Be Careful This Christmas — These 5 Holiday Plants Can Poison Your Furry Friend

It’s typical for our pets to get into the Christmas spirit with us and end up getting their noses into the ornaments, the food, and the plants. However, there are some holiday plants that can really harm your furry companion, so it’s best to keep your Christmas plants out of reach this year!

Dogs and cats just live for chewing on stuff. They see one branch on the Christmas tree and soon enough it could send your pet to your vet if you aren’t more mindful of that. Poinsettias aren’t the only holiday flower that could potentially harm your pet; but everything else that’s holly and jolly certainly can, too! Here are five different holiday plants to keep your furry friend away from this Christmas season.

Real Christmas trees

Pretty much any Christmas tree you decide to pull up for this year’s Christmas contains small amounts of essential oils that can make the tree smell beautiful. It won’t be so beautiful anymore if consumed by your pet. If consumed in a high amount, the needles can form a wad in the GI tract, causing obstruction.

Mistletoe

You might want to give your pet a big, old kiss under the mistletoe; just make sure they don’t get ahold of it! Only one bite has the potential to make your pet very sick. This usually occurs in the form of vomiting followed by lethargy. Continued vomiting may signal the need for medical attention from your vet.

Holly

Holly can cause stomach irritation and vomiting in pets. Because of the severe form of stomach irritation, this may lead to blood in the vomit, in which case a visit to the vet will be necessary to acquire drugs to stop the vomiting and coat the inner part of the stomach to protect the ulcerated areas.

Lilies

Lilies are especially toxic for cats. Simply brushing up against the plant and grooming off the pollen is enough to cause kidney failure in felines. Your best bet is to acquire a non-toxic Christmas plant.

Amaryllis

The actual blooms and stalks of this plant won’t harm your pet, but the bulbs will. There are plenty of toxins in the area below the dirt which can cause vomiting (with and without blood) and potentially low blood pressure.

A fun fact about Poinsettias

Despite the rumors that eating Poinsettia plants can cause fatal side effects, it’s nothing more than an old wives’ tale. They may cause an upset stomach in pets, but they are not toxic to your furry friends.

Be sure to SHARE this article if your furry friend loves getting into your Christmas plants! Keep them safe this year with these tips.