Deadly Dog Dinners

You love your pet, and nothing makes you happier than watching him playfully romping around the family garden or feeding him tidbits from the family table. But be careful, many common garden staples and everyday foods are deadly to the family pet.

Sometimes the danger lies outside, below eye level. Gardeners protecting tender plants love Cocoa mulch and also may apply coffee grounds to their gardens as fertilizer. Both are very dangerous to dogs. Cocoa Mulch is chocolate and like all chocolate contains theobromine. Beloved by high school or college students gobbling chocolate bars to stay awake during long testing sessions, its stimulant and diuretic properties could prove fatal to Fido. Likewise, coffee. Caffeine, like theobromine, is valued by humans for its alertness-inducing qualities, but it can prove too much for the dog's heart.

Sometimes the danger likes just outside the door. Plants in the Hydrangea, Barberry and Buttercup families all have members that can sicken humans and kill dogs.

With Hydrangeas, the culprit is cyanide. The leaves of the beautiful puffy white, blue or pink balls of blossoms contain enough of the oxygen-destroying poison to lay your dog out. Likewise, don't let him consume peach, apricot, or cherry pits. All of the seeds of the stone fruit families are loaded with cyanide, so keep him away from the garbage and watch him around fruit trees of those species.

Heavenly Bamboo, (Nandina) is an Asian ornamental not related to Bamboos, which are grasses, is traditionally planted near a door for good fortune. It won't be lucky for your dog if he runs into it because it is loaded with cyanide which bothers the birds who spread its seeds not a bit, but is fatal to Fido.

Christmas Rose, Easter Rose, Lenten Rose put the Hell in Hellebores. In ancient times, the toxins from these plants were used as a primitive form of chemical warfare to poison the water supplies of warring states. Today these plants are prized for their ability to bloom through snow and ice, but they can also ice your dog.

Make sure you have a tight lid for your garbage pail. Discarded rhubarb leaves, potato peelings, green potatoes and the leaves of tomatoes all have powerful alkali poisons that can put your dog or cat under. In fact, your children won't fare well if they get their hands on any of these either. The culprit in is oxalic acid. This is also found in common houseplants such as Dieffenbachia (Dumbcane) and Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum). The Brooklyn Botanic Garden cites Peace Lilly poisoning as among the top reasons that people wind up calling poison control centers.

Don't assume that human delicacies are delicacies for dogs. Case in point: Raisins and grapes, both of which are toxic to canines. For some reason unknown to science these are kidney-wreckers in dogs. Mushrooms should never be fed to dogs. They damage the livers and kidneys. Avocados are also unwise since every part of the tree and fruit are toxic to dogs. The entire Allium family, which includes onions, leeks and garlic are also toxic to dogs and can do significant damage to the dog's hemoglobin and red blood cells.

Keep all of these plants and foods away from your dog and he will remain a healthy companion for years to come.

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Sources:
www.bbg.org/exp/wickedplants/

www2.aspca.org/site/DocServer/vetm0805_562-566.pdf

www.animalpetsandfriends.com/Article/25-Human-Foods-Toxic-To-Dogs/300

www.dungenessranchpetresort.com/products/_inc/vetm0805_562_566.pdf