Finding Balance for Your Furry Friends and Your Fronds
2020 has left a lot of people looking for companionship. Many have adopted dogs, with several animal shelters reporting their kennels empty because of massively increased adoption rates. Others have decided to liven up their spaces with houseplants, which have been making their way into millennial homes at rapid rates. If you’re anything like us, you credit both your pets and your plants with helping you survive this difficult year!
If you’ve got a green thumb and you’re eager to add a dog to your growing family, we say go for it. Likewise, if you’ve got a full fur family and you want to add some fronds to the mix, you should! All it takes is a little planning and forethought to make sure both your pets and your plants stay healthy and coexist peacefully.
Put your dogs’ health first
Your dogs’ health should always take priority in your houseplant considerations. Why? We’ll put it this way: Most plants can survive a few torn leaves or broken stems and keep on growing without issue. However, treating plant-related illnesses and injuries on your dog brings a great deal of stress, discomfort, and even pain for all involved parties.
Know your dogs’ behavior before you introduce houseplants to their environment. If you’re just bringing a dog home for the first time, we recommend keeping your plants far out of reach until you know how your dog interacts with them. Most dogs show minimal interest in houseplants, but certainty never hurts.
Understand which houseplants are toxic
If you find that most houseplants you research are listed as toxic to dogs and cats, don’t fret: there’s a much smaller list of plants that can cause serious health issues. In your houseplants’ defense (literally), toxicity is a defense mechanism against herbivores and omnivores who find themselves in the mood for a salad. Most often, these plants will cause upset stomach, lethargy, vomiting, or diarrhea in dogs.
If your dog is uninterested in your houseplants and respects the boundaries you set, you should have no problem safely growing common tropical plants in your home. However, if the risk seems too great, there are a number of nontoxic plants you can choose, like:
Ferns are beautiful nontoxic houseplants, perfect for homes with dogs.
Ferns
Calatheas
Spider Plants
Hoyas
Peperomias
It’s still important to discourage them from eating your plants, since any foreign material can upset their stomachs.
You should avoid certain plants entirely, especially sago palms, foxgloves, and dieffenbachias. These and a number of other plants cause more severe reactions when ingested and can occasionally be fatal, according to the Pet Poison Helpline.
Know what to do if your dog digs up trouble
If your dog is a little too curious one afternoon and munches on a houseplant, it may be a good idea to give your vet a call; certain plants cause problems that don’t appear for a few days. Keep an eye out for any of the above symptoms we mentioned, namely gastrointestinal problems.
We mount and hang our plants or perch them on shelves so that they’re well out of reach of our dogs, and everyone has been happy and healthy. If you’re a dog owner with plants, we want to know your tips: what plants do you have around your home? How do you keep your dogs safe? Send your pictures and stories to us on Facebook.