Spring and summer fruits are delicious and nutritious! However, ASPCA experts caution that we do need to be aware of possible potential harm that parts of certain fruit plants can do to our animals.

Citrus plants -- such as lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits have citric acid, limonin, and volatile oils, found in the peels, seeds, and fruit itself. This can cause gastrointestinal upset in your animals.

Apples, peaches, cherries and apricots contain cyanogenic glycosides found in their seeds (pits), stems, and leaves. Ingestion of this can cause vomiting and loss of appetite, and in severe cases, your animals could experience weakness, breathing difficulties, hyperventilation, shock, and possibly even death (though severe cases tend to be more likely to happen with outdoor and grazing animals such as horses and livestock, after ingesting large amounts).

For those of us with companion animals such as cats and dogs, it's a great idea to be aware of which household plants are safe and which are not, so we can act accordingly and keep the unsafe plants away from our pets!

And speaking about our precious companion animals  here at the Catalina Island Humane Society, we have nine little kittens available for potential adoption. We invite you to come and meet them! There are males and females, just a few months old. Some are black and white, others all black. They are all delightful! Please phone 310-510-1900, and leave a message with your phone number. Ann, our trailer manager, or a volunteer, will call you back to make an appointment for you to come and visit these great little cats!