DoggieNews: Sago Palm Trees are Poisonous to Dogs

Sago Palm Trees are Poisonous to Dogs

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

KPRC Click2Houston reports that the seeds of Sago Palm trees can be deadly to dogs if eaten, and even to children.

Sherra Miller has had Yorkshire Terriers for the past 30 years.

"They just steal your heart. She is more independent than any yorkie I have ever had," Miller said of her dog Abbie.

Mitch Rainey had two dachshunds when he took in Sadie.

"It was either that or she'd have been put to sleep someplace," Rainey said.

In December, both pet owners had to face their worst fears.

"I saw her playing with something outside," Miller said. "I had no idea it was something that would be dangerous or deadly, really. Within an hour, she was throwing up."

Both Abbie and Sadie had eaten seeds from a sago palm -- a hearty plant found in yards across Houston.

I don't have any Sago Palms growing on my property, but many of my neighbors do. And I live in Southern California, where palms are everywhere.

The article goes on to say that the seeds contain toxins that destroy a dog's liver.

"(She was) on plasma, on IVs, on all kinds of medicine just trying to save her life," Miller said.

It took thousands of dollars, and a week and a half of treatment that nearly broke the Millers' hearts.

"I don't want anybody else's pet to go through this. It is just too horrendous. It is a horrible death," Miller said.

The thing is that there are lots of plants that are dangerous to dogs. The ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center publishes a list of toxic plants; you should take a look at it to see if your property has any.

30 Comments:

noting could more more true...
30 minutes ago, after 4 days of struggling with liver failure my dog died from chewing on Sago Palm...
...goodbye chile.

By Anonymous, at 9:56 AM, October 24, 2006
My three year old King Charles Spaniel is in ICU and not expected to survive after injesting a Sago Palm seed. I never heard about this danger and am just heartbroken.

By Anonymous, at 6:22 PM, December 16, 2006
A neigbor's very sweet dog just died today from eating seeds from a Sago Palm a few months ago. We are all very heartbroken. I am ripping mine up tomorrow.

By Anonymous, at 7:49 PM, December 22, 2006
my 1 yr lab just ingested sago seed yesterday, wait and see game support therapy. Never knew how poisonous they were. living in sunny florida

By Anonymous, at 6:07 PM, February 27, 2007
I know how you feel I just lost my Dachsund to a sago palm on Thursday Sept. 5th 2007, he ate over half of the bulb while I was at work. I found him in the corner of a bedroom throwing up.We fought for a week to save him but nothing would help his liver so we had to make the choice of our angel being in pain or letting him go. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I will miss him and so will his dachsund best friend.

By Anonymous, at 10:09 AM, September 08, 2007
Earlier this year we adopted a male and female, 8 yr old Westies. Sammie and Sohpie. On October 20 Sammie ate several Sago Palm seeds. He was admitted to ICU later that evening and treated with plasma transfusion and antibiotics. He was released with normal blood panel reading On Oct 23. 10 days later Sammie stopped eating and would only circle around digging holes to lay in. When we brought him bhack to the hospital his enzymes were elevated and was admitted with a very poor prognosis. my husband and I chose to treat him again and even though it did not appear he would make it, Sammie did recover. Sammie was discharged on November 15, after 14 transfusions and iv feeding. His home care was around the clock of administering medications. For his last recheck on Dec 12, his enzymes and all blood chemistry numbers were good. We have been told Sammie's story is rare, because of the toxicity of the Sago Palm and the destruction to the liver. Ther is a need to educate pet owners about this and other plants that can harm our pets and small children. I had no idea, since then we have eliminated all plants in our lanscaping that pose any threat.

By Anonymous, at 2:15 PM, January 02, 2008
Please help me, is my dog going to survive?

We are not sure what happened to our 6 month old Lab, but the signs are consistent with Sago Palm poisoning. We don't have it in our yard but we take him on walks in FL where there are plenty around.

His liver enzymes were highly elevated but are coming back down to normal. Still he won't eat. He is refusing all food and we don't know what to do.

We are heartbroken and I am so afraid for his life. it's been almost three weeks now since he got sick and stopped eating. He drinks lots of water, but now he's slowing down on that too. He's had 7 different medications but nothing seems to work. Please, please help.

By Anonymous, at 12:35 PM, February 12, 2008
I just put my daughter's 7 mo. old puppy to sleep. He chewed up some sago palm seeds yesterday. I had to take one out from his mouth.
This morning I found him moaning and half dead. I rushed him to the hospital. It was too late to even try to save him. I don't know what to tell my daughter when she gets home. She's eight. He was fine yesterday.

