# Toxic plant ingested - what to do!



## Blue eyes (May 15, 2012)

One of my bunnies ate half of a large geranimum leaf. He looks perfectly fine right now, but should I do something? should I give him lots of other greens? Help!


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## Samara (May 15, 2012)

Geraniums aren't toxic; they're actually one of the flowers buns can eat. Iguanas too. They love 'em! 

You're all set!


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## Blue eyes (May 15, 2012)

The following sites list geraniums as toxic to rabbits (one even says that a single leaf can kill)

http://adoptarabbit.org/articles/toxic.html

http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm

What to think?


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## Watermelons (May 16, 2012)

http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants/geranium
Geraniums are on the toxic list. Please contact your vet right away.
It may be wise to do a blood pannel in a few days to see if the affects of the plant have done anything to your bunnys system internally since no symptoms were seen. Push fluids for the next 48 hours, get your bunny to drink lots and lots and lots of water, this will help flush the system.


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## JimD (May 16, 2012)

The House Rabbit Society lists geraniums as toxic.

Please call your vet and/or your local poison control center.


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## Blue eyes (May 16, 2012)

Yes, I did go ahead and call our rescue-recommended vet yesterday. He said that it probably wasn't enough to do damage, but to keep an eye out for loss of appetite.

I fed him nice & wet collard greens which he gobbled up. Later he ate a strawberry top, hay, and his usual evening pellets. 

This morning he is still acting completely normal -- thank goodness! I just now gave him more soaked collard greens (based on Watermelon's suggestion). (He always has his hay, of course) I'll watch him today and keep him supplied with greens to keep his gut moving all thru the day.

I'm unfamiliar with a blood pannel. I'll have to look into that.

Thanks, everyone. 

Wheww!


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## Samara (May 16, 2012)

Then we need some clarification here:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=65105&forum_id=48

It seems like geraniums are on both lists?


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## Samara (May 16, 2012)

This too:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=9735&forum_id=48&jump_to=141484

Did the forum take the better safe than sorry route? If so, I need to update my blog!


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## LyndaB (Nov 20, 2015)

Had some thoughts to share regarding house rabbits who eat toxic plants, from a scientific perspective.

I've been keeping house rabbits for some 30 years, and worked with many different rescue groups. I'm also an herbalist, and took a wide array of agricultural courses at Texas A&M University. Rabbits are herbivores, and closely related to deer. Plants that are toxic to dogs, cats, and humans (carnivores and omnivores) may not be toxic to our herbivore friends, even though many lists show them to be. For example, deer love and eat geraniums with no side effects. I had a 6 pound bunny (Snowball) who absolutely loved geraniums...had been eating random bottom leaves off a potted geranium for the 11 years I had her. She never took ill, and never ate more than two or three leaves at a time. She died at 12 years old when her body just wore out. 

That said, keep in mind that too much of anything can be bad for your bunnies. There are staple greens that are actually beneficial to their digestion, and then there are greens that neither hurt them nor help them. There are toxic plants to rabbits, but keep in mind that some buns will nibble only enough to get a taste, because they are curious, and won't eat enough to do harm - that would be my NinjaBunny - who one day decided to leap onto the dining room table and eat some Poinsettia leaves, then proceeded to the side table and ate the philodendron. She's a 12 lb Flemmish Giant mix, toughest bunny I've ever met. Luckily, we saw no ill side effects from her taste-tests, and she never thought to eat any again. Just wanted to try them!

Herbivores have something called "biotransformation enzymes" which actually help them to digest plants that omnivores and carnivores find toxic. There are a handful of omnivores that have these enzymes as well (like opossum). Not all rabbits have the same kinds of enzymes, which are inherited. So what could be toxic to one rabbit, may not be toxic to another. Since most rabbits define the term "melting pot" and have a vast pool of DNA from many different species, it is hard to know which bunnies can eat which plants. It is unknown if the biotransformation enzymes are dominant - research is fairly new in this area. If you have a mix, and not a pure bred, chances are your rabbit can eat many plants that appear dangerous, and not get affected. 

It is always better to be safe, than sorry, so it's never a bad idea to restrict exposure to toxic plants. Just know that observation is best in these situations, instead of stressing out the rabbit with an emergency trip to the vet, who may or may not fully understand rabbit genetics, and give them unnecessary medications, etc. This information is from Utah State University Agricultural Extension: "Many people assume all plants that contain toxins cause death or decrease production by impairing an animal's physiology. In reality, few toxic plants eaten by herbivores cause overt signs of poisoning. Rather, toxins cause herbivores to limit their intake of plants. At high concentrations, most toxins cause plants to be unpalatable." http://extension.usu.edu/files/factsheets/Ingestion_of_toxic_plants.pdf


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## Blue eyes (Nov 21, 2015)

^^Quite interesting, Lynda. This incident with my Sapphire occurred more than three years ago, but she was fine (still is!) She is a mix from a rabbit rescue. 

This actually makes perfect sense. It is similar to the idea that "mutt" dogs are usually very hardy, can eat all manner of nasty food without ill effect and are far less likely to succumb to conditions to which certain purebred dogs are prone. Hip dysplasia, cancer, arthritis that may be common in certain purebred dogs seem less common in mutt dogs that, by definition, have a much wider gene distribution. The pure breeds, on the other hand, have lost genetic information in their formation and so are actually more fragile in that regard.


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