Mondo Grass Warning

[tnrmakessense]

He's alright now, but several hours after putting a mondo grass plant on my porch, one of my cats began vomiting blood. I had checked the ASPCA poison control plant list and searched the internet and saw nothing about it being toxic. There's a chance that it's coincidence, as none of my others had an issue, but I don't think it was. I'm going to email the ASPCA and ask them to look in to it.

 

[jen]

Was it straight blood, bright red blood mixed in, or just tinted red from blood? The throat irritation can cause slight tint of red when vomiting, but if it was anything worse I would guess your cat got into something else, or there is a different underlying issue going on.

 

[tnrmakessense]

It was blood. Lots of it. Can you tell me where you read or who told you that Mondo grass is non toxic? I'd be careful about stating definitively that it's non toxic unless you've got a reliable scientific source.

 

[jen]

Thanks for pointing that out, I flagged my post so a moderator can delete that sentence. I shoudn't have worded it that way. I am unsure of this, but now I am determined to find out.

 

[jen]

You could try calling the ASPCA Poison Control line, it is $65 and they will let you know right away and tell you what to do.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Phone Number: (888) 426-4435

Or...

FREE 24 hours poison control hotline for pet owners and veterinarians.
Kansas State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital
1.785.532.5679.

But this one isn't an immediate answer, you have to be patient for a reply. If your cat is better now it might be worth it to know. But if he is still sick, I would call the ASPCA line.

 

[tnrmakessense]

This all happened last week. I'm not willing to pay for a consultation with ASPCA, although I call that number and held for a while today and finally hung up and emailed the general information email (there was no email for poison control.) I'll pass the info. on to Kansas State University. Thanks for the info.

 

[tnrmakessense]

I just got an email from the ASPCA. They checked with their poison control department which said that Mondo grass is not toxic so the violent reaction remains a mystery.

 

[IndyJones]

Maybe it's an irratant moreso than actually toxic. Some plants have sharp edges that may have cut or irratated your cats esophagus or upper digestive tract.

 

[tnrmakessense]

I wondered the same thing.The "leaves" are more narrow and pointy than, say, spider grass.