By Anonymous, at 8:41 AM, February 21, 2008
I forced fed by stuffing food down Sammie. We gave the follwing medications: Metrinidazole, Pepsid, Prednisone, Baytril, SAMe,Regan and injections of Anzemet as instructed. Thi swas after plasma and whole blood transfusions. Sammie just had his checkup and his blood chemistry was perfect. Hope your pup makes it...don;t give up.

By Anonymous, at 1:57 PM, March 04, 2008
We just put our 8 month old golden ret to sleep. She ate sago seeds and then threw them up. However, her liver was very damaged. She was on iv w/ antibiotics and other meds. She had blood in her urine and began bleeding from the mouth. These seeds are so dangerous. My husband is digging up all the sago's in our back yard. We are so heartbroken. Please Please get these plants out of your yards.

By Anonymous, at 9:10 AM, March 06, 2008
I just had to leave my 1 year old golden retreiver at the Vet for emergency treatment for ingesting a sago palm root. She vomited twice and was foaming at the mouth when I called the Vet. Her labs are still normal but she is very listless and is being flooded with IV fluids, placed on cimetadine and venosyl. We are not out of the woods yet. has anyone heard of a pup surviving this?

By Anonymous, at 5:00 PM, March 06, 2008
I am worried about your golden ret. I posted a message right before you did on March 6th. My heart is going out to you. Please tell me your baby is making it. This whole sago palm ordeal is just horrible. I am praying for you daily.

By Kelly, at 11:19 AM, March 08, 2008
Yes, your dog can make it. Sammmie also was treated for 3 days and had normal blood values. It wasn't until 10 days later that he became very ill. The Sago Palm is very toxic and causes liver failure. After another 14 days in ICU, he was still not eating on his own and had lost 60%of his original body weight, I brought him home for a last weekend. Not being able to say goodbye I force fed him and continued his meds around the clock. (see my previos posting on Jan 2)Sammie did start to recover and has amazed his doctors. Sammie's blood work last week was perfect and he has gained his weight back. Please know that our story is rare and because of this I now try to educate any ear that will listen about the dangers of the Sago. Most are not aware that even the leaves can be fatal.

By Anonymous, at 1:09 AM, March 14, 2008
Our 6 year-old dog Sadie, a 12-lb combo of Schitzu,Yorkie, and Bichon, was chewing on a sago palm seed that fell off the trunk when we were transplanting. We believe she ingested the whole seed inside the pod.

Within one hour she was lethargic, vomitting, and a clear slime was running out of her mouth. She went outside and when she didn't come back in after a while, we went out with flashlites and found he laying on her side, unable to even move, underneath a bush.

We took her to the Emergency Vet Clinic and we got the heart-stopping news that this is almost always fatal. We left her there for IV and meds treatment.

We were told that she may look normal after a few days and then die within a month from liver failure. A DOUBLE BLOW OF BAD NEWS!

We are heartbroken. Had no idea of the toxicity of the sago Palm. We encourage you to write to your congressmen and to the States Attorney Generals Office and ask that warning labels be affixed to all poisonous (life-threatening) plants.

This is DAY 2 and we are going to get an update from the vet tonite. We are very sad.

If it looks like she will not go thru an initial recovery, we plan to bring her home so we can be with her in her time of need, like she has always been with us.

GOD BLESS anyone who is experiencing this same painful experience, and GOD BLESS your pet.

By ebob, at 9:23 AM, March 30, 2008
It is with great sadness that I share with you that our 7 month old puppy, Coco, died early this morning.

She had vomited and had extensive diarrhea on Saturday morning. The vet thought she would get it out of her system (thinking she had just eaten something slightly toxic) and she was still responsive and drinking. He suggested I give her pepto-bismol and keep an eye on her.

My girls and I had tickets to a show and left her alone for a few hours. By that evening she was expelling black stools. I rushed her to the emergency room but she was already nearly comatose. She went on IVs for antibiotics and dextrose, but continue to declined. Her blood sugar was less than 30 and they were concerned about her neurological functions. Once she was asleep she never regained consciousness. She was in the animal ICU for 40 hours and could not be saved. I pray she was not in any pain when she passed away.

It happened so quick. I can't believe it. My head is spinning and I am heartbroken.

We have determined it was a sago palm that killed her.

I had no idea, and I have had dogs in yards with sago palms for most of my life. Now I lost one and I will make sure it doesn't happen again. I have emailed all my friends with dogs, and friends who will pass on the information to others. We need to spread the news, even though it hurts to talk about it.

Please inform your friends. I can't believe that I haven't heard of this before. This could have been prevented if I had realized the danger.

Louie, her twin brother, and Winston, the 7 year old Cavalier are doing fine, but I willhave them tested for any low-level toxicity. Louie and Coco were my twin five-year-olds' birthday presents. They will be devastated but out other pups will keep the girls going.

God bless anyone going through this experience. I pray for more people to find out about the dangers of common plants in our own backyards.

