03/01/2025
FIRESTICKS aka Pencil Cactus
It is very important that everyone is aware of just how dangerous this plant can be. The milk/sap in the plant is caustic and can cause severe skin burns, blisters and rashes.
Client:
We were out today, and Sparta decided to have zoomies and ran head first into the one bush that was in this venue. I immediately grabbed him and noticed the milk on his face and eye area. I grabbed my water bottle and managed to get rid of the sap asap. The sap was on his skin for not even 5 seconds. I took him home and immediately flushed his eye with saline twice. I noticed his eye continued to swell and rushed straight to the vet.
I knew, thankfully, how poisonous this bush is and was able to be at the vet within 30 minutes of the exposure. In that time, the sap had already burnt his eyelid but thankfully, me rinsing it so quickly had protected his eye. He is still at risk of his eye ulcerating so he is on meds to prevent it. Thankfully Sparta handled his vet visit really well as he had to be sedated for his eye to be thoroughly examined and flushed a few times. But I was a very proud mom of him today♡
If you see these plants, please be extra cautious and if any of this sap gets on your dog, child or self, rinse it immediately! This sap can cause blindness very quickly, so if it gets near eyes, treat this as an emergency.
