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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

Cat owners and lilies: AGAIN

103 replies

thecatneuterer · 06/02/2022 13:06

I know this has been mentioned on here plenty of times, but as it seems so many people are unaware of the dangers I wanted to flag it up yet again.

This has been sparked by a visit this morning to a house with cats, where they had a big vase of lilies, on the floor!, dropping pollen everywhere. When I expressed my horror, and explained why, they said they had no idea it was dangerous.

Lilies kill cats. A lot. A cat doesn't need to eat the lily - it only has to brush past them and get pollen on it's coat, or walk on dropped pollen, and it will ingest enough poison when cleaning itself to die. And as soon as symptoms of poisoning are evident it is too late to save the cat.

I feel the water is somewhat muddied by the long lists of plants on the net that are dangerous to cats. With most of those the cat needs to actually eat the plant and even then is unlikely to die. I've never seen a case of poinsettia poisoning in our clinic for example. The flower that, in practice, actually kills cats is the lily. Lumping the lily in with all those other plants dilutes the message.

And that message is, if you have cats, don't have lilies in the house (or garden).

OP posts:
KittensTeaAndCake · 07/02/2022 21:55

Ha ha @RoyKentsChestHair, that made me chuckle and yes they do look like lilies 😆

caringcarer · 07/02/2022 21:56

Lilly's are my very favourite flower but I have 3 cats and had no idea they could harm cats. I won't have them in house anymore. Thank you for alerting me.

ColonelNobbyNobbs · 07/02/2022 21:57

I did know - but know lots of people that don’t. I had flowers given to me recently, said thank you and then put them in the garage!

ColonelNobbyNobbs · 07/02/2022 21:58

Roy I think tulips are toxic to them too! But not as bad as lilies

StarsAreWishes · 07/02/2022 21:58

Peace lilies are a completely different type of plant. They are just named lily for the shape of the flower.

Cleanmean · 08/02/2022 07:01

I didn't even realise they could die from driving against lillies. I have quite a few in my garden and will dig then up. I also have lots of big grassy plants that grow outwards that big orange flowers grow out of that look like lillies so will check then out too. My cat loves sitting in the flower bed so I need to extra vigilant.

Good to hear peace lillies are OK. I have a few plants in the house.

Simonjt · 08/02/2022 07:08

Lots of flowers (and plants) are poisonous to cats, we have a lot of houseplants and often some flowers, but never anything poisonous or toxic to cate.

Daffodils are also an issue, so be mindful as they’ll be in the shops soon.

Vinorosso74 · 08/02/2022 07:37

Yes, there needs to be increased awareness around this. Our vets used to have a poster on the wall about it. I like lilies but will never have them in the house. I received a beautiful bouquet last year which had some in-I gave the lilies to our neighbour.
There should be an option when ordering flowers online to decline lilies and florists should check.

Dearmariacountmein · 08/02/2022 07:45

I've always been vigalent ensuring no lilies in the house. A few years back I'd had a rough time and been sent flowers. I didn't realise there were lilies in the bunch until I turned around and my white cats face was orange. Lukily I was able to get him in the bath and take a soaking cat straight to vet where he was sedated, cleaned and fed charcoal.

Not an experience I want to go through again particularly the black projectile vomit on my new white carpet

nettie434 · 08/02/2022 10:02

Good to hear peace lillies are OK. I have a few plants in the house.

Peace lilies are still toxic to cats. It's just that they are poisonous if eaten whereas, as thecatneuterer said, even the lily pollen is poisonous to cats. They're not as dangerous but they are not completely safe.

I think one problem with cats and plant safety is that the lists of dangerous plants are often not very specific. I don't know why they don't add which parts are poisonous - eg the flowers/leaves/bulb and if the plant is only poisonous if eaten.

My own theory why people don't always know why lilies are poisonous to cats is that in the past people rarely had lilies in the house as they were associated with funerals. Now they have become so ubiquitous I agree that they should carry a warning.

deeplyrooted · 08/02/2022 10:08

Thanks for posting about this. I had no idea.

