essence was |
| wintersweet and the vinca family, including | | | | used to stimulate the heart until the animal |
| the periwinkle. While toxic to dogs, this | | | | recovered. But that didn't always work. |
| last plant is saved from a bad reputation by | | | | |
| being used in the treatment of diabetes and | | | | It is wise to keep a tick collar on your dog |
| some cancers. | | | | or cat, or use a pour-on tickicide - |
| | | | poisonous to ticks, but not to our canine and |
| Garden poisons can also adversely affect your | | | | feline friends. |
| pets. Snail bait can kill a dog or cat very | | | | |