SOS my rabbits ate my Peace Lily

[Beatrices mum]

Hi all,

I was away for the day and I came home to my peace lily plant half eaten! I read online that is poisonous to rabbits and am super concerned! Has anyone else bun eaten their plants before? I haven’t noticed anything abnormal in their behaviour yet, they’re still eating and drinking fine but is there any symptoms I should specifically look out for?! Any suggestions help. Thanks!

[DanaNM]

My understanding is that peace lilies are toxic in large quantities due to oxalate crystals. What that threshold is, i’m not sure. This post was a few hours ago, how is your rabbit doing?

I found this info online about symptoms:

“If your rabbit accidentally ingests this plant, it may cause oral irritation, usually with difficulty swallowing and irritation of the tongue, lips, and mouth. That is because this plant has toxicity called insoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Some reports stated that it is similar to other house plants belonging to the Araceae family.

Peace lilies release these oxalate crystals when animals bite or chew this plant. This results in tissue penetration and irritation of the gastrointestinal tract causing diarrhea in rabbits. A rare scenario is also seen, such as the swelling of an animal’s upper airway, making it difficult for them to breathe.”

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Beatrices mum]

They both seem to be fine, they’ve had hay water their pellets and a treat each and neither one is showing any abnormal symptoms. There were about 23 leaves eaten but I’m not sure if it was only one rabbit who ate it or both.

Thank you for the information! That was the only info I could find when I looked it up as well. I will just continue to monitor and if I notice anything peculiar call my vet right away!

[LBJ10]

Oddly, rabbits seem to tolerate certain things more than other animals. Oxalate seems to be one of them. Wild rabbits will chew on all sorts of plants and suffer no ill effects. You should be OK to just monitor your bunnies to make sure they don’t develop any GI symptoms. Irritation of the mouth would have presented itself right away.

[Author]

Messages