Oh, Humbug

[woolymonkey]

Caught the bugglecat snacking on spider plant yesterday. He'd mostly just played with it and only eaten a tiny bit so I just moved it out of his reach. Today he is subdued - ate only half his breakfast and none of Leicester's. Research on spider plants discovered that they are not toxic to cats, though they can cause upset tummy, but they are hallucinogenic.
It all makes sense now. Hum is an outdoor cat who spends most of his day prowling through ivy. If he snacked on random plants, he'd have killed himself long ago. But he is a total drug fiend. He also has a delicate digestion that's been set off by reputable brands of cat food. I will keep him inside today and keep an eye on him but I expect he'll soon be back to what passes for normal.

Comments

[ivory-goddess.livejournal.com]

Spider plants are hallucinogenic to cats? I did not know that!

Most of the cats I own have had a go at spider plant leaves at one time or another - all our houseplants are kept in rooms the cats don't have access to, but they have all managed to get in said rooms once or twice. And spider plant leaves are *so* tempting, all long and dangly. But the only side-effect I've noticed is that they throw up plant material shortly afterwards - I've never seen any evidence of 'tripping', or longer term effects on digestion.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I hope he's okay.
And yes: total nip-head.

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

Well now you know! http://pets.thenest.com/spider-plants-hurt-cats-9771.html

I saw no sign of anything other than cat playing with sproingy plant, plant missing some leaves. I suspect the 'hangover' this morning was more to do with his delicate tum than anything else.

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

Thanks He seems fine this evening. Well enough to mind being shut in. He went crazy over a nip scented toy when he was 6 weeks old. The books say they don't develop sensitivity to nip until they're adult. I suppose he was too young to read the books.