Lethal Lilies and the Danger to your Cat

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Lethal Lilies and The Danger to Your Cat
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If you get a beautiful bouquet for an
anniversary, Valentines Day, your birthday or
another special occasion, you will want to
put those lovely flowers on display in your home.
However, if the bouquet contains lilies and you
are a cat owner you should give it a second
thought. Although lilies are beautiful, they are
toxic to cats and can be very dangerous for your
feline friend. All parts of the lily flower are
poisonous for a cat, including the petals,
leaves, pollen and stamen. Cats are curious
creatures, they love to taste and smell
everything in the house. If your cat chews on
one of the leaves of the lily or even rubs
against it and then licks the pollen out of its
fur later, this can be extremely harmful and
even fatal.

• Dehydration
• Inappropriate thirst or urination
• Seizures
• Death

Moderate and Extreme Danger There are two types
of lilies out there, ones that will make your
cat quite sick and ones that will very likely
kill your furry friend. The Calla, Peruvian and
Peace lilies contain compounds that will cause
minor sign of irritation to the esophagus,
tongue and mouth. You will notice your cat
pawing at its mouth, foaming, drooling and
vomiting.
The much more dangerous types of lily include
the Tiger, Easter, Japanese Show, Asiatic Hybrid,
Day, Stargazer, Rubrum, Red, Wood and Western
lilies. These types of lilies are truly toxic to
cats can be fatal. Even if the cat ingests a
small amount, such as a couple of petals or some
pollen or even the water from the vase, they can
suffer from serious kidney failure. There is
another type of dangerous lily called Lily of
the Valley, which doesnt cause kidney failure
but will cause a life threatening heart
arrhythmia and death when it is ingested by a
cat.
Once a cat ingests the lily flower, the poison
acts quickly. If they are not treated, they will
develop acute renal failure and die. They
will suffer from depression, vomiting, partial or
complete loss of appetite, dehydration and much
more. Bloodwork will show that the cat has an
increase in potassium, phosphorus, creatine and
blood urea nitrogen.
Symptoms Here are some of the symptoms that you
should watch out for, which would indicate that
your cat has been poisoned by a lily. Watch your
cat closely for any symptoms, as cats tend to
try to hide illnesses as an instinct from when
they were living in the wild and didnt want to
appear vulnerable.
How to Prevent This There are many things that
you can do to decrease the chances of lily
poisoning in cats. First of all, make sure that
you spread the word about this danger and let
all of your friends and neighbours
know. Whenever you give flowers to a house that
has cats, make sure that you ask for lilies not
to be included in the arrangement. Talk to the
florist and make sure that they know about
lilies and how they are poisonous to cats.

• Lack of appetite
• Hiding
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Halitosis

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Usually a florist will allow for a special
request to be made. Also, when the recipient
gets their flowers you can talk to them and
check to make sure that lilies have not been
included. If you have cats, never bring lilies
into your home. If you receive a bouquet of
flowers with lilies, throw them away or bring
them to another location where there are no cats
such as your workplace. Cats are curious and
can climb, so dont think that you have put the
lilies off limits just because they are high
on a shelf somewhere. Also, take a look in your
garden. If you have outdoor cats, make sure that
there are not any daylilies or other types of
lilies growing in your garden. Also, if there is
a cemetery nearby, ask for a notice to be put up
so that people do not leave lily flowers on the
graves.
The vet will try to decontaminate the cat by
giving them binders such as activated charcoal
or inducing vomiting. Then, the cat will be given
intravenous fluids for approximately 48 hours.
The vet will refer your cat to an emergency
hospital for continued care if necessary. The
vet will take bloodwork from your cat when it is
admitted to the hospital and this will be
repeated in 24 hours.
Prevent Lily Poisoning in Cats Lily poisoning is
a danger to cats and if you bring these flowers
into your home without knowing, you could
seriously hurt your pets. However, once you know
that lilies are dangerous to cats you can avoid
this by simply not letting these flowers get
anywhere near your pet. Making sure that lilies
are avoided at all costs means that your cat
will not be exposed to this dangerous and
potentially deadly poison. If you have any other
questions about lily poisoning, make sure that
you ask your trusted vet.
What Should I Do If My Cat is Exposed to a
Lily? If you know that your cat has been exposed
to a lily, or they are acting ill and there is a
lily nearby, you should take them to the vet
immediately. If the cat is treated for lily toxin
exposure within 18 hours, they have a much
better chance of recovering. However, if the
treatment is delayed the prognosis is poor and
many cats will be euthanized. There are no
effective at home treatments for cats that have
been exposed to lily poisoning, so it is
essential to take them to the vet so that you
can help them as soon as possible.
What Can be Done? What can the vet do for your
cat if it has eaten a poisonous lily? First of
all, the vet will give the cat medicine that
will help the cat to eliminate the plant.
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Keep Your Cats Protected!
Beeston Animal Health Ltd., Whitchurch Road,
Beeston Castle, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 9NJ