Plant Poisoning
Recently, there have been reports of dogs (including Ridgebacks) eating a shrub often called "morning, noon and night", "yesterday, today and tomorrow", or "kiss me quick"
which have caused severe illness and even death. There are 40 species of this plant, whose botanical genus name is Brunfelsia (often incorrectly spelt Brunsfelsia).
It is a shrub which grows slowly to around 2-4m tall and 2m wide. The foliage is dense and medium green in colour. When the flowers first open they
are a violet colour, fading to lavender blue and then white, with the three colours present on the bush at the same time. The brown berries (and possibly pods) produced by
the plant contain alkaloids that are very toxic to dogs.
Once ingested, the berries cause severe diarrhoea, vomiting and salivation, then muscle tremors, fever, staggering, seizures then death. Only small numbers of seeds are required to cause all of these signs. There is no "antidote" for the toxin. Treatment involves hospitalisation, stomach pump and intravenous drip, and medications to control the seizures until the poison has been flushed through. This will often take days and complete recovery can take weeks. It is recommended that the brown berries (and possibly the pods) be removed from the plant when they appear each year.
Plants poisonings are uncommon in pets, and we don't suggest removing all toxic plants. However, knowing which plants are potentially poisonous, as well as knowing the signs to look out for, is important for your pets safety.