4G Treatment
depends on what
type of plant is
ingested, how much

plant is eaten... 99

SAY .YOU are watching
TV_ one night and your
dog comes over to give you
a big lick. Except he doesn’t
lick...

By Anna Marie D’Angelo
News Reporter

And say, at the same time, you
notice your floor-model
philodendron is missing a few big
leaves. :

Then you notice a trail of dirt
and leaf bits from the plant over
to your dog.

And your dog doesn’t lick you
again...

What are you going to do,
besides use up all the paper
towels?

“It’s extremely uncommon, and
I am personally unaware of any
animals (dogs and cats) who have
died after ingestion of plants,’
said Brad Gilbert, BC Veterinary
Association spokesman who prac-
tises on the North Shore.

So Rover is not going to die.
But he is stil} sick.

Gilbert says that pet owners
should be reassured because cats
and dogs are carnivores and car-
nivores tend to regurgitate most
materials that are irritating them.

“We have more of a problem
with plants causing physical irrita-
tion, when the critters are eating
them,’’ said Gilbert.

KARIM REMTULLA.
(Tele.) 984-9711

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NEWS photo Mike Wskefleld

PARENTS and pet owners should be berry careful about seme common plants which are

poisonous.

“They go down and cut the in-
side of the throat and sometimes
cats and dogs will try to reject this
material and cough it back up into
the nasal-pharynx (area) and we
have to surgically remove it,’’ said
Gilbert.

He said the most common
plants that cause physical irrita-
tion are blade grass, ferns and
especially palms.

The symptoms of toxic plant
poisoning in cats and dogs include
vomiting (regurgitating) and
salivating.

Gilbert: said treatment depends
on what type of plant is ingested,
how much plant is eaten and the
animal’s size,

Treatment may include:
®@ causing the animal to vomit;

@ giving the animal material

LEATHER & FINE FUR

which will absorb the toxic mate-
rial;

@ or supporting the anima! while
the ingested toxin circulates and
then is removed from the animal’s
body.

Parents of children who have a
hankering for eating indoor or
outdoor plants should also be re-
assured about tie common prcab-
lem.

According to BC Poison Con-
trol Centre spokesman Gillian
Willis, one child has died in ap-
proximately the last 10 years from
eating a poisonous plant.

The five-year-old lived in the
Victoria area and had eaten
poison hemlock.

The poison contro! centre
recommends that people keep
ipecac syrup on hand and only use

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it if advised by the centre or a
doctor. (Ipecac can be bought at a
drug store.)

“It is a very common problem
(for children to eat plants),”’ said
Willis.

Poison symptoms include
vomiting, muscle weakness (prob-
lems standing), lack of appetite,
skin rash, swelling of the mouth
and throat, and stomach ache.

BC Poison Control hotline
number is 682-5050.

The BC Poison Control Centre
says that any plant may cause an
unexpected reaction in certain in-
dividuals.

People should immediately con-
sult the BC Poison Control Cen-
tre, a doctor or in the case of
animals, a veterinarian, if they
suspect poisoning.

TOXIC AND
DANGEROUS:

The following are some
Dlants considered toxic,
meaning poisonous and
possibly dangerous, by BC
Poison Control Centre:
® anemone, angel's trumpet,
apricot (kernel), arrowhead,
avocado (leaf), azalea;

@ betel nut palm, bit-
tersweet, buckeye, buttercup;
@ caladiuni, calla lily, castor
bean, cherries (wild and
cultivated), crocus (autumn);
edaffodil, daphne,
delphinium, devil’s ivy, dicf-
fenbachia (dumb cane);

® elderberry, elephant’s ear,
English ivy;

@ four o’clock, foxglove;

@ holly berries, horse
chestnut, horsetzil reed, hya-
cinth, hydrangea;

@ iris;

© Jack-in-the-pulpit, jequiri-
ty bean or pea, Jerusalem
cherry, jessamine (jasmine),
jimson weed (thorn apple),
jonquii;

®laburnum, Lantana
camara (red sage), larckspur,
laurel, lily of the valley,
lobelia; |

© marijuana, mayapple, miis-
tletoe, moonseed,
monkshocd, morning glory;
®@ narcissus, nightshade;

@ oleander;

9 periwinkle, peyote
(meseal), philodendron,
Poinsettia, poison btemlock,
poison ivy, poison oak, pop-
py (California poppy ex-
cepted), pokeweed, potato
sprouts; ‘
® ranunculus, rhododen-
dron, rhubarb leaves, rosary
pea;

@ Star-of-Bethlehem, tobac-
co, tomato (except fruit),
tulip;

® water hemlock, wisteria;

@ yew.

Same as Cash!

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