Plant poisoning in domestic animals : 2012-2013 data from the Milan Poison Control Centre

Poisoning as result of plant ingestion has been shown to be a relatively common occurrence in domestic animals (Caloni et al., 2013; Cortinovis and Caloni, 2013). The present study reports a retrospective analysis of all cases of animal exposure to plants referred to the Milan Poison Control Centre (MPCC) between January 2012 and December 2013. MPCC registered 54 plant exposure cases involving domestic animals, which corresponds to 9.1% of all animal poisoning cases recorded (593) over the 2012-2013 period. According to the data collected, dogs were the most commonly poisoned species (70.4% of calls) followed by cats (22.2%). Calls related to other species were much fewer in comparison and involved cattle, geese, goats and horses (1.9% each). Most of the cases were related to accidental ingestion of common household and garden plants. The plants most frequently involved were Nerium oleander (13%), Cycas revoluta (13%), Hydrangea spp. (5.6%) and Euphorbia pulcherrima (5.6%). The outcome was reported in 70.4% of cases, and fatal poisoning accounted for 7.4% of these cases. Death occurred after ingestion of Nerium oleander by a horse, a cow and a goose and Actaea spp. by a dog. In conclusion, epidemiological data from MPCC provide useful information on animal exposure to plants and confirm the importance of plants as causative agents of animal poisoning. Finally, the importance of an accurate identification of the plant involved, which often requires recognition of the scientific and common names by a qualified person, must be underlined.