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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Neighbours’ lily plant

63 replies

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 03/08/2019 23:14

Please help. Our neighbours have recently got a big lily thing in a pot in their back garden. Our cat doesn’t roam, but she sees their garden and ours as both being “hers”, and I am really scared she goes near the lily. We’re on good terms with the neighbours, but just general chatting over the wall about the weather type stuff, taking in parcels for one another, not actually friends - would it be really off to explain how toxic lilies are, and politely ask if they might consider moving the lily to the front? (Cat never goes out the front.) Neighbours have two small dogs, but I don’t know if lilies are toxic for dogs too?

I know the right thing would be to keep the cat in, but she is used to being able to go in and out, particularly in nice weather - even in horrible weather she would rather burst than use the litter tray. She’s five and would be bewildered to suddenly not be allowed out. Keeping her in for 24 hours after a GA for a dental procedure earlier in the year was quite the battle.

OP posts:
IHeartKingThistle · 03/08/2019 23:30

I'm a cat person and I'd think you were batshit, sorry.

ErrolTheDragon · 03/08/2019 23:31

If it's in a pot, and the flowers are then on quite tall stems, is your cat actually likely to rub against the stamens?

If I was you I'd mention to her that some types of lily pollen are toxic to cats and you're worried about it but also that she might want to check if it could be a problem for her dogs.

ErrolTheDragon · 03/08/2019 23:34

And fwiw I have lilies and a small dog, I've never seen any pollen on him. DHs trousers otoh - he managed to bash into one of the pots twice today and stain them...HmmGrin

dementedpixie · 03/08/2019 23:36

Meh, my neighbour had recently planted lillies in her front garden but it's not my place to tell her what to have in her garden. I'm just trusting that my cats will avoid them and they have so far

Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 03/08/2019 23:56

Okay, thank you all. I clearly am being unreasonable. The cat was sick in the night - only the second time in the time we’ve had her - and I have put two and two together and made 95. I won’t mention it to the neighbours.

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 04/08/2019 08:09

Some Lily’s are very toxic to dogs so I would warn her, no one wants to see either pet hurt.

Fwiw I only see my cat chewing grass.

viccat · 04/08/2019 09:22

I understand your concern and I think you're right to be concerned, cats do sadly get poisoned from coming into contact with lilies (all parts of the plant are toxic). Some varieties are toxic to dogs as well so you could maybe mention it from that perspective; in general I find most people don't know about cats and lily toxicity at all.

But, on the other hand, it's one of the many risks you take if you let your cat roam freely...

My garden is catproofed so they stay in their own garden only, I really wouldn't have it any other way. But that's just me...

Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 04/08/2019 10:44

Maybe I will mention it in passing next time I see them, but not make a big deal of it. I definitely won’t ask them to relocate it, I was just in a bit of a tizz after the cat being sick. (She was fine after a day of dry food, then wolfed her dinner - something must have just upset her stomach.)

She doesn’t really “roam freely”, she’s always in sight and in shouting distance - mainly she doesn’t actually leave our garden. In the last month she’s just taken a bit of a thing for next door. When I go back to work (teacher, so off all summer) she will be inside all day, and she’s always inside from bedtime to morning anyway, so her window of opportunity will be much more limited. Next door’s dogs also act as a useful deterrent, two little chihuahuas who are VERY fierce!

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 04/08/2019 11:24

I would also be concerned, particularly if the pot is on a hard surface. The lily drops pollen and petals, which lay on or get blown around on the hard surface, and your cat could easily walk through it. I don't think you're batshit, but then I've seen more lily related deaths than I can count. Maybe, as its in a pot, your neighbour might be willing to move it to the front of the house, assuming your cat doesn't go there. It can't hurt to ask.

Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 04/08/2019 11:47

It’s sitting on a low wall, which the cat walks along to sit on their shed roof. They have hydrangeas in pots at the front, so maybe they would move it there. As I say, I think I will mention it in passing. Hopefully the cat’s current fascination with their garden will pass soon, and we’re in NE Scotland so I assume the lily will die off shortly anyway.

The cat will very occasionally sit on our front doorstep if we go out with the bins or DP is pruning stuff, but she’s absolutely never unsupervised, and it’s literally once in a blue moon.

OP posts:
Badcat666 · 04/08/2019 23:50

I have Madonna lilies and cats, they don't give a rats arse about them.

The blooms are on the end of long stems (which I tie up if their droop) so the flowers and pollen are way out of their reach (not that they can be bothered to try and stretch that high)

frankly it's their garden and they can have what they like in it.

helpmeiamatoad · 04/08/2019 23:54

It would be unreasonable to tell them what to do with their own plants/garden. However a simple polite, no pressure request to move it to the front sounds reasonable enough.

Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 05/08/2019 00:33

Oh god, I really didn’t mean to come across like I could or would dictate to my neighbours what they can have in their garden. I say in the OP “politely ask if they would consider moving it to the front”. I have not asked, and based on the responses on this thread I will not ask.

I absolutely do not want to be rude, or have a bad relationship with our neighbours. I completely understand that it’s their garden, and they can have what they like in it.

OP posts:
Whatsnewpussyhat · 05/08/2019 00:40

I love lilies. I have loads in pots in my back yard.
If my neighbour complained I'd tell her to keep her 4 bloody cats in her house as they, and every other fucking cat in the neighbourhood who comes to spray, piss and shit in my garden to compete with them, (never an issue until her cats arrived) are not my problem.

helpmeiamatoad · 05/08/2019 00:44

Sorry OP I didn’t mean to imply that I was expecting you to go around demanding them about! I just meant to say that a nice polite request is hardly ‘batshit’ as certain other posters have claimed Grin

Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 05/08/2019 00:44

I completely appreciate that whatsnew, and absolutely wasn’t thinking of complaining. I realise I was wrong to even think about asking, and am really sorry I started this thread.

OP posts:
Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 05/08/2019 00:47

@mnhq might you be kind enough to delete this thread, please?i really didn’t mean to upset people, and realise my concerns were not appropriate.

OP posts:
Whatsnewpussyhat · 05/08/2019 00:48

Don't be sorry for starting the thread, just realise that the safety of your animal falls on you. If you don't want it going in next doors garden then find ways of keeping the cat in yours.

Original poster
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 05/08/2019 00:53

I realise that, whatsnew, and have already said I won’t say anything to my neighbours - my question was whether it would be unreasonable to politely ask if they would consider moving the plant, not to complain. I completely understand my cat is not their problem, and I am sorry you have issues with cats in your garden.

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 05/08/2019 01:12

WTF?? Lilies are very dangerous to cats. It is perfectly reasonable to ask neighbours if they will move them. Whether they do or not is up to them of course, but it's certainly not unreasonable to ask.

Our clinic sees dozens of lily-related deaths each year. This is not a minor thing. And if you are a cat owner and have lilies in your garden then you are an extremely stupid and irresponsible cat owner - it's a huge risk and one you don't need to take. If you value the life of your cats so little then you really shouldn't have them.

Of course your concerns are appropriate! Don't be cowed by the cat haters or the generally bat shit. Why on earth would you ask for the thread to be deleted?

Dippypippy1980 · 05/08/2019 02:14

I love love love lilies - in the garden and in the house. All went when I got a kitten.

Azaleas too.

But I know she might come into contact with them in other peoples gardens - but she loves being outside and, until I got my own cat, my garden was quite dangerous for neighbouring pets.

While you can’t ask her to cat proof her garden, some lillies are also dangerous for dogs. If this variety is a problem it would be a kindness to mention it.

Fluffycloudland77 · 05/08/2019 07:33

Plant some cat mint in your garden, it will attract her to stay local.

I’ve had to ban tulips from my house, I love tulips but I can’t risk it with the cats.

SilentSister · 05/08/2019 10:11

Me, my neighbours, and most of the village for that matter, have lilies and many other "potentially" toxic plants in their gardens, the list is endless. Pretty much everyone also has cats and dogs. I have never even considered not having lilies or tulips in vases in the house. I think it is just one of those things that you accept as a natural risk if you let your cats and dogs out, and we all do.

thecatneuterer · 05/08/2019 10:22

SilentSister - no it's isn't just one of those risks you have to accept! Of course it isn't. Yes there is a huge list of 'potentially' toxic plants. Many will cause some illness and discomfort if eaten. However lilies are in a different category altogether. There is nothing 'potential' about the risk.

If a cat comes into contact with the pollen and then grooms itself IT WILL DIE - a very painful death. Unless treatment is sought before any symptoms start then there is nothing that an be done. Many thousands of cats die every year from lilies - not from other plants - from lilies.

If you have a child would you have something in your house or garden that could kill him or her by merely coming into contact with it or even by walking near it? I doubt it. Do you value your cat's life so little that you prioritise having a few particular flowers in a vase or in your garden and if the cat dies as a result, well that's just one of those things?

Bloomburger · 05/08/2019 11:49

Is this true?

Will cats avoid Lilly's?

I'm off to the garden centre immediately.

Any Lilly? Or a specific kind of Lily?

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