Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
inesinha_gw

Please help identify this dwarf pine

inesinha
9 years ago

I would like to find out as precisely as possible the species of this dwarf pine (that's my initial guess!). My cat got violently and repeatedly sick after playing with it and I'm trying to confirm this plant was the cause.
Many thanks in advance for any help!
Inesinha

Comments (8)

  • gregorson
    9 years ago

    Thuja ?

  • missingtheobvious
    9 years ago

    Is this in your garden or somewhere else?

    I know enough to say it's definitely not a pine, but whether it's a Thuja or something else, I don't know. So I don't know if what it is might be the reason for the cat's reaction.

    But if it's not in your garden but somewhere else, the possibility exists that the shrub was sprayed with something which affected your cat (or lawn near the shrub was sprayed, etc.).

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    its a conifer ... there are some ID gurus in that forum.. that i have never seen here ...

    location.. pic of the whole... and a scale will help ..

    though i have 650 conifers.. i cant tell if its a juniper or fine leafed thuja ...

    but regardless... none of my conifers bother the cat.. nor none of the feral cats in the area ...

    i highly doubt ... this plant is the issue ....

    next time .. mention you are on the other side of the pond .. sometimes it matters ...

    BTW ... what was you cat doing to it ... short of eating it.. i cant comprehend what it could do to her/him????

    good luck

    ken

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Might be a juniper.

  • inesinha
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks all for your replies. Yes, I'm in Northern England. Ha, juniper, not pine, sorry... my shrub ID skills are non-existent. The plant is in my garden (so I can confirm it wasn't sprayed with any toxic liquid), it's about 50 cm tall and the cat was kind of wrestling it (which made me think of plant toxicity, because she would have had skin as well as possible mouth contact).
    I've searched the lists of plants poisonous to cats and none mention thuya or conifers, so maybe it was something else she ate/played with it around the same time. I'll keep an eye on her. Thanks!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    i presume she has fur???... vs hairless ... brrrr .. lol ...

    these things can irritate skin.. when i work IN them ... making little cuts.. that the salt in my sweat makes itchy ... but i never threw up about it ... usually just selective words thrown about ....

    any chance... she has some predilection to gin ... since juniper is the base plant for gin berries... i know you Brits have a thing about gin ... but never heard of a cat having it.. lol ...

    hope you have a sense of humor... i really dont think this plant was the culprit ...

    whatever it was.. odds are.. she wont be eating it again ... cats.. nor dogs.. and that stupid.. have some faith ...

    BTW... God knows why.. but my cat used to eat crickets ... and throw up have chewed pointy legs ... she gave that up pretty fast... we started calling her renfield .. see this link:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=renfield&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=rcs&q=renfield+eats+bugs

    i wish you luck ....

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • inesinha
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Well, with everyone's help I found it's a Juniperus sabina, listed as poisonous to cats in a few websites. It's going tomorrow, I'm afraid, sorry for any junioerus lovers around...
    Ken, she is *very* hairy, helps survive English weather! And, yes, poor thing, won't ever be able to enjoy gin & tonic! Loved the story of your cricket-eating cat. Crunchy! Was she trying to jump as high as a cricket?! lol
    Thanks again,
    Ines

  • inesinha
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Well, with everyone's help I found it's a Juniperus sabina, listed as poisonous to cats in a few websites. It's going tomorrow, I'm afraid, sorry for any junioerus lovers around...
    Ken, she is *very* hairy, helps survive English weather! And, yes, poor thing, won't ever be able to enjoy gin & tonic! Loved the story of your cricket-eating cat. Crunchy! Was she trying to jump as high as a cricket?! lol
    Thanks again,
    Ines

Sponsored
Craftsman Construction
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars25 Reviews
Loudoun County's Trusted Home Builder 3x Best of Houzz Award Winner