• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Beau has eaten poinsettia, poisonous??!!

There was a mention of poinsettia on an article posted by Ros from the RWAF recently - click the link and scroll down towards the bottom of the article, or I've quoted the relevant part below. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?370973-Be-careful-at-Christmas

Poinsettias have been at the center of a raging debate as to whether they are, or are not, poisonous to bunnies. The most recent majority consensus seems to be that mild stomach upset and mouth irritations can result from chewing on poinsettias. We all know that various rabbits have dramatically different reactions to the same thing – even safe greens, such as kale, can cause terrible gas in one bunny while another bunny is unfazed – so it would probably be prudent to keep the poinsettia out of reach of the bunnies.

How much of it has he eaten?
 
Every link I can find says that it's a myth that poinsettia is poisonous.

eta:
"According to the POISINDEX information source - the primary resource used by the majority of poison control centers nationwide - a child who weighed 50 lbs. would have to eat over 500 poinsettia leaves to reach an even potentially toxic dose of compounds in the poinsettia plant. Doctors at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburg Poison Center conducted a review of 22,793 reported cases of poinsettia exposures, the majority (93%) of which occurred in children, and found that 92% of those exposed did not develop any symptoms at all. Ninety-six per cent of those exposed were not even treated in a health care facility. Furthermore, no deaths resulting from poinsettia ingestion have ever been documented."

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55606

"The ASPCA Animal Poison Center in Urbana, Illinois says it regards poinsettias as having such low toxicity risk that it doesn't even recommend decontaminating animals that may have ingested them. The center says that there can sometimes be gastrointestinal distress from having ingested something alien to the digestive system.

The American Veterinary Medicine Association of America (AVMA), doesn't include poinsettias on its list of plants that are a threat to animals."

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/poinsettias.htm
 
Last edited:
I guess it depends how you define poisonous- it's not fatal but the sap can burn skin and cause vomiting, it's still poison, albeit not serious.
 
How is Beau acting? Normal or upset/different?

Given that rabbits metabolise so fast I'd have thought he'd have reacted at leasta bit by now if he was going to.... :?
 
The information I found (too many to link but they all seem to say similar) is that it's a mild irritant, so if anything it may have irritated his throat or stomach but it's unlikely to cause any long lasting damage. I'd be looking for signs of him being uncomfortable, reluctance to eat etc and try to push plenty of hay and water. It wouldn't hurt to ring the vet to check with them for peace of mind as well.
 
He's eating hay and seems happy enough. I guess we will just have to keep an eye on him. I am so worried. :cry:

I think you're right to be concerned but rabbits in the wild must be designed not to be upset by such a tiny amount of something that's arguably mildly irritant rather than toxic. It would probably be worth asking the vet what they'd do if you took him in - possibly they'll say there's nothing they'd be able to do beyond what you're already doing....:? Given rabbits' fast metabolism etc could the vet tell you how soon it will be safe to assume he's unaffected...?
 
I've just given him a small leaf of greens, I figured it might dilute the effect a bit, and he's eating hay. Seems completely normal. Will keep an eye, and we are 2 miles from a brilliant bunny vet if he takes a turn for the worst. Thanks for your responses :wave:
 
Back
Top