Is Bamboo Toxic to Cats or Safe?
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Is bamboo safe for cats?At first glance, the answer may seem straightforward.
The best source for determining whether a substance is toxic to a pet is the ASPCA website, which states that bamboo is non-toxic to both cats and dogs.
You can probably tell from the title that things are a little more complicated than they first appear.
There are a lot of plants that have the word "bamboo" in at least one of their common names that are not bamboo.
Many of these are safe for cats and dogs to eat, but there are also a couple dangerous and toxic plants next to the non-toxic varieties.
Whether or not the bamboo plant you have is toxic to cats depends on the variety of plants you own.
The scientific name of bamboo isphyllostachys aurea, which is non-toxic to plants.No adverse effects should occur if a cat nibbles a bamboo leaf.
Do you not have bamboo proper?Are you trying to figure out if the plant you have is toxic to cats?You can use the following lists to find the plant you have.
I have been able to find many plants with the same name, as well as plants that are sometimes mis labelled.
If you can, look for your plant by its scientific name, as that is the best way to make sure you have not been mislabelled.
The side effects of your cat having a snack on a toxic plant is up for debate.
There are very serious side effects that can take effect.
Some people who have had first hand experiences with their pet eating either nandina domestica or Dracaena spp report online that they did not notice any side effects.Don't take chances.
If your pet has eaten any of the toxic varieties, immediately call up your vet and let him or her know which plant you assume he or she ate, and remove the plant from the cat's vicinity.
If your cat did not ingest a lot of the plant, don't jump into panic mode, because the very serious side effects do not seem to pop up often.
Do you have any experiences with animals?Do you have any non-toxic plants at home?Which varieties do you have?
Did you know there were toxic plants in common names?Did you have to double check that the plant you had at home was not one of these?
Have you ever seen a cat nibbling on a plant?Which one?What did your vet say when you called him or her up?
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I didn't know there were so many different kinds of bamboo, but I have one that my cat likes to chew on.She and my other ones don't show any signs of illness.I don't know how to tell if it's bad.
Hello!I don't know if Fargesia robusta 'Campbell', a kind of bamboo that one of my cats love eating, is toxic or not.
I am confused by the alternative names and subdivisions listed under Dracanae.I moved my corn plant outside after I discovered it was toxic and my girl was attracted to it.I also own a Money Tree, which is non-toxic.The Dragon Tree I got was not good to have outside, but definitely not the same as the money tree or the lucky bamboo.The ribbon plant is an alternative to Spider Plant that is cat-friendly.These are listed under the same umbrella and could cause people with safe money plants to discard them or be overly concerned.Those who know the plants to be safe might think dragon plants and corn plants are also safe, but they are not.I was hoping that an extra name comparison and research would be helpful.Thanks!
The issue as I see it is that sometimes plants are listed as being/called what they are not, so I wanted to list all the names Dracane and such are " sometimes called" instead of just listing what it really is so pet owners could be wary.
Do you think changing common names to sometimes called would make me more clear about what I was trying to do?
Hey Crystal!I only have one way to subscribe, and that is when I post a new post.Just pop in once a week and you can alwaysunsubscribe.
When Angel and Chuck were kittens, I removed all potted plants from the house because they could be harmful to cats.Especially Dracaenas.Spider plants and Christmas cacti are the only plants we have.I did not know about bamboo.
Excellent work!I like the look of spider plants.I did not know that Christmas cactus was non-toxic.Very cool.
Thank you so much for this post!I'm always hesitant to purchase cat furniture that says it's made out of bamboo because I don't like bamboo.I think that chewing various things is an example of what you are talking about.I'm not sure if some cat furniture that claims to be bamboo is really bamboo, or the safe kind that you mentioned.
Most things that claim they are made out of bamboo have to be for a couple reasons, according to my gut.Making wood out of bamboo would be more affordable and ideal for mass production due to its rapid growth and being much taller than most similar looking plants.I think the wood grain from plants would look different from bamboo.If you know what I mean, bamboo has a very characteristic look once it is made into wood.
I would love for someone to be more knowledgeable than I am about this topic.My intuitions could be wrong.Good on you for choosing to be on the safe side.