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Why is it important for us to know about poisonous plants?
- prevent exposure
- identify in case of possible poisoning
- determine treatment
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How can we prevent exposure to poisonous plants?
- house: do not leave plants within reach
- yard: block off or eliminate
- pasture: do not allow livestock to graze in dangerous areas and do not toss dangerous brush into pasture
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How do we usually treat an animal who has ingested a poisonous plant?
supportive
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Why are some plants poisonous?
protect them from being eaten
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When do most plants become harmful to animals?
when they are eaten in large amounts in a short period of time
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Do poisonous plants taste good?
some taste good and some taste bad
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When would animals eat poisonous plants that taste bad?
- when nothing else is available
- when they are not able to selectively avoid the plants (example - when its in hay or silage)
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What kind of behavior traits causes an animal to eat poisonous plants?
- separation anxiety
- oral orientation
- destructive behavior
- attention seeking behavior
- relief of stress or boredom
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What kind of effects can poisonous plants have on large animals?
- death
- abortions
- debilitation
- photosensitization - becomes more suceptible to sunburn
- birth defects
- poor production - won't gain weight to sell well
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What are some reasons large animals will ingest poisonous plants?
- extreme hunger
- overgrazed pastures
- moving
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Which types of plants are the most poisonous to livestock in Virginia?
- yew
- wild cherry
- oak (acorn)
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Is the confirmation of an animal ingesting a poisonous plant easy or difficult? Why?
- difficult
- clinical signs are non-specific, few tests are available, difficult to run comprehensive lab tests for poisoning
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What do we need to do to support the diagnosis of plant poisoning?
- confirm exposure of the animal to the plant
- identify the plant
- confirm that the plant was eaten
- correlate clinical signs
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How do we confirm that a poisonous plant had been eaten?
- is the plant chewed up?
- are there plant fragments in the vomit?
- how much of the plant is left over?
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What kind of questions do we need to ask a client when we suspect plant poisoning?
- check for any life threatening reactions
- check for clinical signs
- when did it eat the plant?
- how much was eaten?
- what plant was it?
- are any other animals in the group showing clinical signs?
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What kind of treatment can we do for plant poisoning?
- supportive
- decontamination
- drugs and antidotes
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What are some life threatening reactions an animal can have for plant poisoning?
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What are some clinical signs for plant poisoning?
- depressed
- painful
- GI signs
- salivating
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What are some supportive treatments we can do for an animal with plant poisoning?
- maintain fluid, electrolyte and acid/base balance
- maintain body temperature
- oxygen as needed
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What are some decontamination treatments we can do for an animal with plant poisoning?
- induce emesis
- gastric lavage
- laxatives and cathartics
- activated charcoal
- colonic lavage
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Who would you induce emesis on?
- not horses or rats
- in conscious patients only
- do not induce emesis in seizing patients
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What do we use to induce emesis?
- dog: apomorphine (in conjunctiva)
- cat: xylazine
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When should we induce emesis?
- the sooner the better
- solid toxins: within 4 hours of ingestion
- liquid toxins: within 2 hours of ingestion
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What is gastric lavage and what do we use?
- washing out of the stomach
- physiologic saline
- 1% Na bicarbonate
- plain water
- specific antidote if it exists
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How do we perform a gastric lavage?
- may sedate first
- pass stomach tube - as large as possible, use funnel, don't place in trachea
- allow solution to flow in by gravity, then place outside end of tube lower than stomach
- siphon out material
- repeat until solution removed from stomach is clean
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Where do we find azaleas?
found in moist groundin the woods
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Which part of the black walnut plant is toxic?
green hulls
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Who are usually poisoned by bleeding hearts?
cattle out west
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How much bracken fern must an animal eat to become poisoned?
large amounts
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Are boxwood extremely toxic?
no
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What is the most toxic on the caster bean plant?
seed
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Which animal is more susceptible to caster bean poisoning? Which animals are resistant?
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Is the caster bean toxic in the oil or water of the plant?
toxin is water soluble, not oil soluble so the oil is not toxic
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What is the latent period for caster bean poisoning?
18 - 24 hours
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What animal has the most problems with chive poisoning?
horses
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What type of toxin is in clover?
coumarin
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What part of a daffodil is especially dangerous?
bulbs
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What is dumbcane called dumbcane?
"dumb" means unable to talk - what happens when you chew on dumbcane
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What part of the dumbcane stings the mouth?
calcium oxalate crystals
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What part of the english ivy is most poisonous?
eating the fruits
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What makes a hydrangea toxic?
cyanogenic toxin in leaves
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What in jack-in-the-pulpit stings the mouth?
calcium oxalate crystals
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What is the toxin in jimsonweed?
atropine
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Are the flowers of a lily toxic?
no
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What is the latent period of lily poisoning?
6 - 12 hours
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Does milkweed taste bad?
yes
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When do animals eat milkweed?
when there is nothing else available
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What is the poison in monkshood used to make?
poisonous arrows
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What are the three different types of nightshades?
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What is the latent period of nightshade poisoning?
18 - 24 hours
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What is the toxin in oak trees and acorns?
tannin
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Are oleanders very deadly?
yes
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Which species do philodendron poison the most?
cats
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What in philodendrons cause the mouth to sting?
calcium oxalate crystals
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What did they use to use poison hemlock for?
source of the poison used to execute Socrates and other Athenian dissidents. Socrates was condemned to death for impiety and corrupting youth
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Can animals get poison ivy?
no
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Why do we need to worry about poison ivy in animals?
the oils can get on their fur and pass on to humans
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What part of pokeweeds are poisonous?
- seeds
- roots
- mature stems and leaves
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What part of the potato is toxic?
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What is the toxin in red maple?
gallic acid
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What part of a red maple are toxic?
the wilted leaves
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What is the treatment for red maple poisoning?
supportive care
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What part of the rhubarb is poisonous?
leaves and upper stem
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Where do rosary peas grow?
in Florida
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Are rosary peas very poisonous?
yes, one bean can kill a human
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What is the latent period of rosary pea poisoning?
latent period 18 - 24 hours
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What is the latent period of tomato poisoning?
18 - 24 hours
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What part of the tomato is poisonous?
leaves and stems
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What is the toxin in tobacco?
nicotine
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How do animals usually get tobacco poisoning?
eating cigarettes
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Which animals is most poisoned by water hemlock?
cattle
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What is the toxin in wild cherry?
cyanogenic toxin
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Are yews really poisonous?
very dangerous, rapid death
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