Keep Your Utah Pet Away From These Christmas Plants

As you start to decorate your Utah home for Christmas, there are a few things you need to consider if you’re a pet owner.  

Christmas Trees 

In Southern Utah, people have already started to grab their Christmas trees from Cedar Mountain and bring them home. It’s a great tradition and makes your home smell Christmassy. However, if you have a rebellious pup, they may try to eat it. Even artificial trees can cause some damage according to PetMD. These symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and sometimes an increased appetite.  

Usually, these are resolved with some time but if you have any doubts, contact your veterinarian.  

Amaryllis 

The next one to watch out for is amaryllis, often gifted during the holiday or used for decoration. Any part of the plant consumed by a dog can cause issues but depending on the amount consumed it could lead to some awful symptoms. In the most serious cases, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rate, tremors, or seizures.  

Snow Drops 

Though these plants are usually found outdoors or in bouquets, it's still easy for your dog to get to. If any part of the plant is ingested, they could suffer from an extremely upset tummy and similar issues to when a dog ingests amaryllis.  

Poinsettias 

A super common Christmas plant is poinsettias which are often placed on the floor for decoration. This makes this easy access to pets and if your dog does eat a poinsettia, there could be some vomiting, diarrhea, and drooling. PetMD says this should clear up quickly but after two to three rounds of vomiting, it should stop. If it doesn’t contact your vet.  

Yew 

This Christmas plant isn’t usually just lying around but it is used in wreaths, garlands, and flower arrangements. The yew plant usually has red berries on it and if anything, other than the red berries is eaten, it could cause some issues. The symptoms include an upset stomach, abnormal heart rate, tremors, seizures, and high blood pressure.  

Poisoning is likely to cause issues so contact your vet or poison control as soon as possible.