hello my cat was caught eating a small leaf from this plant and i have no idea what its called. i asked my mom and she also doesn’t know. i attempted to call a vet but they ended the call before i could even explain my situation😭 can someone please identify this plant and let me know if it is toxic to cats. thank you so much
by Substantial_Focus_27
9 Comments
I have a plant identification app and it says it’s called Devil’s backbone aka Japanese Poinsettia. It is toxic to pets.
Devil’s backbone, Euphorbia tithymaloides. Toxic.
Pls post an update when you take the cat to the vet
😮😳☹️
So others saying it’s toxic aren’t technically wrong, but it isn’t going to kill your kitten. It can cause mouth and GI irritation, which may lead to vomiting or diarrhea. Vomiting and diarrhea can cause dehydration in young animals, so make sure your kitten is eating and drinking well. I wouldn’t say you need to rush to the vet. Monitoring is a reasonable step. (Source: am vet tech and plant person)
Update: I have been monitoring him and he is eating and playing fine. He also pooped and it looks normal to me. I will continue monitoring him and plan to take him to the vet on Monday to appease my anxiety
A thing to keep in mind, if you’re going to keep this kitty at your mom’s, it might be a good idea to kitty proof the house. Especially when it comes to plants.
Its a variety of Euphorbia tithymaloides aka zigzag plant. Euphorbias are toxic, mostly from the milky sap that can cause irritations, blisters, if ingested nausea vomiting etc. So not good for cats either.
So, at the risk of getting a bunch of rude comments, I’ll share my experience with same situation.
I had a feral bring her babies to my house bc I had been feeding her when I saw how tiny she was and pregnant. She was probably only four mos old. I couldn’t get to her or trap her successfully for a long time, and the kittens and her took shelter under my carport for the summer to escape the high heat and humidity. I have two devils backbone and a pencil cactus along with several other succulents on the opposite edge of the carport from their space. The kittens liked batting the leaves, and I did see one or two pieces of the devils backbone leaves and pencil cactus had marks on them. I was really concerned about it, and watched them extremely very closely afterwards. None of the five kittens had any issues, but I don’t think they ingested very much of the milk sap due to the yucky taste. I still have one kitten left, and the plants are back in the same spot, and he has no interest in playing with them anymore. I just be sure he isn’t around when I water them bc he only gets interested when he sees me taking care of them.
In my experience, there were no issues. I would think it would need to have eaten a fair amount of the milk sap to get poisoned, but I do not know for certain. Maybe wipe your kitten’s face, mouth and paws to get any that may have stuck to its fur. If the kitten did eat a few bites then I might be concerned, but the taste is so awful I don’t think very much would’ve been eaten. Probably was just batting at the leaves bc it’s fun! Good luck and I hope the baby is A-okay! 🐾🐈⬛🌵🌱🐾