Herbs occupy the full range from nourishing food through bitter medicine to deadly poisons.

Towards the food end of the spectrum are many of our well-known herbs that we humans drink as teas, eat in salads or use as foods. As long as they are used correctly, most of these herbs (with important exceptions - see species differences) are generally considered safe for our domestic animals too.

At the other end of the spectrum are the poisonous herbs where even a small amount can be deadly to animals. Well known examples of very poisonous plants include deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) and hemlock (Conium maculatum).