Tiny Toxins

🌿 Tiny Toxins: Paws Off Plants 🐾

(A little series combining my love of plants and pets 🌿🐶)

Today’s tiny check: Cherry laurel.

This glossy evergreen shrub is an incredibly common choice for garden hedges.

Those thick green leaves may look harmless—but cherry laurel contains cyanogenic glycosides.

When the plant is chewed, crushed, wilted or digested, these compounds can release hydrogen cyanide.

Thankfully, severe cyanide poisoning is uncommon in dogs. Most reported plant ingestions cause vomiting, diarrhoea or tummy discomfort. However, larger amounts may cause weakness, breathing changes, trembling or collapse.

There may also be a risk of obstruction if fruits or other pieces of the plant are swallowed.

Before anyone panics — many dogs live beside laurel hedges without ever trying to eat them.

The greatest consideration may be freshly cut or fallen pieces becoming available to dogs who enjoy carrying, chewing or shredding sticks and leaves.

🐾 One small thing to do today:

✔ Check whether your garden hedge is cherry laurel.

✔ Collect fallen fruits and freshly cut leaves or branches.

✔ Keep dogs elsewhere while the hedge is being trimmed and until the clippings have been cleared.

If your dog eats cherry laurel, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine for individual advice.

Awareness, not alarm 🩵🐾

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#dogs #dogsafety #tinytoxins #plants #dogtraining