Attention cat owners/cat lovers - SERIOUS

Question

I have a four month old Ragdoll kitten called Millie who is starting her second day attached to a drip because she managed to get lily pollen on her. I was bought some flowers which were starting to come to the end of their lifespan and the lilies were in the bin which Millie, being her naughty self, kept jumping into. When I first saw that she had yellow all over her face I laughed at her but then something in the back of my head went "this isn't right" like a weird mental siren and after searching "lily pollen poisonous to cats" on the internet, the information that came up nearly made me collapse - "blindness, renal failure, coma, death". Yes, it's pretty harsh and very shocking.

I called the vet expecting them to tell me to keep an eye on her and to call them again if she started having any symptoms, but they told me to bring her in immediately so that they could try to make her sick and flush her out. This morning I have spoken to them and she may need to stay on a drip for a while yet.

As bizarre as it sounds DO NOT LET LILIES NEAR YOUR CAT. They are the number 1 poison to cats. The number 2 listed is that lovely christmas plant called a poinsettia (with the red leaves). I find it weird that it is not more widely known. Maybe I'm a stupid cat owner as I really should have been more aware. You have no idea how angry I am with myself for being so careless. Please, please be careful with flowers/plants around your cats and please if you don't have a cat yourself, tell someone who does. They don't just make cats a little bit sick, they can kill them.

Answer 1

I only found out about the lilies recently and I have had cats my whole life! I felt quite stupid at the time too...

heres a website that tell you the relative toxicity of some houseplants. You may find it useful in the future : http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pag...

and this other one is quite good too. http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.ht...

good luck!  

Answer 2

Thanks for that, I didn't know.

Hope your cat gets well soon!

Answer 3

OMG... I had no idea, my friend had her cats around then, they didnt drop pollen when they were around though.. and now i have a cat thank you for the information!

I HOPE YOUR KITTEN MAKES A FULL RECOVERY!!!!!! I've seen enough bad things happen to kittens in the past week :-( all mine died :-(

Answer 4

I hope Millies ok? I have a cat, but I need not worry, my boyf never buys me flowers unless he's reallly really upset me. Ironically that quite upsets me.Oh well, give her a strokey from me.

Answer 5

I am already aware of poisonous plants but I applaud you for bringing it to others attention as many people are not aware and innocently have them around.

Answer 6

I really hope your little girl gets better soon. My mother breeds and shows Rag Dolls in the UK - they really are beautiful.

When I got my cats here in Germany I removed all house plants as I wasn't sure which would be poisonous.

I went to a really big garden centre and asked for advice on which plants I could safely display. They were absolutely no help whatsoever. Really strange as many plants would also be poisonous for children.

So now I only have artificial plants in the rooms where the cats go. I bought really lifelike ones and the plus point is I don't have to remember to water them!!

Once again I hope your little girl gets well soon.

Answer 7

I knew that about the red holiday plant but lillies? No idea! I guess this would be a good reason to look up all posionous plants to cats and keep a print out.

I hope she makes a full recovery, and don't worry, you're not stupid. There is so much out there we don't know. You've learned from it, you've gotten her help, and you're spreading the word.

That's nothing to be ashamed of.

Answer 8

thanks for this advice i am getting a ragdoll kitten on thursday and would never have realised that plants could be so dangerous Hope Millie gets better soon

x x

Answer 9

Hi, I didn't know that about Lilies or Poinsettia. Thank you for the excellent advice and I hope that your cat gets through this ok. If you are allowed to, try to visit her in hospital as it will really help her to get better quicker.  

Answer 10

Thanks about that, but as a previous answerer said, we have had many of the poisonous plants around, including lillies, poinsetia, strelizia, azalea, and we take care that they are not together with the cats, but sometimes they get off and they get pollen on them etc., but don't eat the plants or the pollen. So they have been fine always. And as far as I understood, ypur cat had no symptoms, but the vet decided to do this as a prevention measure (that also gave him a lot of money, I presume). That said, we must be careful, and it is good that you are informing us, but I think it may take more than  a little pollen to actually kill a cat.

Answer 11

wow did not know that . thanks for the advice.  

Answer 12

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I never knew this, thanks for letting me know I will have to stop my husband from getting me Lillie's!

Answer 13

just to for worn you there is some more plants that can get u cat or any animal sick but i cant really remember them right now !!  

Answer 14

thats strange, because we have two cats (had them for years), and we always have lillies and they always drop loads of pollen, and our cats have been absolutely fine (really....not a single complaint).

That said, they dont eat the pollen at all, it has no interest for them.

Answer 15

Thanks!!  I knew about the poinsettia, but the lilies is news to me.  Thanks so much!!

Answer 16

'Thanks very much for the advice. I will keep my cats away from lilies. I really hope your kitten gets better soon. It was lucky you remembered in time.

Answer 17

thanks so much for your info!!! i too have a ragdoll and i have about 200 lilies on my property. i would be so upset if something happened to my cat (mocha) do you recall the name of the lily?

Answer 18

The plants you mention are poisonous and it is worse for your cat because it is so young, I hope it will get better soon. Lupins are another plant that are bad for cats too.

Answer 19

I really do hope that Millie will be okay and that it won't be too long before she's allowed home.  You did the right thing by calling the vet straight away for advice.

Thank you for sharing your story and warning other cat owners, because judging from some of the answers, people mistakenly think that lilies are only dangerous if eaten.  Even brushing up against the pollen can be fatal, so cat owners should never have lilies in their home or garden.

Back in 2005 a Siamese cat named Catalina died after l*****g the pollen from a Stargazer Lily from her fur.  Despite her owners rushing her to the vet immediately, she was dead within hours.  At the time, the RSPCA made calls for warning labels to be carried on the flowers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1...

Here in Cyprus bouquets of lilies are very common in florist shops, and I happened to mention to my mum that I'd been given some for my birthday.  (At the time, I had no idea how dangerous they were).  She told me about Catalina and sent me the cutting from the newspaper.  I photocopied it and gave it to all the vets in the area - none of whom were aware that they were so toxic to cats.

Answer 20

Thanks, I already knew that lilies were poison for cats.  You are not a stupid owner, it was just an accident.  Millie is only a kitten, and they get into absolutely everything.

I hope Millie will be ok, she is in a great place, with great folks helping her get better.