Apparently Fireweed is Toxic

[Podrick_N_Pongo]

Hello,

My handsome man Podrick has been cooped up in a hotel with me for the last few days while we work on a move to another state. As a treat for both of us, I put on his harness and went on a “stroll” in the hotel’s yard/garden.

This is the only town Podrick has lived in for his 11 months of life and for the past two months I have been putting his cage outside so that he can get some fresh food, as a supplement and change of scenery of course. The area around the house that he has been in the past has all sorts of wild vegetation (we are in Alaska) and somethings that I don’t know. All that to say that this was not his first time eating fireweed and he has not shown any problems in the past. We were at the vet last Friday for health certificate to travel and he passed with flying colors.

That said, today he ate more than he has in the past, he fricken loves the stuff! He didn’t gorge on it, but ate three very small plants and probably two medium size ones, he got a couple of mouth fulls.

There are tons of wild snowshoe hates here, and they don’t poison themselves, so I wasn’t worried…. Until I got inside and got curious… Apparently fireweed is toxic to rabbits. This is not any sort of excuse, I feel ridiculous for not knowing! I can’t find any information on how much is too much.

Also, he is acting just fine. I cleaned his cage before we went outside and he has peed and pooped regularly since then. He ate his pellets that I fed him an hour later, and now he is hopping around and nudging me to pet him. In other words, he is acting normally.

After finding out that fireweed is toxic, I called the emergency vet in town. The phone rang without answer then hung up on me after 20 or so rings.

I plan to keep a very close eye out for any behavior, appetite, or litter box changes.

Bunny loving humans, do you have any advise for anything I can do if he starts acting sick tonight? Or anything I can do to stop symptoms before they start?

I have learned a lesson from this. Fingers crossed for a healthy and happy night for Podrick!!!!!

[Bam]

How is he doing now? (((((Podrick)))))

From what I can find, horses can get fireweed poisoning, but for most horses repeated exposure is required. Your snowshoe hares probably have instincts that “tell” them how much they can safely eat, or natural selection has made them less susceptible to the toxins etc. Horses are very like rabbits digestion-wise, so it’s reasonable to suspect that fireweed could have similar effects in both species:

Please read: fireweed horses

Poisoning in rabbits can be treated with activated charcoal and supportive care, since rabbits (just like horses) can’t vomit (and you should never try to make them). Activated charcoal not sth you should do at home unless you are very experienced. The activated charcoal is only effective while the poison still is in the tummy,, once it’s been absorbed by the body, charcoal is of no use.

I hope Podrick will be fine. But keep a close eye. Liver damage can give rise to late-onset GI symptoms, among other things

[Podrick_N_Pongo]

Hi bam,

We have been inside for about 4 hours. Podrick has eaten hay, he has binked a few times, jumped on and off the bed and is now just wants to snuggle…. So normal! Yay!

Thank you SO much for doing research for this! I didn’t know that horses and rabbits were so similar, that will make my research easier in the future.

I will stay up with him for a while and check on him regularly throughout the night.

[jerseygirl]

We have been inside for about 4 hours.

Found this also.

Source: Textbook of Rabbit Medicine Frances Harcourt-Brown 

[Podrick_N_Pongo]

Thank you JerseyGirl! That makes me feel better.

He is still acting normal: eating, drinking, moving, stretching.

I think we are in the clear! *deep sigh*

[Bam]

Sounds great, glad to hear it =)

[LBJ10]

I clicked on the link you provided Bam. That is not the fireweed I’m familiar with. o_O The fireweed I’m familiar has purple flowers. As far as I knew, the plants were edible. I did a google search and apparently there are plants in the sunflower family that are called fireweed too. Wow, I can see how this can lead to contradicting information online.

[Podrick_N_Pongo]

LBJ10

That is interesting. Apparently the purple flowers we are familiar with are only called Fireweed in the U.S. and Canada. European countries use the name Rosebay and refer to it as a Willow Herb. This Willow Herb is also on a list a toxic plants, but not much more information is provided about what parts are toxic.

I am a bit confused now, but I will keep my buns away from both fireweeds in the future and just celebrate that my boy is happy and healthy.

[Bam]

Poderick, I was in the wrong part of the world, I’m so sorry!!!

LBJ, The firewood that is toxic to cattle and horses is yellow and it’s latin name is Senecio madagascariensis. You get that one by googling fireweed toxicity, But it appears the only USA state that has this problem is Hawaii  I didn’t read properly, just went with a toxic fireweed 

Poderick, by Fireweed you probably mean Chamerion angustifolium, it has purple flowers and is tall land plume-like. That firewood IS edible and NOT poisonous. 

purple fireweed

[LBJ10]

I saw that a couple websites say that Chamerion augustifolium is not safe. Which is odd because I always thought it was. There are a bunch of websites that do say it’s safe though, including bunny websites. So there is still conflicting information floating around out there, but I still wonder if it’s a case of misidentification. Like I said, I had always thought it was safe. *shrugs*

[Bam]

There’s always conflicting info  It makes it so hard to forage. 

Lilacs, marigolds – same thing. Always though lilacs were poisonous. It seems they aren’t. I still don’t dare feed any to my buns. 

Then there are the one million safe plants that my buns won’t eat just because. 

[LBJ10]

Haha Bam! So true!

[Author]

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