Warning on lilies and toxicity for cats

[valb]

Having learned a (very expensive) lesson this weekend, I
thought to pass on a warning to cat owners.

Yesterday, a friend came over and brought me a bouquet of
lilies (they haven't opened yet but I think they are the Stargazer
type) and I put them in a vase on the kitchen counter. Friend,
husband and I then went out for the day. Came home to a
bit of upchucked leaf matter in the upstairs hall. Cleaned it up,
didn't think much more of it, until a bit later, cat brought up
her entire dinner, with another small piece of leaf in it. Thought
to ask husband to look up lily toxicity, and we were on our
way to our emergency vet center here in town, thank goodness
we have that place.

The toxin in lilies is unknown, but you have to treat quickly, and
so our little kitty has gotten charcoal and is on fluids and will be
at the e-vets for three days, trying to preventing renal failure.
Talked to the vet this morning, she is doing good and making pee
and he said if he didn't know what she was in for, he wouldn't
know there was a problem. So hopefully we're okay.

I asked vet about how common this is, and he said he sees it
quite a bit, especially around Easter time. So all of you, please
learn this lesson along with me and avoid trauma to your kitties,
and a couple thousand dollar hit to your pocketbook!

[msvette2u]

Thank you for that information!

[1sttimeforgsd]

Hope that your kitty makes a complete recovery.

I cannot have any living plants at all in my home because my indoor cat will chew them up. She has mutilated 2 different bamboo plants that I thought were out of her reach. NOT.

Thanks for sharing your story, it may help someone else from having to go through a vet visit.

[Shade]

That's awful, I hope your cat makes a full recovery

I can't have live plants either, my cats either eat them or dig them up. Even cut flowers aren't safe which sucks because I love flowers.

[Chicagocanine]

Yes lilies are a big one, many plants are toxic to cats. They tend to also have issues with ingredients that can be in some household cleansers, air fresheners and natural products with many types of essential oils or fragrance can be toxic to cats because their livers cannot process phenol compounds in them. These things can be especially harmful to them because cats groom themselves so much so if it comes in contact the cat may lick it off their fur, and things like essential oils or fragrance oils can even be harmful if inhaled from scented products. Personally I avoid using air fresheners, candles or scented products, unless it is a pet safe item.

[KZoppa]

thanks for the warning

[Freestep]

Thanks for bringing this up. I don't keep houseplants or flowers at all, because our kitties love to chew on them, or they try to drink out of the vase and knock everything over.