Beware of the Mistletoe and Poinsettia Plant – How About Kisses From Kizmet Instead?
We love to decorate for the holidays, but when it comes to our kitties, the less help from them, the better. Kitties can be extremely curious and want to nibble on everything from curling ribbon to plastic bags to tree tinsel. The best advice, keep the ribbon off the gifts and forgo the tinsel altogether to be safe. When it comes to live plants, we need to be especially careful – mistletoe, poinsettia, holly berries, and amaryllis blooms can all be toxic to one degree or another if they are ingested by your cat. The two general types of poisonous mistletoe’s are the European variety, Viscum Album, and in the US, the Phoradendron Serotinum.
Toxicity in these plants ranges from mild to severe and the amount of plant consumed determines how sick a pet may become. In general, gastrointestinal upset is the most common symptom, but if enough plant material is ingested, seizures, excessive thirst and urination, vomiting or diarrhea, erratic behavior, a drop in blood pressure and heart rate, coma or death is possible. Typically your cat will not ingest enough to cause harm and it is usually not necessary to treat them, but to be safe, it is highly recommended you visit your veterinarian no matter how much you think your cat has eaten. This applies to dogs and other animals as well. You can also call the Animal Poison Control Center for advice at (888) 426-4435.
For us, we just avoid the temptations and find others ways to decorate the house to make it look festive. No sense in denying that a cat will be a cat and who wants to spend the whole month worrying about his or her safety? No holiday plant in the world is worth the risk to us. But, we do have a wonderful quick fix for those of you that insist on a little mistletoe – Kizmet is offering free kisses… no danger… other than falling head over heels in love with this cutie pie!!
a trooly nice plant ta haz round at christmas timez iz de christmas cactus….tryin ta get it ta bloomz at christmas time tho doez knot all ways werk…..sumtimes R’s blooms in april, sum times july…sum times it just looks all crazed……like now……thanx for de add vise bout ribbon N tinsel…R way older sister perky eated tinsel bak in her day 🙁
and dai$y wood likes a kiss frum kizmet…her iz lookin at her self in her 360 degree mirror ta make sure her looks good tho ….. sew it mite be awhile….noe inn her it could be days…. her bee THAT stuck on her self…. sew tell kizmet take de other ladeez furst !!!
peace out N rock on…..happee whitefish wednesday !!
Kitshka: I want a kiss from Kizmet! Definitely!!
Purrrrrrs
We would love free kisses from Kizmet! and such important advice to keep the babies safe for the holidays, thank you.
Thanks for the reminder! Happy Holidays & Happy Wordless Wednesday!
I’ll take a kiss please!
Great reminders about the toxicity of holiday plants, Deb. Thanks!
And yes please, we’ll take some smoochies from Kizmet! 🙂
Yup all that stuff is so poisoness. Mahoney would love a free kiss from Kismet. Take good care.
How about Kizmet charges for kisses and the $ goes for a cause? Big smoochies from our furries to yours.
Sigh… that is actually a wonderful idea, Layla… please, can someone bring me more hours in the day for Christmas!!??
I just decorate the outdoors, even had my tree on the front porch for a few years. Our one compromise is that I duct tape the single candoliers to the windowsill and they don’t bite them or play with the cords.
I’d love a kiss from Kizmet. I send her kisses xxx and hugs ooo.
We bet Kizmet gives good kisses.
Sweet Kizmet – I’d love a kiss from you – and we are sending sweet kisses your way as well!
Have a wonderful weekend from your friends at Create With Joy! 🙂
Legend, Tsunami & “Mom”