During the holiday season, it’s common to receive plants as gifts and to decorate your home with poinsettias and lilies. However, when you have cats and dogs roaming around your home, you need to be aware that plants such as these are hazardous and can cause upset stomachs or even death when ingested by your furry friends.
When you look for plants to put in your home, perform a quick search to find out if it’s poisonous to your pet. The following plants are commonly found during the holiday season, but they are poisonous to pets: Amaryllis, Christmas trees, Holly Berries, Jerusalem Cherry, Lilies, Rosary Pea or Jequirity Bean. These plants can cause different kinds of symptoms. For example, lilies can cause kidney failure while the berries from a Rosary Pea can be life threatening.
You might be tempted to keep one of these plants in your home up on a high shelf, especially if you have been given it as a gift. But you should not do this, because the dead leaves from the plant fall onto the floor and can easily be eaten by your pet. Plus, cats are curious creatures, and when they want to check something out, they will find a way to get up to the high spot where you have put the plant. So when you receive one of these plants as a gift, you should temporarily keep it in a closet until you can find a better home for it.
Some non-toxic plants that you can decorate your home with this holiday season include: African violets, Boston Fern, Jade, Spider plant, Wandering Jew and Wax plant. However, regardless of what type of plants you have in your home, you should discourage your pet from eating them. Ingesting small amounts of the plant could give them mild stomach irritation and it slowly kills your plants.
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