Plant toxicity -

I was recently at a T shirt shop reviewin the artwork for our newest Keep Wagging T-shirt design when the owner of the company told me a story about his dogs. One that I hate hearing because I hear it fairly frequently. He had two dogs, both of which ingested seeds from a small Cycad (related to Palm trees). I was somewhat familiar with the plant because it is used often in landscaping because of its unique look.

The plant is commonly referred to as a "Cardboard plant" or "cardboard palm" and looks fairly benign. However, when the plant has seeds, many animals will gnaw on the corn cob like structure that houses the bright red (first warning sign) seeds. The owner told me that his two dogs had gotten one of the corn cobs and chewed on it. One dog swallowed the seeds while the other dog (the "chewer" as he said) actually chewed on them before swallowing. Unfortunately the dog that chewed them died later that evening while the other dog managed to pass the seeds and survived.

I had never heard of this toxic plant so I did a little research. You can take a look at the wonderful ASPCA website to not only learn about this plant but all others. I'd encourage you to familiarize yourself with the local plants to possibly avoid this scenario. You can also find out more at the Florida Palm Tree site.

The cardboard palm is toxic to horses, dogs and cats and the seeds really do some terrible damage to the GI tract and liver before ultimately leading to the animals death.

And remember that if your dog is vomiting, drooling or showing other signs that it may have ingested something toxic, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 88-426-4435 for guidance. And the quicker you can get your pet to a 24 hour emergency pet clinic, the better.

Keep your pets safe, healthy and Keep Wagging!

Monique