The Garden Hazards Specific to South African Homes

South African gardens contain a particular set of risks that don't feature in most international pet safety advice. Worth a walk around yours with these in mind.

Toxic plants common here

Cycads. Serious, and widespread in South African gardens. All parts are toxic, with the seeds most dangerous. They cause acute liver failure, and mortality is significant even with treatment.

If you have a cycad and a dog who chews, fence it off. Puppies are particularly at risk.

Oleander. Extremely common as a hedging plant, and extremely toxic. Affects the heart. Even small amounts of leaves, and water from a vase containing cuttings, can be fatal.

Delicious monster (Monstera), dieffenbachia, philodendron, arum lilies. These contain calcium oxalate crystals, causing intense oral pain, drooling and swelling. Rarely fatal but genuinely distressing.

Sago palm. Related concern to cycads — liver failure.

Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow (Brunfelsia). Common South African garden shrub. The berries and seeds cause seizures and tremors in dogs, and cases are regularly seen. Dogs seem to seek out the berries.

Syringa (Melia azedarach). Widespread invasive tree. The berries are toxic, causing gastrointestinal signs and, in quantity, seizures.

Lilies — critical for cats. True lilies (Lilium and Hemerocallis) cause acute kidney failure in cats. All parts, including the pollen. A cat brushing past and grooming pollen from its coat can die. Do not have lilies in a house or garden with cats.

Others worth knowing: foxglove, azalea, castor oil plant, angel's trumpet (Datura/Brugmansia), and the bulbs of many common garden plants.

Practical approach: walk your garden, photograph anything you can't identify, and check it. You don't need to remove everything — most animals never eat garden plants. Focus on cycads, oleander and Brunfelsia if you have a chewer, and lilies if you have cats.

Snakes

A real risk across most of South Africa, particularly in summer and particularly in gardens near open veld, rocky areas or water.

The dangerous ones for pets:

• Puff adder — responsible for many bites. Sluggish and well camouflaged, so animals stand on them. Cytotoxic venom causing severe swelling and tissue damage.
• Cape cobra, snouted cobra, Mozambique spitting cobra — neurotoxic and cytotoxic effects. Spitting cobras can also cause severe eye injury.
• Boomslang — less commonly involved but medically serious.
• Rinkhals

Reducing risk:

• Keep grass short
• Remove rubble, wood piles, corrugated iron sheets and thick ground cover near the house
• Control rodents — they attract snakes
• Fill holes in walls and under foundations
• Keep dog food and bird seed contained; both attract rodents
• Be careful around pool pumps, compost heaps and irrigation boxes
• Walk dogs on a lead in high-risk areas at dawn and dusk

If your pet is bitten:

• Keep them as still as possible and carry them if you can
• Go to a vet immediately. This is an absolute emergency.
• Photograph the snake if it's safe to do so — identification helps enormously with treatment. Do not attempt to catch or kill it.
• Do not cut the wound, suck the venom, apply a tourniquet, or apply ice
• Phone ahead so antivenom can be prepared if needed

Signs include sudden swelling, collapse, drooling, dilated pupils, weakness, difficulty breathing, or bleeding that won't stop.

Swimming pools

A serious and under-appreciated hazard.

Dogs drown in domestic pools regularly. The pattern is usually an animal that falls or jumps in and cannot find the steps — particularly:

• Puppies
• Elderly or arthritic dogs
• Blind dogs
• Dogs having a seizure near the pool
• Heavy-bodied breeds that swim poorly

Prevention:

• Fencing is the most effective measure
• Teach them where the steps are, repeatedly, from both directions
• A pool ramp designed for pets — genuinely worthwhile if you have an old or blind dog
• Covers must be solid and secured; a loose cover is more dangerous than none, because an animal can become trapped underneath
• Supervise, particularly with puppies

Also: pool chemicals stored where animals can reach them, and dogs drinking heavily chlorinated water.

Ticks and the garden

Tick habitat is long grass, leaf litter and shaded scrub.

• Keep lawns short
• Clear leaf litter and undergrowth where dogs lie
• Create a dry, sunny area for the dog to rest
• Be aware that regular visiting wildlife — including hedgehogs, rodents and birds — carry ticks in

Combined with year-round preventive treatment, garden management meaningfully reduces tick burden.

Compost, mulch and fertiliser

• Compost heaps can contain mould producing tremorgenic mycotoxins, causing severe tremors and seizures in dogs who raid them. Fence compost off.
• Cocoa mulch contains theobromine, the toxin in chocolate.
• Bone meal and blood meal fertilisers are extremely attractive to dogs and can cause severe gastrointestinal problems or obstruction.
• Organophosphate and carbamate pesticides — serious poisoning risk.
• Snail bait containing metaldehyde — severe seizures, often fatal. Switch to iron phosphate products, which are far safer.
• Rodenticide — anticoagulant poisons cause internal bleeding with a delayed onset of days. Also beware secondary poisoning from eating a poisoned rat.

Heat

• Shade must be available all day, accounting for the sun moving
• Multiple water bowls in shade, checked daily
• Paving, tar and artificial grass get hot enough to burn paw pads. Test with the back of your hand for five seconds.
• Never leave animals in cars or closed spaces
• Flat-faced breeds are at particular risk

Other bits

• Porcupine quills — a genuine issue in many areas. Quills migrate and require veterinary removal under sedation. Never pull them yourself.
• Scorpions, particularly the thick-tailed species
• Bee swarms — a real danger, especially to dogs that chase them
• Sharp garden tools and open irrigation boxes
• Water features and rainwater tanks — drowning risk for small animals
• Braai areas — hot coals, cooked bones, discarded skewers

The five-minute audit

Walk the garden looking specifically for:

1. Cycads, oleander, Brunfelsia

2. Lilies, if you have cats

3. Pool access and exit points

4. Long grass and rubble piles

5. Where the chemicals are stored

6. Shade and water availability at midday

Most gardens need two or three small changes rather than a redesign — and those changes prevent the majority of the incidents that end up in emergency rooms every summer.