Sago Palm/cycad Poisoning

[Nicole...]

My 7 month old BC is quite ill after eating the bulb part of a sago palm/cycad. I have seen so many lists of plants that are toxic to dogs but have no idea what any of those things look like and after raising my cocker spaniel in the yard figured we were dog safe.

So firstly I want to say for those that don't know what they look like, do a quick google image search as they are a really common plant. They are a palm but without a trunk, so the bulbous base part is at ground level. If you have any in your dog's yard, please get rid of them.

Secondly, I just wondered if anyone knows what the symptoms of liver damage would be. We have him home with us now as he has stopped vomiting and is much brighter, but the vet said that he isn't out of the woods until he has blood tests in 2 days to see if he has sustained any liver damage. Is there anything in particular we should be on the lookout for? And if he does have problems what should we expect?

[poodle proud]

Hi Nicole,

I'm so sorry to hear that your little one is sick. I'm praying for clear results for the little guy.

I'm not sure about the symptoms but I might be able to help with the plant side of things. There are heaps of lists on the web and some plants are on them and some aren't so it's hard to know what to believe.

This site is the best I have found. Most of the plants listed have pictures. It saved our sanity over the weekend when choosing plants for our new garden.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/

You can do a search for the plant and then it says and whether it is toxic to cats, dogs or horses and the clinical signs to look for.

But as your vet knows what has been going on I'd ask them what to look for and if you are worried ring an emergency vet overnight.

Please keep us updated.