Sago Palms - poisonous to dogs

16 years ago

We had two large beautiful Sago Palms in out back yard. We kept out Champion Border Collie cowdog back there also. She was eight years old and we had kept her there since she was a puppy. She was also our great family pet and companion. She had puppies and we kept one of the puppies. We also kept the puppy in the yard.

Puppies chew on and eat anything. She discovered the little shoots that come up from the roots under the sago plants. She crawled up under the plants where we did not see her nor the shoots. She really feasted on the shoots. The mama dog in playing with the puppy also started chewing on the shoots. The puppy got sick and was vomiting and her stomach was swollen. We took her to the vet and discovered that her liver was destroyed. She lived another week and we had to put her to sleep because of the pain she was in. There was no treatment that would save her.

The mama dog lived another three months and we also had to put her to sleep. The vet said that they had eaten some kind of plant that was poisonous to dogs. We did research online and found that Sago Palms are one of the ten most poisonous plants to pets according to the SPCA. We went and looked at our Sagos and found up underneath the plants that the shoots had been eaten and chewed on by the dogs. The top part of the plant is poisonous but not as deadly as the shoots underneath. The mama dog had stayed in the yard for years and had never eaten on or played with the Sagos.

I know that this is not all about plants but if I could keep someone from loosing a much loved family pet I would be happy. Certain kinds of lillies are also very poisonous.

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Comments (4)

birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Heart, I'm terribly sorry about your dog/pup..oh that's horrible..
I've never heard Sago as a toxic plant, but one never knows.
I went to Wikipedia to see if they had info on Cycads, but it didn't mention whether or not it was poisonous.
Where did you find this list? I have birds, and always worry whether or not they're going to land on a plant and take a nibble.
Again I'm so sorry..I can't believe a plant worked on the pup's liver so quickly..Do you know if the pup was eating the Sago longer than you thought?
Did they say Mom's liver was also affected? Toni
heartsy
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes, both dog's liver was completely destroyed. Both had thier stomachs to swell terribly and accumulate fluid. We tried to save the mama dog and spent a lot of money on her but to no avail. The vet said it was impossible for a dog to live with as much damage as they had. Go to the ASPCA website and you can find a list of all poisonous plants to animals. It is different for dogs and cats. Some plants will hurt dogs but will not hurt cats. You can also google it, just put in poisonous plants to animals. When a dog is affected by a poisonous plant, the damage starts immediately and does not take long to become apparent that something is wrong.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
16 years ago
It's important to do a toxicity search on backyard and house plants if animals or children have an opportunity to investigate.

Toni, if you do a simple search on Sago Palm Toxicity, you'll soon find plenty of information about this plant. Leaving out the key word 'toxic' or 'poisonous' in a search will result in landscaping or botanical information.

Heartsy, I am so sorry for your loss.
birdsnblooms
16 years ago
I had no idea Sago's were toxic..also checked other plants listed..
Thanks Heartsy and Rhizo..
One reason I stopped growing Oleander was because of its toxicity..Even to humans. So, I can imagine what would happen if a bird, cat, dog nibbled on it..
Heartsy, is there a dad in the picture? Toni