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Peaceful Co-existence Between Your Pets and Your House Plants

© Mary Henry

It's November. Do you know where Fido and Mittens are? I hope they're not expressing their boredom at being back inside by nibbling or gnawing on your house plants. Having both live plants and live animals in the same space can be a problem without some thoughtful planning and supervision. Do you know which plants would hurt them? They don't. Puppies and kittens will chew on almost anything that doesn't taste bad when they are teething. Older pets sometimes appear to try to punish us for leaving them at home by going on chewing rampages. We also have dulled their instinctive preferences by teaching them to like treats that we like but that are not part of their natural diet. What should you do? Get rid of the plants or the pets? Do you have places to put the plants that pets cannot reach? Can the plants' needs be met in those places?

Some people respond to the addition of a baby to the family by getting rid of everything that just might cause harm. While there may be some justification for that with a child, such extreme measures for pets would certainly dampen my delight in having them in my home. It isn't necessary to go that far, we just need to learn a bit and practice safe indoor gardening.

The first step is to become aware of what plants can hurt your pets. Here is a list from the University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine of plants known to be toxic to animals. The first version is by botanical name and the second is by common name. There are further database entries for many of the plants often including pictures and descriptions of the effects you might see. Unfortunately, most of the studies have been done on effects on livestock, so there isn't a great deal of information on the plants that are most likely to be in your home. Looking at the list shows that most spring bulbs that are forced indoors are toxic as are Philodendrons, azaleas (as members of the genus, Rhododendron), English ivy (Hedera) and Jerusalem cherries (Solanum). All of these are often used as holiday decorations in our homes.

Though not specifically listed as toxic to pets, I would not let my pets sample any of the plants known to be toxic to humans. There is always the possibility that they will affect other mammals as they do us. This list includes Dieffenbachia, Oleander, Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia), Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia), Eucalyptus, Rosary Vine (Ceropegia) and Primrose (Primula) which are often grown as house plants.

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