By Kathryn, at 2:11 PM, April 14, 2008
My 7month old puppy, Jazz, ate a sago palm seed on April14th. She began vomiting and shaking so I took her to the vet. We determined that she ate the seed and she has been there since the 14th. Today is the 18th and she is still not eating and she is very lethargic. I never heard about how dangerous these plants are. We just don't know if she will make it. She was my 12 year old daughter's christmas present and we are so very sad!

By cheryl, at 10:21 AM, April 18, 2008
To Cheryl,

To force feed Sammie, I made little meatballs from the special canned food from the vet, rolled them in club crackers, and then gently pushed them to the back of his throat. I also put the special canned food into the blender with water and filled a syringe with the liquid. The key is to put just enough of the mixture into his mouth that he licks it and swallows. I fed the meatballs and syringed mixture every 2 hours (even at night)for 10 days. Sammie's eating refex gradually returned, as his blood chemistry panels began to improve. My thoughts are with you.

By Anonymous, at 5:27 AM, April 19, 2008
Hi All,
My name is Allison. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It gave me the knowledge to be able to get my sweet Cocoa Puff to the Animal Hospital ASAP. Cocoa Puff, 1 yo Malti-Poo, ending up getting into a package of Sago Palm seeds that had been mailed to us from my Mother's family. My neighbor didn't know what it was and she threw the envelope that was delivered to the door into the house. Being a squishy envelope that they mailed it in, it must have a scent that attracks animals, Cocoa Puff ended up consuming 2 Sago Palm seeds of the 5 in the package. I rushed her to the Animal Hospital. Just as I got there she crashed. They resusitated her and transfered her to another Animal Hospital this morning. She is touch and go at this point. Very lethargic, sullen, listless, dehydrated, still vomiting and diarrhea, she just stares at us with those helpless eyes like 'please do something' 'help me' I just want to make everything better and it's all up to the docs and God now. Please say a prayer for my beautiful Cocoa Puff. She is the best, most energetic, loving, sweetheart I've ever come to know in my life. I can't imagine going on without her.

By Anonymous, at 12:26 PM, April 23, 2008
Hi, This is Allison again. I'm soo sickened to report that my soo sweet and dear Cocoa Puff died during the night last night, 04/24/08. I feel soooo responsible; like did I choose the right animal hospital to treat her? Did I have enough money in this world to give her the best to save her life? Is her death my fault? I failed her miserably as an owner. I prayed the whole night that God would take my strength and good health and save her; but he didn't. I just can't picture life without her. I hurt soo bad! I am writing an article to all the newspapers so maybe...just maybe.. I will save one pet from this horrific death...and one owner/family member from this terrible pain. Anyone out there that can enlighten me would be great. Life just doesn't really make sense. This was a senseless death! I feel soo empty as if my life is over. I just keep holding her baby...her duck...tight in my arms. I can't help but to think she died all alone. I wasn't allowed to stay the night with her. I could have held her. I should have just taken her home and held her in my arms until she passed. God I hope she didn't suffer as she passed....horrible enough she died without any of us present holding her sweet little paw or face in the palm of our hands. What do I do now??? Anyone??
Thank you all for letting me vent. I've always been the rock in my family and I just need a place where it's okay for me to break down. My email is ccnurse@optonline.net if anyone wants to talk. Thank you all. God Bless all your sweet puppies that went through what mine just went through.
Allie

By Anonymous, at 7:34 PM, April 24, 2008
I had no idea about any of this. We have 2 large sago palms in our front yard, both about 23 years old-they disburse baby sagos constantly and I thought it would be a good idea to dig them out from under and plant them in various parts of the yard. I ended up getting about 15-20 out and had a box full. After planting a few, I placed the box ON THE GROUND of our patio in our backyard. Our 6 month old dashaund, Sammy, ate an entire one, about the size of half a baseball. I went to pick him up this morning and he was paralyzed. We just rushed him to the hospital and he's in the ICU. This is all my fault. I had no idea they were deadly but I stupidly placed the box on the ground without researching it. Now Sammy is dying alone, in the hospital because we weren't allowed to stay in the ICU. I don't know what to do. Someone, anyone, please email me cjbennett@cox.net

By Anonymous, at 12:35 PM, May 10, 2008
My 20 month old Pomeranian puppy died from Sago Palm poisoning 4 days ago. I am completely devastated and feel responsible. After reading these stories I wonder if I took her to the wrong animal hospital. I just want her back. Good luck to anyone struggling with this. You and your babies are in my prayers.

By Anonymous, at 3:24 PM, May 10, 2008
My two dear dobermans (1 yr. and 10 months) ate some Sago palm bulbs this morning. I had no idea they were poisonous. In about 4 hours they were both vomiting, drooling and very lethargic. By the time the emergency vet was able to see them, both of their liver profiles showed signs of change. Their prognosis is not good at this point. I am devasted and am wondering if anybody can share what kinds of treatment were successful.

