Sweet Potatoes, LSD and Your Cat

Thanksgiving is over. Maybe you made your sweet potato casserole and had one tuber too many. In the basket it goes and if it sits long enough it starts to get a little interesting. Is that a leaf?!? It is cold out and where the world outside is looking forlorn you have an unintentional garden in your basket. If you add homeschooling family to that, this has a strong likelihood of being exploited. That there is a free science experiment. :) Kids LOVE watching things grow. Me too! This was us a couple of weeks ago. This morning I woke up to find my cat on the counter by the sweet potato plant. My cats are not allowed on my counters. It is just not hygienic, so I go Mexican Hat Dance on them if they are in breech of protocol. Today though I saw Abigail must have spotted our plant. She was nibbling on the leaves and chewing on the vine. Not sure how long she was there, but she really seemed to be enjoying it so I thought of putting it on the floor. From somewhere deep inside, the ex-vet tech in me remembered some plants are poisonous so I looked up sweet potato vines. Turns out they are toxic to cats & dogs because they contain LSD as per the ASPCA and other sources. It can cause diarrhea and hallucinations. So I clapped her off the counter, chucked the potato and turned to the counter behind me to make breakfast when she jumped up on the counter again. I shooed her down and walked out of the room to check on the girls who were still sleeping. When I went back into the kitchen.... I found her up there again sniffing around the empty basket. I put her down on the ground about three more times before she finally gave up. That's when "The  Sweet Fatness" aka Ariel enters the picture. She is our less active kitten. A rescue, she is a tabby with a docked ear, round tummy and fur as soft as a bunny rabbit. She never got very big, in length, and is the sweetest baby. In contrast, Abigail looks like Bagheera from Jungle Book. When she stands on her hind legs her front paws can rest on a counter. She is also a sweetheart, usually? Today after I shooed her for the last time she walked to the entrance to the dining room, spotted Ariel, did the jungle cat crouch and it was game over. Abby went after her a few more times before like Bobby Fisher, Ariel disappeared. She may be small, but she's smart. In conclusion, as nobody wants a cat strung out on sweet potato leaves, cat owners might be best to skip this activity until the outdoors are warm enough to do it outside. As a bonus, when they sprout you can put them in the ground.  Happy planting! :)