[Luna-Tuck]

Ok - we moved into new house and identified a BIG hazard to Luna in the form of fallen apples from 2 trees and zillions and zillions of WASPS. She ambled through said apples and wasps sticking nose just where you hoped she wouldn't so 2 trees were fenced off and low lying branches cut. So far so good!
The only other plant life in the garden besides grass is a rose hip bush/tree (nothing falling yet and Luna not interested) and blackberry, hawthorn and redcurrant poking through fence at the back (Luna's eaten some fallen blackberries but isn't interested in picking any!) AND 2 of what our family has always called 'snowball bushes' because the little white berries are great to have snowball fights with when the snow fails to fall in winter!!! The thought had crossed my mind that maybe I should check that the berries wouldn't be harmful to Luna but.....

So this morning I was trimming back bushes so that pathways were clearer and noticed that Luna was snaffling some of the white berries....
I get on phone to my gardening parents who identify bush as Symphoricarpos rivularis (Snowberry)....
I google it and get back a variety of responses with regards to the berries, everything from:

" Symphoricarpos rivularis (Snowberry)

It is not generally known that snowberries are perfectly edible. Open one up and they seem to have the testure of polystyrene foam. In truth, they have about as much flavour as polystyrene foam although their texture is rather better!

Probably their only sensible use is as extra edible decoration for a fruit salad." (http://www.torrens.org.uk/FFF/UKFruits.html#SymphoricarposRivularis)

to

"Snowberry Symphoricarpos rivularis
A tasteless white fruit can serious gastroenteritis even in small doses. Larger doses can produce delirium and coma. Native in north America is commonly planted in parks as hedging. " (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/Food-Foraging/Poisonous-Fruit.html)

So I decide to fence off the snowberry bushes and WATCH Luna like a hawk for the rest of the day so that if she gave any indication of not being herself, off to the vet we would go.
By the time I'd got off the phone and internet, however, Luna had sicked up the white berries and some of her breakfast!!!!! She's now curled up beside me on the sofa fast asleep. I am hoping that she got anything dangerous out of her system and will now be ok - I shall be watching her every second of the day today though!

So I still don't know if the snowberries are edible or harmful but I'm pretty confident that they are all no longer inside Luna. We meet our new vet tomorrow so will be asking him.

Has anyone else had any experiences of snowberry eating??? Am I doing the right thing???

 

[_Mary_]

I`d never heard of snowberries til you wrote about them here Laura, sounds good that Luna has sicked up what she`s eaten and hopefully they won`t have had a chance to get anything into her system if they are poisonous.

your garden sounds like it needs a few plants/bushes removing for Luna`s safety though, if you are allowed to do so

 

[Luna-Tuck]

You aren't wrong about the garden plants and Luna's safety Mary!!

I've fenced everything off at the moment so that it's just the blackberries she can nibble. They don't seem to have done her any harm so far and there aren't many falling as I'm trying to pick them as they ripen to eat myself!

She seems to be doing okay at the moment, sleeping as normal and happily gobbling up a bit of 'left over' scrambled egg for lunch!

I've bagged up some of the snowberries to take to the vets tomorrow as it'd be nice to find out whether they are a danger or not!!

 

[Coco-Loco]

Laura - did you ever get an answer about the snowberries. We have some and Griffin is a little too interested but Coco has never bothered with them or the laurel berries. Both mine like pick your own season with raspberries and blackberries though.

 

[Luna-Tuck]

Pam, I can't remember!

I do remember the vet was no help and couldn't tell me.

I seem to recall Luna snaffling the odd one and not getting sick again but we moved house again (a couple of times) and there has been no snowberry bush since!

 

[paws]

The literature says both snowberry and laurel berries are toxic to dogs but the main effect appears to be vomiting. HTH

 

[Coco-Loco]

I should really go and prune all the fruiting branches then! Coco seems pretty savvy as far as berries go, she only eats the ones that are safe, even the ones that don't appear to have much going for them like Hawthorn berries.

 

[Dileasmum]

SNOWBERRIES ARE VERY TOXIC TO DOGS. Our neighbour has a hedge of it and it's a constant battle to keep it trimmed back our side so that the berries don't drop. Why anyone would want such a toxic hedge in their garden? I don't know if it's true, but my mother-in-law used to say she knew of a child that died after eating the berries years ago.

 

[Luna-Tuck]

Well there you go, well done Luna for sicking them up!

Thanks all!