I’ve had lillies alongside my boy for years without incident but I won’t have them in the house anymore. I really appreciate the I formation

PraiseBee · 08/02/2022 11:12

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PraiseBee · 08/02/2022 11:13

Full*

Nomoreusernames1244 · 08/02/2022 11:28

Peace lilies are still toxic to cats. It's just that they are poisonous if eaten whereas, as thecatneuterer said, even the lily pollen is poisonous to cats. They're not as dangerous but they are not completely safe

“Toxic” has a very broad definition, from a tummy ache to death. This is @thecatneuterer point here, people state poinsettia, peace lillies etc are “toxic” when in reality they won’t cause more than minor, treatable symptoms. This means the toxicty of lillies get lost in the message.

Peace lillies are spathIphyllium, which contain calcium oxalates. They cause a burning sensation in the mouth, and you may get some dramatic drooling and upset behaviour, but it usually doesn’t require vet treatment.

Poinsettia may cause vomiting and gastric issues, again rarely serious, but time and time again I hear people saying they are toxic.

Daffodils are slightly more of an issue as they cause a really nasty gastric upset, and animals have died. Particularly from drinking the water daffodils have stood in for a long time.

I’d be fine with all of the above in my house, unless I had a plant eater in which case no daffs.

Lillies, never. The major issue is unless you witness the ingestion and get treatment immediately, by the time the cat becomes ill there’s nothing you can do.

Antifreeze people forget they use it in windscreen wash, i often think many of the local “cat poisoners” on facebook groups people get outraged about are people defrosting their windscreens and animals drinking the run off.

Cleanmean · 08/02/2022 12:34

I've just been reading about day lilies which is what I think I have all over my garden. There is some conflicting info online with many saying that day lilies that grow out of the grass bushes are not dangerous. Does anyone know for sure? I'm going to get them all removed ASAP but they grow like weeds and spread rapidly. My cat was around them last year with no ill effect but its not worth the risk.

Snooks1971 · 08/02/2022 22:54

Bumping this x

KittensTeaAndCake · 09/02/2022 16:38

Bump

worriednow9 · 10/02/2022 20:49

@thecatneuterer I had no idea about this, but it's got me worried
I had flowers in the house mid January which I think had Lilly's in. I think I threw them out about 9 days ago.
Would you expect that my cat would have shown some ill effects by now or could there be some hidden damage to him.

He seems normal eating and pooing and not been sick but we did say the other day he's drinking a bit more than normal. Thanks

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 20:53

@worriednow9 don't worry. Death will be within a week of exposure. You're way past that time.

OP posts:
Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 20:54

And there doesn't seem to be any hidden damage with lilies. It's all very evident and not in any way hidden.

OP posts:
Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 21:03

This seems like a concise and straight forward summary: wagwalking.com/cat/condition/lily-poisoning

OP posts:
JessieOh · 10/02/2022 21:10

Will all cats die from lily pollen or is it that just some will, akin to some humans having an anaphylaxis reaction to some foods?

I didn’t know of the risk until your post. I'm a catslave owner, lilies in the house numerous times in her 10 years and thankfully no ill effects, despite her walking by the flowers. Now i think about it, I'd be surprised if she hadn't brushed against them and subsequently cleaned the pollen off herself. So have we just been fortunate or could she be "immune"?

Thanks for sharing such important info BTW.

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 21:12

@JessieOh All of them. Unless treated within a few hours of ingestion. You have just been fortunate.

OP posts:
Nomoreusernames1244 · 10/02/2022 21:13

vpisglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/esms_3016-apl-lily-poisoning-in-cats-dl-sep18-1.pdf

This is uk based info from what used to be Guy’s poisons unit.

For reference they now have a public helpline, it’s about £30 and they will tell you whether your pet needs to see a vet or not. If they do, i think you get the £30 back- possibly covered by insurance as well.

Enough4me · 10/02/2022 21:16

Also, onion and garlic - so don't give cats leftover chicken from stews or similar.
Foxgloves are also poisonous to cats.