Ireland's largest dog welfare charity is warning owners to beware of blooms because some springtime flowers could be toxic for dogs.
Dogs Trust says daffodil bulbs, which are members of the narcissus plant group, are more toxic for dogs than chocolate.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One William Smith, who is Clinical Director of City Vets in Waterford, said a "lot of these poisonous plants are not recognised as being poisonous".
"Quite a small amount can cause quite serious effects," he said.
"A dog needs to eat a lot of chocolate to get ill-effects, with daffodil bulbs or the whole daffodil flower, that's not the case."
Mr Smith said that a small dog such as a 5kg terrier "eating even one daffodil bulb will cause quite serious effects, they'd certainly be hospitalised".
He said there are many toxic plants and it "depends on the level of toxicity and the chances of the dog eating a toxic amount".
He said cats are affected also, but are "less prone to eating unusual plants", being "much more particular about what they eat".
However he cautioned that "as a species, cats are uniquely susceptible to lilies" and particularly in the form of "cut flower arrangements".
"They [cats] only need to take a small amount to get very serious toxic effects," he said.
"A cat eating less than one leaf or a part of one flower of a lily will cause fatal renal failure, kidney failure," he said.
Mr Smith also said that if a cat rubs off the pollen of a lily and then licks its fur, it will also "ingest a toxic amount, so lilies shouldn't be in the same house as a cat".
He also warned against exposing dogs to used teabags, which they will willfully eat, but that the high caffiene content in a dog eating just four used teabags would be enough to make a 10kg-sized Jack Russell terrier "twitch", and he advised owners against letting dogs near compost heaps that may contain used teabags.
