Help! Guinea pig accidentally ate toxic plant!

[Waterfallhannah]

Hi,
I was putting my piggies things back in their cage after floor time, turned my back for a minute, and they had started eating a leaf from my devils ivy plant (pothos). I hadn't realised it had poked through the protective barrier I put up!
What should I do? I have no idea how toxic it is, they hadn't eaten much (please see photo...as you can see they have only eaten the top half between them).
Any help would be hugely appreciated! Sorry for my panicked message!

 

[Ruth1]

I’d say vet…

Is it def poisonous?

 

[Waterfallhannah]

I’d say vet…

Is it def poisonous?

Yes, definitely toxic

 

[Piggies&buns]

Call a vet for advice.
You should switch to daily weight checks so you can know if you need to step in.

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Haru825]

So from this website https://www.justanswer.com/veterinary/dqe6e-guinea-pigs-accidentally-ate-part-neon-pothos-plant.html
"The Neon Pothos plant is typically not fatal if ingested, but can cause mouth and throat irritation and vomiting. Guinea pigs cannot vomit, so the only concern would be irritation of the pig's mouth. I would watch his appetite closely."

Another thing, maybe put the plant further from the guinea pig enclosure maybe on a table?

 

[Ruth1]

Yes, definitely toxic

Def - at least call the vet. Hope they are ok!

 

[Waterfallhannah]

So from this website https://www.justanswer.com/veterinary/dqe6e-guinea-pigs-accidentally-ate-part-neon-pothos-plant.html
"The Neon Pothos plant is typically not fatal if ingested, but can cause mouth and throat irritation and vomiting. Guinea pigs cannot vomit, so the only concern would be irritation of the pig's mouth. I would watch his appetite closely."

Another thing, maybe put the plant further from the guinea pig enclosure maybe on a table?

Hi, thank you for this! I've put the plant in a different room, so they definitely won't be reaching that again!
At the moment they are eating and running around their cage as usual, it hasn't bothered them yet at all. I gave them extra cucumber to hopefully flush it out. I will definitely weigh daily and call the vet for some extra advice, thanks everyone!

 

[Wiebke]

So from this website https://www.justanswer.com/veterinary/dqe6e-guinea-pigs-accidentally-ate-part-neon-pothos-plant.html
"The Neon Pothos plant is typically not fatal if ingested, but can cause mouth and throat irritation and vomiting. Guinea pigs cannot vomit, so the only concern would be irritation of the pig's mouth. I would watch his appetite closely."

Another thing, maybe put the plant further from the guinea pig enclosure maybe on a table?

Hi

Please contact a vet; latest if you notice loss of appetite as the visible sign of feeling queasy or uncomfortable in the mouth. Even though guinea pigs cannot bring up stuff from the stomach, they can still fee nauseous; especially with any poisons acting on the gut. Step in with feeding and watering support asap if that is the case.
Your vet may additionally prescribe bowel emptying gut medication and activated charcoal if they feel that this would be helpful to prevent too much of the poison to be absorbed and for it to be worked out of the body as quickly as possible.

Switch from the normal weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time for the next 2-3 days and keep a close eye on your piggy for the next 2 days. It takes around a day for food to pass from mouth to the anus and then some poos are getting eaten again.

Please review any house, balcony and garden plants (ideally before getting piggies) and do not keep them in the same room as your guinea pigs where they could pick up dropped leaves during roaming time or pull at leaves through the bars or anywhere near the lawn (especially foxgloves or laburnum). Pretty much all common house plants fall into the 'forbidden' category.
Piggies explore the world by tasting and they are inquisitive. They also have a great talent for finding exactly the things you would them get at the least. The best way of dealing with issues is like treating them the same way as toddlers - everything a LONG way out of reach or ideally locked away!

Hopefully, symptoms will be on the minor side, seeing that your piggy has eaten only a little. The plant is not in the highly dangerous category; for that your piggy would have had to eat a lot more.

All the best.

 

[marsha.hoyt]

I know this post was from some time ago, but is there any update on how your guinea pig did? Mine got to my pothos plant last night, ate one leaf before I caught her and pulled her away from it.

I did all the things that people mentioned here and called the vet in case they could prescribe anything. All they told me was to call poison control. She was acting normally last night and this morning; I'm at work now, so I'm not monitoring her as closely, although I can see in our little video camera on the cage that she has burrowed under her fleece like she tends to do while resting during the day.

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your piggy has eaten something she shouldn’t.

As long as you’ve called the vets for their advice all you can do is keep an eye on her and get her to the vets if you notice anything. I hope she’s ok.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your piggy has eaten something she shouldn’t.

As long as you’ve called the vets for their advice all you can do is keep an eye on her and get her to the vets if you notice anything. I hope she’s ok.

Hi

I agree with @weepweeps .

Please keep an eye on your piggy and speak to a vet as soon as you notice anything untoward in the 24-48 hours after a piggy has eaten something they shouldn't have.

Thankfully, the amount eaten in a one-off event is usually not enough to make a piggy ill. So far pretty much all reported house plant eating incidents (provided we get feedback) end uneventful. We go by the assumption that a fatal outcome would be likely reported in order to warn others.

But please try not to keep any house plants anywhere near a cage or where they can get to when roaming.

You may find the advice in our First Aid guide helpful. It contains a chapter on poisoning.
First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

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