By Anonymous, at 4:14 PM, June 01, 2008
I am sad to report that my 1 year old doberman did not make it. We put him to sleep about and hour and a half ago. Our 10 month old was able to come home with us, but he is not out of the woods yet. We have to repeat tests over the next several weeks to know for sure. I just hope no one has to lose their dear pet from this stupid palm. We lost the most loving, loyal and beautiful dog. He can never be replaced.

By Anonymous, at 3:16 PM, June 03, 2008
Would someone please share more information about what part of the plant is actually poisonous? My dog ate ALL the leaves off my Sago Palm. He only got the runs from it. But i've never seen "seeds" or bulbs. Please share what you know.

Thanks

By Anonymous, at 6:36 AM, July 15, 2008
The bulbs that my dobermans ate were medium sized, red and located in the center of the sago. Not all of our sagos have them. They look like small fruits and I think that's what attracted my dogs to them. My younger doberman who survived the initial sickness, may not be out of the woods yet.....6 weeks later his blood work came back showing that his liver might be in trouble still. We have to continue treating and wait and repeat blood work again. It is terrible. Our vet said that all parts of the plant are toxic, but the bulbs or seeds are the most toxic. I would take your dog to your vet for blood work just to be sure.

By Anonymous, at 10:47 AM, July 19, 2008
I just lost my 2 year King Charles last night. I feel horrible. She must have eaten some leaves when we went for a walk last week. We had to put her to sleep due to the liver failure.

By Anonymous, at 7:08 AM, July 21, 2008
My dog, a 6 1/2 year old Chocolate Labrador ate a baby sago palm, the entire thing. It has been three days and he refuses to eat. He does not keep any water down and his eyes, ears and gums are yellow. I was told by my vet that we are losing the battle, his liver is not recovering. There's another sad part to this and that is that he is epileptic and the phenobarbital he needs to keep him from having seizures also affects his liver. He is currently at the vet getting fluids and we are keeping our fingers crossed, but it does not look good at this point. I am heartbroken, this little guy has been by my side through a painful divorce and I can't bear losing him. Please send your prayers out to Daxter as he and I would greatly appreciate it.

By Anonymous, at 4:20 PM, July 24, 2008
I am so sad to say that my 6mon old daschund ate part of a sago palm tree this afternoon and is not doing well. she threw up alot, it had to be all of it because i saw the bulb she ate from. she is not doing well. I can't help but thinking she is not going to make it. I was so happy to get the small plant from a friend and thought it was in a pot big enough for her not to get it from. boy was I wrong and now it may cost her life.
Keep my Sandy in your prayers

By Anonymous, at 3:18 PM, August 08, 2008
I had no idea about the Sago nuts being so toxic to dogs. I have lived in Florida since 1985 and have always had dogs. We lost our sweet little Yorkie CoCo Friday night after eating a seed. She was 11 months old and so very small her system had no chance. After about an hour she was throwing up, but i had no idea it was so bad. I have a Maltese that ate a pound of chocolate covered cherries one Christmas when he was just a year old. He puked and pooped all over the place, but he made it through. I have had other dogs throw up too and it was never fatal. So i didn't think anything really bad when this little one threw up. I gave her some bread to try to settle her stomach and put her to bed. The next morning she was gone. My son and i are wrecked. She had chewed stuff outside from day one, and my two Maltese have lived here for 5 years w/o any problems. I think a animal dropped the seed in my yard because we couldn't find any other ones. I do have a sago in the front yard but not in the fenced in backyard where she was. The pod hadnt even opened with the seeds either. Even if i pull it up i cant make the neighbors get rid of theirs, and i cant dig up the preserve behind the house. I just hope that i can tell someone to watch out for them and make a difference somewhere along the line. It is too late for CoCo because of my ignorance.

By Anonymous, at 5:35 PM, August 11, 2008
My heart goes out to all of the families affected by sago palm pet poisoning. After a trip to the emergency vets office, my regular vet and a second vet (for a second opinion) and three separate diagnoisis, my Sheltie was properly diagnosed with sago palm poisoning. Like many others mentioned, I had no knowledge of the toxicity of the sago palm. My dog has been on a constant IV pumping fluids into his body, plus high powered antibotics. A second series of blood test are scheduled for today and I am praying for better results. The thing that bothers me most is a lack of warning about pet poisoning on the information when purchasing the plant. My pet's suffering could have been avoided as well as all of the others listed. I intend to write a letter to the editor of my local paper for those unsuspecting pet owners. I suggest others do the same!

By Anonymous, at 6:29 AM, August 27, 2008

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Sago Palm Trees are Poisonous to Dogs

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