Woman Almost Accidentally Kills Her Cat After It Plays With Lilies, Warns Others About Its Danger
Warnock Willow was playing with some lilies in her office and initially, she was just worried about the pollen stain on the front of her body.
On May 28th, Warnock watched her cat Willow play with some lilies in her office. After shooing her away, Warnock’s initial concerns were about the pollen stain on the front of her body. But a quick Google search revealed Willow could’ve actually died.
Lilies are extremely harmful to cats and even cleaning the pollen from their fur can send the animals into critical illness.
Fearing for Willow’s life, Warnock threw the cat in the shower to wash off the pollen and then rushed her to the Blue Pearl Emergency & Specialty Hospital in Georgia, U.S.
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Image credits: lindzarie
According to Vets4Pets, signs of lily toxicity can occur within two hours of ingestion, and start with gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting, loss of appetite, and drooling. Cats that have eaten lily quickly become lethargic and depressed, and may seem very unwell.
In some cases, vomiting may subside after a few hours but the other signs continue, and within 72 hours affected cats develop acute kidney failure.
Cats with lily toxins may urinate more at first, and have abdominal pain, a change in thirst, weakness, and seizures. If the animal experiences very severe acute kidney failure, it may stop urinating altogether.
If you notice your cat has come into contact with a lily or has possibly eaten some, you should take your cat to the vet immediately. If possible, you should bring the plant with you.
Ideally, treatment needs to be started within six hours of the cat coming into contact with the lily.
Sadly, there’s no antidote to lily poisoning but the vet will take other measures, for example, they will induce vomiting and reduce further absorption of the toxins by feeding activated charcoal if only a short time has elapsed since your cat ate the lily.
Aggressive fluid therapy with a drip, anti-nausea medication, kidney function blood tests, and close monitoring of blood pressure and urine output may all be part of your cat’s supportive care plan.
Cats often require several days of hospitalization, care, and monitoring to recover and reduce the long-term impact on kidney function and clear the body of the toxins.
However, even with prompt veterinary attention, there is no guarantee that a cat with lily poisoning will survive. Those seen more than 18 hours after the initial ingestion have a very poor prognosis, but even early, aggressive treatment can still result in death, and surviving cats often have permanent kidney damage.
Image credits: lindzarie
There are more plants that pose serious threats to cats
Image credits: Bambi Edlund
Here’s what people said after reading Lindsey’s story
My sister's cat is named Lily. After reading this, it is kind of like naming your child Arsenic.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this
There are SO many plants that are toxic to cats and dogs! It’s actually easier to list the ones that are safe to have in the house: African Violet, Spider Plant, Parlor Palm, Friendship Plant, Polka-Dot Plant, Christmas Cactus, Venus Fly Trap, Areca Palm, and Boston Fern, Those are a few that are safe to have in the house. Still, keep them out of reach if your pet is prone to nibbling on them.
Thank you so much for this list! I will look into the Polka-Dot plants as they look adorable (and we have a ton of African Violets).
Yep! The ASPCA actually has a giant plant database where you can look up whether or not plants are toxic to cats, dogs, or horses, and what the effects are. Some are mild, like nausea and vomiting, but others are fatal so it's good to know! For example, I like to grow lavender out on my balcony but know it can cause nausea and vomiting if my cat ingests it. I keep her away from it just in case, but know that it's likely not fatal if she does nibble at it. However, any of my indoor plants MUST be non-toxic - that is an ironclad rule in my apartment. My cat loves nibbling on greenery too much (she's eaten several leaves of my prayer plant, which I'm so mad about, but at least it's non-toxic).
Be very careful with poinsettias too! They are extremely poisonous for cats. I can't count the times someone gave one to me for christmas although it could kill my fur baby. Always got rid of them immediately. I adore lilies so much but since I got my first cat, I never bought any ever again. All my plants are edible now. They have to be. Sometimes I think my cat wants to become a vegetarian. Always chewing on his own personal salad bar. ;D
They are not. For years poinsettias were thought to be poisonous, since many of the spruce family are, but they are not.
You sound as if they had done it on purpose! If you explained your friends the plants are poisonous for your cats politely it would be much better. People can't guess what you want if you don't tell them.
Is why I bought two artificial ones in the IKEA after Xmas sale a few years back... they look good for many years!
My sister's cat is named Lily. After reading this, it is kind of like naming your child Arsenic.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this
There are SO many plants that are toxic to cats and dogs! It’s actually easier to list the ones that are safe to have in the house: African Violet, Spider Plant, Parlor Palm, Friendship Plant, Polka-Dot Plant, Christmas Cactus, Venus Fly Trap, Areca Palm, and Boston Fern, Those are a few that are safe to have in the house. Still, keep them out of reach if your pet is prone to nibbling on them.
Thank you so much for this list! I will look into the Polka-Dot plants as they look adorable (and we have a ton of African Violets).
Yep! The ASPCA actually has a giant plant database where you can look up whether or not plants are toxic to cats, dogs, or horses, and what the effects are. Some are mild, like nausea and vomiting, but others are fatal so it's good to know! For example, I like to grow lavender out on my balcony but know it can cause nausea and vomiting if my cat ingests it. I keep her away from it just in case, but know that it's likely not fatal if she does nibble at it. However, any of my indoor plants MUST be non-toxic - that is an ironclad rule in my apartment. My cat loves nibbling on greenery too much (she's eaten several leaves of my prayer plant, which I'm so mad about, but at least it's non-toxic).
Be very careful with poinsettias too! They are extremely poisonous for cats. I can't count the times someone gave one to me for christmas although it could kill my fur baby. Always got rid of them immediately. I adore lilies so much but since I got my first cat, I never bought any ever again. All my plants are edible now. They have to be. Sometimes I think my cat wants to become a vegetarian. Always chewing on his own personal salad bar. ;D
They are not. For years poinsettias were thought to be poisonous, since many of the spruce family are, but they are not.
You sound as if they had done it on purpose! If you explained your friends the plants are poisonous for your cats politely it would be much better. People can't guess what you want if you don't tell them.
Is why I bought two artificial ones in the IKEA after Xmas sale a few years back... they look good for many years!