Sago Palms Deadly to Pets; Sold at Many Stores

Sago Palm image: Wikipedia

(Central Ohio)  Francine is a happy, playful Golden Retriever living with a loving family here in Central Ohio. And she's living on borrowed time. She is destined for liver failure. It could happen any time. Her family is devastated... and angry.

Veterinarians believe Francine's illness was caused by a plant. She ate part of a Sago Palm bought in the garden center of a local home improvement store. Her owners say the plants carry no warning labels.

The Sago Palm or King Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta) is native to Japan but also reportedly can be found growing naturally in the United States from Florida and the Gulf Coast north to Tennessee and Virginia.

The plant is toxic to both pets and humans. According to the ASPCA's website, "all parts of the plant are toxic, not just the seeds or nuts, and common signs of ingestion include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, depression, seizures and liver failure." Symptoms can appear in less than 12 hours.

Animals, apparently, find the plant very tasty. Curiosity can lead children to eat parts of the plant as well.

"Since 2003," says the website, "the ASPCA has seen an increase by more than 200 percent of sago palm and cycad poisonings, and 50 to 75 percent of those ingestions resulted in fatalities."

Francine's family wants everyone to know the dangers of these plants and to protect their pets and children from them.

The plants may be for sale at local garden centers. Buyer beware!

Here's a little more from the ASPCA's Poison Control Center:
http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants/sago-palm.aspx