Ask A Scientist© Veterinary Topics Archive

name         Patricia T.
age          50s

Question -   I have been told that Lantana is poisonous to livestock. There is wild Lantana 
growing on the 5 acres we just moved
to, one of my dogs loves to chew plants. Is Lantana a treat to dogs and cats as well as 
livestock.
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Almost all poisoning cases due to lanata have occurred in livestock, as you noted.  But it can 
affect other species, including children, if they eat it. The berries, especially when green, 
have the highest dose of toxins, but the leaves also are a problem.  Usually the pungent smell 
and taste keep animals from eating the plant unless there is very little else for them to graze 
on.

The main toxins affect the liver.  At lower doses, there is enough liver damage that 
chlorophyll from plants cannot be properly broken down by the liver and accumulates in the 
skin.  Although it might sound as if the animal should turn green, the partially degraded 
chlorophyll does not have a color, but makes the cells very sensitive to sun.  Animals 
become photosensitive and unpigmented areas of the skin that are exposed to sun can become 
red, itchy or even slough off.  Since livestock consume more
plants, therefore more lantana and other sources of chlorophyll, this is likely why the 
condition is most apparent in them.

At higher doses, lantana can cause severe enough liver damage that animals become very sick 
or die.

So, the best idea would be to keep your pets from eating it.  In Africa, lantana is burned as 
a mosquito repellent and a number of
countries also have major projects to eliminate it, since they consider it a pest species.

http://www.hear.org/pier/lacam.htm
http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/pest/PP34.pdf
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Lantaca.htm
http://www.sms.si.edu/IRLSpec/Lantan_camar.htm
http://www.felinefuture.com/catcare/toxicplants.php
There are other reports that indicate that it can harm pets.

Laura Hungerford, DVM, MPH, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
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