Topic: flowers harm cats?

[Val]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/06/nlilly06.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/05/06/ixhome.html

[maz]

 :o  I have both a cat and lillies.  :( 

Thats very worrying although I have had both for many years.

[kitty]

we've got 7 cats and tones of lillies-always had lots of both..i think with these news stories you have to take it with a pinch of salt-or two!
after all-there wouldnt be much of a story if they also added-o and the cat was 15 in poor health and had 6 broken legs and its arm in a splint-would it?!
i think like everything-it can be dangerous-but no more so than letting your cat go outside........... ;D

[Gadfium]

My mum has loved her lillies for many years - but after reading the Telegraph article, she has told me to dig them up from the borders and bin them immediately; her 'lily pots' are already history.

[kitty]

o thats a shame..i think maybe that if people are worried they could still keep lillies but do what some florists do and snip the stamens out that carry the pollen...... :(

[Gadfium]

It seems that just one lily leaf, if munched, is fatal to cats. The pollen turns out to be even deadlier in tiny quantities. If you don't get the cat to a vet in under 6 hours, it's probably too late - the cat's kidney's will fail, & the animal will be dead about 18 hours post-exposure. That is a staggering toxicity to felines.

 :(

Bye-bye lilies.

[Val]

I don't want to alarm everyone..oh dear, I'm not sure I should've said anything. It was a report that I thought would interest cat lovers but surely they don't go around eating plants do they?We had cats when I was growing up but haven't had one for years I'm sure ours didn't eat plants though.

[Gadfium]

Val, I read the article in the paper, & I'm glad you posted. We've had cats since I was a babe, I've got various books on cat care, I've raised orphaned kittens, done voluntary work for animal charities.... and do you know, in all of that time I'd never come across the lily toxicity fact! 

Cats nibble at grass (they need it), many others have leaf nibbles as well... Over the years I've watched 'the mob' as they perused the greenery and sampled here and there.

Lilies are lovely, but... just as I'd prefer not to have aconitum & euphorbias near a toddler; now that I know about the possible lily consequences, it's a pretty easy decision. And all lilies (received in flower arrangements) will now be confined to a room from which the cats have been evicted.

[maz]

My cats have always eaten plants other than grass, but which plants I couldnt tell you.  Ive never made a big deal of it, the cats have survived and the plants have regrown.

Its a bit like the chocolate for dogs warning isnt it? How many dogs are given chocolate and how many have died?. Ive only heard of one.

[kitty]

our dogs in the past would eat any choc going!and plenty of it too!
our cats eat spider plants to the roots if they have the chance-and nibble most anything growing-usually if its nasty they stop-buntys a bit daft tho-she'll keep going til she throws up-but she does that with tuna too ::)

[Gadfium]

Unfortunately lots of dogs become very ill & some die from chocolate poisoning, it's a common problem, and one especially encountered by vets just after Christmas.

It's not the chocolate per se, that is poisonous, it's the methylxanthine alkaloids and theobromine contained within the chocolate that is critical. Different chocolates contain different amounts of these two compounds.

A dog could snaffle an entire box of Milk Tray and not have a problem... but that same dog, given a treat of one square of high-grade dark chocolate, could die... because of the difference in theobromide concentration between the two types of chocolate.

Cocoa shell mulches used in gardens are especially toxic - again, canine poisonings & deaths are attributable to this specific form of chocolate poisoning.

I found this straight-forward article which gives the general facts about dogs & chocolate... http://www.northerngroomers.co.uk/perils_of_chocolate.htm

[maz]

Thanks for that Gad. Interesting.