It’s officially Spring, people that own puppies need to be very conscious of plants in their yards as well as house plants. I found out that my Aloe Vera plant is mildly toxic to dogs, my wife kept on asking me about it. Honey, is that Aloe safe to have in the back yard? Honey, are you sure about this Aloe Vera plant?, I’d hate for one of the dogs to break off some and get sick, (you know how they do when they are in the midst of their zoomies). Before she asked me a third time I decided to double check on this issue. To my surprise, it is. The ASPCA website says that the clinical Signs are, “Vomiting (not horses), lethargy, & diarrhea. The gel is considered edible”.
I read other articles and found that it is the “latex” part of the plant that contributes to it’s toxicity in dogs and when ingested, the body metabolizes the glycosides with bacteria found in the intestinal tract. This produces a compound that increases mucus and water in the colon, causing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
My Aloe Vera is safely placed on my kitchen counter until I can find a new home for it. If you haven’t seen ASPCA’s list of plants to watch out for, here it is, a very helpful tool!
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/a?&
Cheers,
Pete
