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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017
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TVPJOURNAL.COM
PRACTICAL
TOXICOLOGY
Christmas Plants: Hazards,
History, and Holiday Dangers
Charlotte Means, DVM, MLIS, DABVT, DABT
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
University of Illinois
PRACTICAL TOXICOLOGY
The Christmas season is filled with wonderful
scents, lights, and music. Homes are filled with
family and friends. Plants and bouquets are
frequently presented as gifts, and homes are
decorated with more flowers and plants than
at many other times of the year. Dogs and cats,
being curious, are likely to investigate new plants.
Cats tend to nibble on them, while dogs are
more likely to ingest the entire plant, including
the soil, roots, or bulb. In all cases of plant
ingestion, it is important to identify the ingested
plant, ideally with the genus and species name.
When obtaining a medical history for a pet with
clinical signs of toxicosis, also obtain a list of plants
in the home or yard. If clinical signs fit a potential
exposure to a known plant in the environment,
the plant can be included in the rule-out list and
appropriate therapy initiated. If clinical signs are
not consistent with plant ingestion, the owner
should be asked about other substances, such
as insecticides and fertilizers, that might have
been added to soil. Owners are not always aware
whether a pet has ingested a leaf, eaten the dirt
around the plant, or drunk from a pot reservoir.
Water in the reservoir of pots may contain the
toxic principle of poisonous plants (like cardiac
glycosides) or added substances (like insecticides).
shutterstock.com/Chris Hill
Welcome to Practical Toxicology , brought to
you in partnership between Today's Veterinary
Practice and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control
Center (APCC) ( aspcapro.org/poison ). This
column provides practical clinical information
about diagnosing and treating pets that have
been exposed to potentially harmful substances.
The APCC:
• Provides 24-hour diagnostic and treatment
recommendations by specially trained
veterinary toxicologists
• Protects and improves animal lives through
toxicology education, consulting services, and
case data review
• Developed and maintains AnTox, an animal
toxicology database system that identifies and
characterizes toxic effects of substances in
animals
• Works closely with human poison control
centers to provide animal poisoning information
• Offers extensive veterinary toxicology consulting
to organizations in industry, government, and
agriculture.
If treating a patient that
requires emergency
care for poisoning,
call the APCC at
888-426-4435.