Pet Dog Eats 'Highly Poisonous' Household Plant, Had To Be Euthanized

A dog had to be put down last week after it consumed a “highly poisonous” household plant in Louisiana.

Nicole Lynn recently moved into a new home which had “two cute little palm trees in the backyard beside the pool.” The family’s nine-month-old puppy named Rocky enjoyed playing in the backyard until the day she noticed the canine “seemed lethargic and just not himself.” The family rushed the dog to a vet after the animal began vomiting.

“We were trying to figure out why he had become so ill out of nowhere and mentioned to the vet we had just moved. The vet then asked us if we happened to have sago palm trees in our yard. We didn’t know but upon research both trees are indeed sago palms which happen to be highly poisonous to dogs. The entire plant is poisonous and if ingested can be deadly.”

The family brought the dog back home the same night and tried to keep him as comfortable and possible. However, the dog refused to eat. The family was informed that the dog’s liver was damaged and it was irreversible. The symptoms became so severe that the animal had to be put down.

In a Facebook post, Lynn said, “It pains me deeply to inform everyone but Rocky passed away yesterday evening, he will be greatly missed. It was by far one of the hardest thing we have had to experience but he is at peace now and is no longer suffering.”

Warning pet owners about the plant, Lynn said, “The plant is also poisonous to cats, so to my cat mums and dads out there, I’d advice if you can to just eliminate any sago palms on your property if possible it’s really just not worth the risk.”

Speaking to Yahoo 7, veterinarian Dr. Simon Ilkin said, “It’s a surprisingly popular type of palm that we normally group into what we call cycads. We have seen many cases where dogs are nauseous and showing signs of liver failure.”

He added that the only way to save a pet is by rapid detoxification and that it also depends on how fast the owner brings the animal to the vet.

“The toxins are a nasty gut irritant, sometimes if we’re lucky the animal will have vomiting and diarrhea which will work to purge it out of their system. We really worry when it has been absorbed and starts to cause things like neurological issues, clotting, spontaneous bleeding, jaundice, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC),” he said.