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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:
Moonface123 · 10/02/2022 21:18

l also wasn' t aware so thankyou.

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 21:20

@Enough4me This is true, but the danger isn't comparable. I've never heard of a death from onions or foxgloves in our clinic. But deaths from lilies are very regular. That was my original point - there are lots of things that are toxic to cats, but in practice it's really only lilies that kill.

OP posts:
Nomoreusernames1244 · 10/02/2022 21:24

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

Again, onions and garlic aren’t as immediately toxic in the same way lilies are. Allium is a chronic toxin- one off is rarely a problem, they need to be eating it over a longer period of time before it has an effect.

Foxgloves are toxic to everything, including humans. And there is an antidote so it’s more treatable than lillies if they have symptoms.

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 21:33

Yes I know foxgloves are poisonous, and to people too. But they have to actually be eaten (I'm guessing). And people don't have foxgloves in bunches of flowers, and aren't that likely to have them in the garden and, if they do, cats aren't that likely to eat them. So while it is of course good to be aware of everything, the thing that, in practice, causes cat deaths is lilies (and antifreeze).

OP posts:
JessieOh · 10/02/2022 21:39

[quote thecatneuterer]@JessieOh All of them. Unless treated within a few hours of ingestion. You have just been fortunate.[/quote]
Wow! That will be a few of her 9 lives used up then!
Shock

Thanks again for posting. 👏

Pixiedust1234 · 10/02/2022 21:43

Thank you for this. I knew about the oriental and asiatic lillies being toxic and if I was given any bouquet with them in I cut the stamens out immediately. However I did not know about day lilies!! My cat loves cooling off under them every summer, even prefers them to the iris section right next to it. Anyone able to confirm/deny if day lily pollen is actually toxic? (She only eats cat food, not human food or plants so am only worried about the pollen).

Noseylittlemoo · 10/02/2022 21:48

I am very sad that my cat had to be pts in Dec aged 2.5 years. He vomited and was lethargic and excessively thirsty. I took him too the vet and returned the next day when he was collapsing. Both times the vets didn't seem overly worried but the second one advised me to take him to emergency vets to run some tests to see why he was so lethargic.
It was only the emergency vet who said he was showing signs of poisoning. And he had to be put down the next day. I found it upsetting that the other vets did not consider this as I will always wonder if he might have lived if it had been detected (up to 48h) earlier 😥

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 21:56

@Pixiedust1234 don't cut out the stamens, throw out the entire flower. Cutting the stamens does reduce the risk but the risk is certainly still there. Is it really worth it to have a few flowers in a vase for a week or so?

OP posts:
Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 21:59

@Pixiedust1234 As for day lilies I'm really not sure. I'm neither a botantical expert, nor a poisons expert, nor a vet. Apparently info is conflicting. I suspect they aren't as dangerous as the asiatic and oriental types, but I really don't know for sure.

OP posts:
Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 22:00

@Noseylittlemoo So sorry to hear about your boy. Do you have reason to think it was lilies? If it was then I don't think it would have made a difference. By the time cats show symptoms it's too late.

OP posts:
Nomoreusernames1244 · 10/02/2022 22:07

Anyone able to confirm/deny if day lily pollen is actually toxic?

Yes day lilies are also toxic- see the leaflet link I posted upthread. Lillium and hemerocallis are both fatal without early intervention.

CatherinedeBourgh · 10/02/2022 22:16

I've read this many times, but I do think some cats are immune.

I lived for many, many years in a place with thousands (literally) of lilies in the garden. I had six cats and a lot of feral feline friends. I have seen them playing around in the lilies, rubbing themselves against them many, many times. None of them so much as got a queasy tummy.

Maybe cats which are exposed from early on are immune? I don't know.

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 22:20

@CatherinedeBourgh Well if it is the case vets would seem to be unaware of it.

OP posts:
Noseylittlemoo · 10/02/2022 22:21

@thecatneuterer the emergency vet said that their suspicion was that he had ingested a poison either from a plant or possibly antifreeze. But we will never know for sure. He vomited first on Monday and deteriorated over the next 2 days until he was put to sleep on the Thursday.

worriednow9 · 10/02/2022 22:24

@thecatneuterer Thanks Both for the reassurance now and for making people aware for the future. They certainly won't be coming into my house again.
This is my first cat, and it seems I have a fair bit to learn still 😸

worriednow9 · 10/02/2022 22:27

@Noseylittlemoo Sorry you had to go through that and for the loss of your little boy, you did everything you could for him though

GuppytheCat · 10/02/2022 22:30

Thanks for this; I was aware of lilies, but we and half the neighbours do have day lilies in the garden. I'll dig ours out; not a lot I can do about the neighbours.

We have had a long succession of outdoor cats who haven't yet seemed to suffer any ill effects, but sod's law says that the current -sod of a tortie will probably go and chew one now I've heard about it.

CatherinedeBourgh · 10/02/2022 22:33

I asked my vet (not in the UK) and she said indoor cats seem to be more susceptible, and not to worry too much (nothing I could have done anyway, the lilies were completely naturalised in the area).

gingerhills · 10/02/2022 22:41

Thank you for this post. I had no idea. I love lilies and often buy them. And DCat loves noshing on fresh flowers. He must have come into contact with them before but no harm done. Are all cats vulnerable to this?

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 10/02/2022 22:43

@gingerhills we were just discussing that upthread. As far as I know, yes. But maybe there is still some research to be done on the subject. Anyway - not worth risking it again.

OP posts:
Cecillie · 10/02/2022 22:46

Wise words
We see cats poisoned by lilies on a regular basis , some dying and others being hospitalised on drips for days .
The issue is as you say that there is so much guff about potential toxins , the deadliest ones get caught up in the mix
I regularly tell clients and friends and can tell from their faces that they think I'm just being over cautious.
I don't panic if my dogs eat a tiny bit of chocolate and I'm happy to fill the house with poinsettia at Xmas but a lilly will never cross the threshold !

Pixiedust1234 · 11/02/2022 01:32

Thank you both. Guess she is losing her summer day bed this year. Not worth the risk.

gingerhills · 11/02/2022 07:33

[quote thecatneuterer]@gingerhills we were just discussing that upthread. As far as I know, yes. But maybe there is still some research to be done on the subject. Anyway - not worth risking it again.[/quote]
Sorry, I hadn't RTFT. Thanks for your reply.

gingerhills · 11/02/2022 07:34

And yes, definitely not worth risking again. He can eat the roses for now. Grin

Original poster
thecatneuterer · 15/02/2022 20:55

@Enough4me @Nomoreusernames1244 I've just discovered I was wrong about something. I said upthread I didn't think you would find foxgloves in bunches of flowers. Well I was wrong it seems. I was in Tesco today where there were masses of massively discounted valentines bouquets - and loads of them had foxgloves in! I had no idea they were common cut flowers.

However the cat would still have to eat them, which is a lot less likely than ingesting lily pollen after brushing past them, but still ...

OP posts: