Florida has a lot of plants that are dangerous to animals, but one particular very toxic one to dogs is the cardboard palm, a member of the cycad family.  I want to share our story because anyone I’ve told, including our vet, had no idea of its danger.

Our GRIN dog Rookie -adopted 12/07- was snorking around one of our cardboard palms one morning and I thought nothing of it.  Later that afternoon he greeted my husband with a stalk of the plant in his mouth. This stalk had lots of bright red berries on it and the plant had hundreds of seeds on the ground around it.  Fortunately I was compelled to go online to see if the seeds were dangerous to eat.  After Googling, Cardboard Palm seeds toxic to dogs?, I  was shocked to learn they are highly toxic and a small quantity of seeds can kill a large dog, causing liver and or kidney failure.  There is no antidote, though supportive care may get a dog through it if symptoms like dehydration are present.  Neither Bob nor I actually saw Rookie eat any of the plant, but we were worried he may have. 

We immediately called our vet, it was now 4:45PM.  They had never heard of the problem, but recommended we call Animal Poison Control, who confirmed what we had learned from our Google search.  NOT GOOD.  They advised us how to try and make him vomit (no success) and told us to get him to an emergency vet, which we did.  Rookie was put through the ringer. They did make him vomit repeatedly (no seeds found), and ingested him with charcoal to protect his organs.  He also had to have his liver checked for 3 consecutive days.   I’m happy to report he is OK.

I did confirm (imagine me, a fork and piles of you know what) he did in fact eat about 10 seeds, and they were still whole.  We can only assume that is what saved him.  We’ve removed the plants from our yard and picked every seed from the ground.  Our last dog (of 13 ½ years) never showed any interest in the plants.  Lucky Rookie is another story. Let’s just say he’s an indiscriminate eater.  Seems some dogs find the seeds sweet and irresistible when they ripen.

After our experience and education, we can’t help but wonder how many pets may have eaten these seeds undetected and lost their lives. A handy phone number to save is ASPCA Animal Poison control (888)426-4435.