hi everyone, I found my plants chewed and my cat sick. Can anyone please ID this plant and tell me if this might be the cause?? I would appreciate any help! many thanks
most of the plants we keep as house plants have some amount of toxicity to our pets. most will only cause a bit of tummy upset...others can be quite dangerous. this looks like one of the wandering jew's. tradescantia family. maybe it's the moses-in-a-boat one, not sure. my other cat liked to chew the wandering jew that i had (the one that is viney and has the small leaves). she'd just get a bit of a tummy upset and vomit a little and then she'd be fine. she basically just chewed on a couple leaves - never actually ingested any of them (or, if she did, it was just a small piece of one leaf. i'd periodically find tooth holes in the leaves and very rarely would find any pieces actually ripped off). not sure how toxic the one you have would be. if the cat actually ate some of it, rather than just chewing at the leaves, then i'd be concerned. especially since you say the cat is acting ill. call your vet for advice on how to treat!!!!!!!!! you can also call poison control - they'll charge you though and you'll still have to contact your vet, so, save time and do that first!! as i said, most plants have some amount of danger to our pets...most of the usual types aren't all the bad if they pose a problem. and most will not cause anything more than a bit of upset if just chewed at...actually eating them may be a different story. most of the aroids, palms, euphorbias and cacti are very dangerous to pets and should be kept in spots where the animals won't have access. hope your kitty is okay!!!
I agree, tradescantia family, spider wort, moses-in-a-boat + several other common names. Check the link below. They have a pretty good general list of poison house plants, but it is not listed here: http://www.ttlntl.co.uk/2/Health/poisonplants.htm BUT!! check this one out - it is! http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Tradepa.htm barb
The ASPCA site also has a great search/listing of toxic and non-toxic plants. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/ Hope your kitty is feeling better soon!
Wandering jew (green common one with white flower) will give dogs bad skin rashes if they come into contact with it. makes there skin very itchy and red Liz (who has an overun section that is fenced off)
Hey everyone, just wanted to say thanks for all the info! it was all very interesting and very informative and the best part is my cat is pretty much back to her old self. I guess she just needed to go thru it on her own. It worried me quite a bit as she didn't touch her food or water and didn't want to be handled....but she all good now. thanks again for everything!!
well, hopefully, she's learned her lesson and will leave the plant alone!!! one of the reasons my other cat's name was 'dummy' was because she never learned...no serious damage though, so, that, at least, is a bit of a plus.
spetko, Try buying her her own Spider plant. "CHLOROPHYTUM comosum". My cats love it and chew it all to smitherenes if I don't hang it from the ceiling. Better yet, buy her a Catmint, NEPETA faassenii, or Catnip, NEPETA cataria. That can be hilarious for you! They have been called "Kitty Pot" and affect some cats very much and some not at all. barb
