SAN DIEGO -- A popular drought-tolerant plant in San Diego is deadly to people and pets. However, most people with the plant in their yards and homes likely have no idea.
Dawn Rudolph of Poway just had her backyard landscaped.
“The first thing that I said was I wanted it to be dog-friendly, nothing toxic for dogs,” Rudolph said.
Like many puppies, Magnus, her a three-month-old Labrador, eats anything. The landscaper put in common, drought-resistant plants, popular in San Diego. Neither of them knew one was a doggie death sentence.
Last week, Magnus ate a seed pod from a sago palm on the ground. He would not stop vomiting. Rudolph took Magnus to the vet right away. The vet told her how dangerous sago palms are.
“A lot of dogs don’t make it through this,” Rudolph said. “She (the vet) said it was about 50-50. I was devastated of course because he’s a little baby.”
Magnus survived.
Rudolph called the landscaper and told him about the sago palm. She said he had no idea it was dangerous. Now she wants to warn other pet owners.
“They are everywhere,” Rudolph said. “Our vet did say they are seeing more cases of this, primarily because people are planting more of them because they are drought-tolerant.”
For the symptoms of sago palm poisoning click here.
