Aloe Vera Plants are Toxic

gingersmom

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I have three Aloe plants, two are a decade old and one is my late friend Dee's that I rescued from her daughters who have black thumbs.

These plants have saved my skin in more minor burn situations than I care to recall. They are in a recent picture taken of Penny hiding from the new kid, Max.

Max seems to be teething in the back of his mouth and has been doing some chewing on toys and things. "Things" apparently include my Aloe plants, because I found the tip of one in a puddle of vomit he left on the couch for me.


But thank God he did, because now the plants are out of here! Max has vomited sporadically over the last 6 days, and I thought it was from eating Ferris' food, and/or from eating too fast/too much then running around like a crazy Bengal having fun. He's been eating & drinking fine, passes the pinch test, eyes are good - I couldn't figure it out!

Now I know. Aloe plants are called "a potent purgative." It causes tummy pain and violent vomiting. It can cause nephritis, aka kidney disease.


I'm calling the vet tomorrow to bring Max in to get checked. May we please have some "no kidney damage vibes?
 

jean44

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More healthy vibes for Max.

That is good information about Aloe plants. I have some in my yard, none in the house.
 

sham

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He'd probably have to eat alot of it. It's listed as very low toxicity amongst potentially toxic plants. I also don't think the gel inside the leaves is toxic. It's actually used orally to relieve tooth aches and will numb your tongue for a few minutes if you lick it. It's also used in all sorts of health drinks and supplements and repeatedly mentioned as being nontoxic on medical and health sites. I believe the skin is the only toxic part and if he threw up any chunks he swallowed he probably didn't digest enough for kidney damage. Especially if he's not acting odd beyond throwing it back up. Just biting into the leaves and getting the gel in his mouth shouldn't be enough to do damage.
 

katachtig

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Oh the poor baby. I hope he's ok. He does have an attraction to danger.
 

orltwa

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Originally Posted by GingersMom

I have three Aloe plants, two are a decade old and one is my late friend Dee's that I rescued from her daughters who have black thumbs.

These plants have saved my skin in more minor burn situations than I care to recall. They are in a recent picture taken of Penny hiding from the new kid, Max.

Max seems to be teething in the back of his mouth and has been doing some chewing on toys and things. "Things" apparently include my Aloe plants, because I found the tip of one in a puddle of vomit he left on the couch for me.


But thank God he did, because now the plants are out of here! Max has vomited sporadically over the last 6 days, and I thought it was from eating Ferris' food, and/or from eating too fast/too much then running around like a crazy Bengal having fun. He's been eating & drinking fine, passes the pinch test, eyes are good - I couldn't figure it out!

Now I know. Aloe plants are called "a potent purgative." It causes tummy pain and violent vomiting. It can cause nephritis, aka kidney disease.


I'm calling the vet tomorrow to bring Max in to get checked. May we please have some "no kidney damage vibes?
I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have two 7 month old kittens and had a small aloe plant on my dining room table. Well when they finally got big enough to jump onto the chair and onto the table, I found a few of the ends chewed off one day and later that day I found a pile of puke. Of course I looked it up and found out aloe is not good for cats so I promptly put it out of harms way. As long as they didn't chomp on a lot of it, I really wouldn't be too worried. Mine just puked the one time and that was it.
 

clairebear3

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Yeah I just found out that having aloe plants in the house was not a good thing.

There are so many products for cats, including these http://www.petsfamily.com/pf/index.php?id=853 which contain aloe that I just didn't think about it.

My plants are hitting the high road, which is annoying because they where expensive! I thought about just putting them out of my kitties reach until he's older but I don't want to take the risk.

Healing vibes for max! ~~~~~~
 

jellybella

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Originally Posted by clairebear3

Yeah I just found out that having aloe plants in the house was not a good thing.

There are so many products for cats, including these http://www.petsfamily.com/pf/index.php?id=853 which contain aloe that I just didn't think about it.

My plants are hitting the high road, which is annoying because they where expensive! I thought about just putting them out of my kitties reach until he's older but I don't want to take the risk.

Healing vibes for max! ~~~~~~
In my understanding the aloe gel is not toxic, but the outer green part of the plant is. The aloe products are probably OK, but I can see how someone might avoid them.

Good healthy for Miracle Max! He's probably going to be ok, he didn't eat a lot of it and he did throw up


Now, Mr Max---
on the plant eating! You've already used up at least one of your nine lives, Mr Lucky...those yummy looking power cords won't help with the teething either
 
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gingersmom

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I just got off the phone with the vet's office.

The vet said that because he pretty much immediately purged what he ingested, and because so young and strong, and he's eating and drinking fine, had a vet check just a couple of weeks ago, and isn't lethargic at all, then he doesn't need to see him, I should just keep an eye on him and bring him in if any of that changes.

I brought two of the plants to work this morning, the third (and largest) is bagged and tied up tight so he can't get into it, and will be picked up by a Freecycler on Sunday.

This morning Max's skin didn't feel loose like it had the last couple of days, so I think he's ok, but when he goes for his regular vet check next time around, I'll have a full workup done.

The vet tech on the phone said, "There's always one!" when I told her that the other cats didn't touch the plants.

I just hope Max doesn't decide to chew on/eat any other of my plants - they are like children to me, some of them I've had for almost as long as my daughter has been alive.


Thanks for the vibes everyone!!!
 

jack31

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I have three house plants all of which are considered toxic. Luckily Jack at only 12 weeks hasn't figured out how to get to them--they are all at least 6 feet off the ground.

I'm glad your little one is okay.

Leslie
 

katachtig

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From before we were married, DH had three huge Mothers-in-law tongue plants. None of the cats bothered them until Carly. That is when I found out that they were toxic and out they went. As the vet said, there's always one.
 

katz4life

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We hope your little fuzzy guy is going to be okay!

Tons of For Max!
 

sham

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I just fence the plants off. They are surrounded by mesh panels so nothing can get to them. No reason to get rid of them when you can just cat proof.
 
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gingersmom

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Originally Posted by Sham

I just fence the plants off. They are surrounded by mesh panels so nothing can get to them. No reason to get rid of them when you can just cat proof.
I live in a small apartment and the cats go where they please. The poisonous plant goes OUT. The cats gain an additional tabletop to lie in the sun on.

That really is the easy solution, I've taken it, no vomit anywhere to be found today.

And I finally cleared an area in the kitchen for the playgym, and set that up this evening. That should help keep bengal-boy occupied while I'm at work or asleep.
 
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