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Eucalyptus globulus--Harmful to Cats?
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Posted by agentrdy 8 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 19, 07 at 13:10
| Hello everyone! I'm currently growing a few E. globulus seedlings indoors and had heard that eating parts of eucalyptus trees could be harmful to cats. Is this true? Is E. globulus one of the species which produces a harmful effect? Which are the species I need to watch out for? Any information would be greatly appreciated! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Eucalyptus globulus--Harmful to Cats?
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| Eucalyptus foliage would be harmful to a wide range of animals and birds if they were to eat the foliage. Koalas are the only species physiologically equiped to detoxify the Eucalypts oils that enter their systems. But I seriously doubt that cats or any other animals would be attracted to eating the foliage of Eucalypts. |
RE: Eucalyptus globulus--Harmful to Cats?
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You have heard that eating parts of Eucalyptus trees would be harmful to cats. That's an amazing story, really, as it suggests that there are cats going around eating parts of eucalyptus trees. Could this possibly be true?
Everist's useful book, "Poisonous Plants of Australia" does quote a few examples of sheep and goats dying from eating eucalyptus leaves, and he points out that the chemical analysis shows that they contain a lot of cyanogenetic glycoside, especially in the young leaves. As Greg says, they would certainly be poisonous to many animals (including us). Cases of poisoning of livestock, despite living in paddocks with eucalypts in them, are rare. Everist assumes that this is because they don't eat eucalyptus leaves despite their availability, as they don't much like the taste, and who can blame them?
A lot of other commonly grown house and garden plants also have poisonous leaves. We don't hear of them being a particular problem to cats.
Is your cat really likely to eat the houseplants? If so, maybe it could be kept safe by the simple expedient of having other more tasty and edible plants available to it?
Trish |
RE: Eucalyptus globulus--Harmful to Cats?
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| My understanding is that most felines are susceptible but only if a branch falls on them. |
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