Are cedar berries toxic to dogs? Find Out Here

Tracy Hodge has been a professional writer since 2007. She currently writes content for various websites, specializing in health and fitness. Hodge also does ghostwriting projects for books, as well as poetry pieces. She has studied nutrition extensively, especially bodybuilding diets and nutritional supplements.

The white cedar contains chemicals known as meliatoxins. Certain parts of the tree are more toxic than others. The berries are the most poisonous but the bark, flowers and leaves contain toxins as well.

Always monitor your dog while he is outside if you have white cedar trees in your yard, especially in the fall when berries and leaves begin to drop to the ground. Puppies are usually more curious than older dogs and should be watched closely. Removal of poisonous trees and plants in your yard is the best guard against accidental ingestion.

One particular deciduous species, known as the white cedar, melia azedarach, is poisonous to dogs. It has several other names: the Ceylon cedar, bead tree, Japanese bead tree, China ball tree, paradise tree, Persian lilac, pride-of-India, chinaberry tree and the Texas umbrella tree. By whatever name, dogs can become quite ill after ingesting any part of a white cedar tree and it may even lead to death.

Symptoms associated with ingestion of the white cedar tree include excessive salivation, depression, diarrhea and vomiting. Dogs can also exhibit neurological symptoms such as weakness, seizures and even death. Dogs that ingest white cedar tree berries, bark, flowers or leaves should be taken immediately to a veterinarian, even before symptoms are present, for proper diagnosis and treatment.

What are the blue berries on cedar trees?

It’s a juniper. And despite having round, blue fruits that look just like berries and not at all like cones, eastern red cedar is a conifer. The skin of the berry consists of soft scales that have coalesced, so in theory it might properly be called a cone, farfetched as that may seem.

Are cedar berries and juniper berries the same?

Plants in the botanical genus Juniperus carry common names of both juniper and cedar. If the botanical identities of the juniper and cedar in question are both in genus Juniperus, their fleshy female cones or “berries” are the same.

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana, hardy from U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 2 through 9) has berries, needles and wood that are highly toxic, while those of the Western red cedar (Thuja plicata, hardy from USDA zones 6A through 8A) are only mildly harmful.

Are Cedar Trees Poisonous to Dogs?

Our kelpie cross has lost his love of food is not active and all we can think of is the cedar tree beries we now have and we caught him eating. Thanks for your help Richard