I WANT PRETTY HOUSEPLANTS…BUT I HAVE A PET! UGH.

By Zoe Forward, DVM, Dipl. ABVP (canine/feline)

We all know some of those pretty house plants are bad for pets, especially those acrobatic cats who can make it to the top shelf where you tried to “hide” the plant. The tricky part is which ones are clearly an issue and need to be on the top of your  DON’T GET THIS ONE list.

Which plants are definite no no’s?

1. Lily (Lilium spp) – Gorgeous plants but every part of the plant is a problem (flower, stem, leaf).

          What does it do? KIDNEY FAILURE

 

 

 

2. Marijuana ( Cannabis sativa ) – Please don’t let your dog accidentally eat the “special brownies.” I can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen a pet show up after this. Dogs love chocolate. They don’t know you’ve made an addition. Even a small amount can be a big problem. And, as a hint, if it happens, just tell us. Please don’t be cagy. We don’t judge. We’ve seen it. We want your pet to live.

          What symptoms? Marked lethargy  and incoordination (walking as if drunk), digestive tract upset ( vomiting, diarrhea), drooling, BUT this can progress to seizures and coma.

3. Azalea or Rhododendron (Rhododenron spp) – Eating the flowers and leaves can affect the brain and digestive tract.

          What symptoms? Drooling, digestive upset (vomit, diarrhea) BUT too much can cause DEATH!!

 

4. Oleander – This is a very popular outdoor shrub because it’s an evergreen, but super bad for pets.

 

What’s it cause? Digestive tract upset….then heart problems (arrhythmia)…then DEATH!

 

 

 

5. Yew  (Taxus spp)—popular decorative shrub. IF eaten it affects the nerves and brain.

          What’s it do? Trembling, incoordination (walking as if drunk)…then heart failure and DEATH.

 

And then the other plants which are not deadly but can cause a lot of mouth irritation and possible vomit/diarrhea:

Pothos, Schefflera, English Ivy, Peace Lily (please note this is Mauna Loa Peace Lily, not a lily as noted above), chrysanthemum.

 

**This is not an exhaustive list. There are many others that are issues. This are just the most popular ones in our area.

 

 

Pic Sources:

Lily: http://bit.ly/208LjtB

Marijuana: http://bit.ly/1MgI88J

Azalea: http://bit.ly/1N5XMsz

Oleander: http://bit.ly/1OVHLXK

WHAT’S A GOOD PET FOOD?

By Zoe Forward, DVM, Dipl. ABVP (canine/Feline)

 

Picking the right pet food can be stressful and overwhelming with the multitude of options available. There are good foods on the shelf and, unfortunately, some not so good foods. But what’s right for your pet?

 

1. SPECIAL NEEDS OF YOUR PET – The most important step is to identify any medical problems that might require a specific type of ingredient in your pet’s food (such as those pets who have a food allergy) or special formulation of the food (such as those pets with liver or kidney disease, or chronic urinary problems). If your pet has a specific medical problem, then you need to consult with your veterinarian. A prescription diet may be the only option in many cases. In some cases there may be over-the-counter option.

 

2.  THE BRAND: We can get all caught up in ingredients and label claims but when it comes down to quality it depends on who made the food. That doesn’t mean you have to “recognize” the brand, but you do need to read the label to find out if the bag is made by that specific brand or if it’s someone else’s food repackaged. You want the bag to say “Manufactured by X brand.”  NOT “Manufactured for X brand.” The for in there means they made the label and put someone else’s food in the bag. That also means there’s little, probably no, oversight on quality control. They just market the food.

 

3. INGREDIENTS MATTER: There’s no hard and fast rule for what’s the “best” in the ingredient list but the first five ingredients should be recognizable to you as food (e.g., corn, beef, chicken, meat, meat byproduct, etc). That means you don’t want corn syrup, salt, animal fat or some chemical name to appear in the first few ingredients.

 

4. UNDERSTAND THE LABEL and AVOID MARKETING PLOYS:

    By-products: The reason byproducts have a bad reputation is the companies that don’t use them market this fact. Does that make their food better? No. That means we, as consumers, are trained to think something is wrong when in fact it’s not a problem. This is a negative marketing ploy.

     What is a meat by-product? Byproducts are parts of the animal the human food market didn’t use. It is most often internal organ meat.  The U.S. Food & Drug Administration as well as the Association of American Feed Control Officials says the generic term “meat,” whether associated with byproduct or not, refers to one of 4 meats: cattle, pigs, sheep or goats. It is NOT horse meat or roadkill. According to pet nutrition expert Dr. Lisa Werenth¹, “I don’t worry about byproducts. For the generally healthy dog, byproducts are a great source of protein and nutrients…The only time I worry about byproducts is with an animal with liver disease who shouldn’t be consuming organ meats.” 3

 

     Human grade or organic: These nutrition trends are rampant in the human food market and the pet food marketing machine has taken this on. The reality is NOTHING goes into pet food that is human grade. Once food leaves the USDA inspected facility it’s pet food.

     Organic: The expectation is the food is produced according to current USDA standards. However, monitoring pet food to ensure it is organic is very low priority for the USDA and there are no official rules governing organic pet food. That means, who knows if the food is actually organic based on human food standards. Boutique foods like to boast themselves as organic. And it’s fine to feed these foods but if you’re feeding a lesser known food go back to #1 above. Who is making the food?

 

 Pic sources:

Westie and food: http://bit.ly/1V5Gykn

Cat food: http://bit.ly/1Yvbgmc

Cat in bag: http://bit.ly/1gGqsKY

 

*1. DVM360 Vol 46, No 9, pp.26-29