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Ragwort!

Merrypigs Sanctuary

Merrypigs Sanctuary

Adult Guinea Pig
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Help!
I just opened a bag of salad from Tesco for the kids and pulled out a stem of ragwort :( But the kids have eaten some of the salad! They each had a small handful and I gave it a quick look through to make sure there wasn't anything untoward in it but what if I missed some? :help:
 
Yikes! I imagine that’s reportable to food standards

You can always call 111 for medical advice
 
Merrypigs Sanctuary said:
Help!
I just opened a bag of salad from Tesco for the kids and pulled out a stem of ragwort :( But the kids have eaten some of the salad! They each had a small handful and I gave it a quick look through to make sure there wasn't anything untoward in it but what if I missed some? :help:
Click to expand...
I would report it to food standards that is awful. Hope your kids are OK.
 
I think they will be ok, from what I have just found online, enough of the plant has to be eaten over time for it to cause death. It seems to damage liver cells cumulatively and cause death by damaging enough of the liver, a bit like alcohol. I think it is unlikely your furbabies ate enough to cause significant damage. Perhaps piggies livers can regenerate, like humans can, also. Maybe giving them extra water might help to flush out the nasties?
I would keep the salad bag and tell the shop, as well as perhaps the FSA, so that the shop can try to trace the grower of the offending salad and weeds. I wouldn't want any weed in my salad never mind ragwort ...
 
Oh dear, I don’t think 111 would be too impressed to be called about guineapigs!

Yes, ragwort is cumulative so whilst it would take a lot less to damage a piggie liver than a horse’s or human’s liver, they’ll probably be fine.
 
Dear god, how on earth have they let that past! I would definitely be reporting it!
 
I got a reply back from Tesco customer services and they asked me to take it back to the store so they could sort it out :) And I got my £1 back :D
 
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