Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Sago Palm, a deadly beauty

Image from ocsprinklerrepair.com
Some things are evidently poisonous or dangerous, and it's easy to understand pets and people should stay away. Other things, equally lethal, don't exactly announce the danger.

Sago palms are common in gardens, and even indoors as potted plants. (They're not technically a palm, but look enough like one.)

Every part of this plant is poisonous, both to animals and humans. The seeds are considered the most toxic, but even the roots contain the poison cycasin.

To make things better, dogs allegedly love the taste and smell of them.

Sago Palm Seeds
Some common signs that a pet has eaten Sago Palm include vomiting, diarrhea, depression, coma, seizures, and lack of coordination. Untreated, the poison leads to liver damage, liver failure, and death.

If you believe that your pet has eaten parts of a sago palm, contact your vet immediately. As little as one seed can be deadly.

To read more about the Sago Palm, check out these pages:


The Sago Palm grows slowly, a feature that
makes it popular with landscape architects
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2 comments:

  1. They are so spiky though! I couldn't imagine wanting to eat one.

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  2. Me neither, but I wouldn't eat sticks or pine cones either, LOL. I think the seeds are pretty smooth, and dogs like both them and the roots.

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