poisonous plants

The other day, Lewis threw up in the living room (thankfully, not on my Naot sandals!). I investigated and saw something a little odd for an indoor cat - dirt, tiny branches, and small leaves. Hmm. I'm not sure where they came from, but I have two suspicions. One, from our porch - there are some dead leaves on there left over from last fall. I could see him getting into those.

The other possibility is one of my potted plants. (However, doesn't explain the leaves or sticks.) I have noticed that one of the cats (probably Lewis) has been getting into the pot. The plant has been sitting on the end table in our living room and occasionally I'll find bits of dirt around the pot on the table. None of the leaves have been damaged, and the dirt has been just lightly messed with so I didn't think anything of it. However, a friend wondered aloud to me if the plant might be getting Lewis sick.

The plant is called Devil's Ivy (scientific name: Pothos). After looking it up, I see that yes - yes it is toxic to cats! Great. I've had this plant for 3+ years now and I never knew! It's listed on ASPCA's "17 Common Poisonous Plants". Pet owners should check out the list to make sure they don't have any toxic plants around!

I called the vet to tell her about the plant, but she said that if the cats aren't getting into the plant itself then it's probably not the cause. But I'm glad it's on Lewis' file as a possibility, though. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if they got the results from the thyroid tumor blood test that he had last week. As of yesterday, they hadn't heard back from the lab yet. I hope we find out soon. :-/

My Devil's Ivy can be hung, so I'm going to try that to keep it away from the kitties. However, we might be moving soon so I don't want to bother hanging it until we're a bit settled. So I'm trying to find a plant sitter in the meantime.