A florist came by this weekend to deliver a gift from our real estate agent. It was a poinsettia, a plant I am not usually fond of but this one was packaged nicely so I decided to display it.
« Aren’t those poisonous to animals? », asked B.
« I’m not sure. My mom always had them and it wasn’t a problem with her cat », I replied.
Still, to be safe, I decided to put the plant high up on a stand, where monsieur le chat Spiff wouldn’t be able to reach it.
B. went to work and I got out to shovel all the beautiful snow that fell last night (I mean ALL of it, at least that’s how it felt.) As I was clearing the area around the backyard, I looked through our patio doors and saw that the poinsettia was on the floor, the dirt spread all around it.
Oh, oh…
I came back in and saw that the plant had been chewed on. I checked on Spiff, who seemed as grumpy as usual, and did some research on the Web about the poisonous potential of poinsettias.
Some Web sites tell you to take your cat to the vet right away if he chews on the plant. Death is a possibility.
Other ones claim that it’s a myth, a kind of rural legend that won’t go away, and that there are no record of a poinsettia poisoning people or pets.
I checked again on Spiff: He was drinking out of my water glass.
That’s the glass I keep on my desk next to me when I work. Does he always do this when I have my back turned?
Now I’m the one who feels queasy and who’s likely to start foaming at the mouth…
