So why else are cats not exactly winning these days?  No, it actually doesn’t have anything to do with the eponymous embarrassing musical movie version (although sync cringe-inducing nausea), but instead the Easter holiday upon us.

Dandelion needs answers and he needs them now

For those of you who don’t already know, the Easter lily is not only beautiful, but when it comes to cats, deadly.  And, just as many cats love to seek out humans who abhor them, they seem equally drawn to this gorgeous assassin, who will annihilate their kidneys with even extremely minor exposure.  There’s a really large lily family, comprising something like 160 plants.  But, it’s only the true lilies and day lilies (genera Lilium and Hemerocallis, respectively, for all you plant nerds out there) that cause damage to felines’ kidneys.  ALL parts of the plant are toxic, the flowers themselves being the most toxic.  There have even been anecdotal reports of cats simply having pollen on their nose and subsequently experiencing kidney damage.  Eating multiple flowers at once can cause death within hours; mostly we see ingestion of part of one plant causing sudden kidney failure within 12-36 hours with a slower death within a few days.  Besides affecting their kidneys, cats can also experience seizures and damage to their liver.  There is treatment to decrease the risk of all this and the sooner the treatment is initiated, the better.  Unfortunately, even with treatment some cats sadly do not survive.   I know what you’re thinking, this flower is a real bitch.

Pretty? Pretty deadly…

Treatment, as with many toxins, is largely damage control and support.  Induction of vomiting to get out what’s still in the stomach is done first, as long as they have a history of known ingestion within the last 2 hours of presenting to the hospital.  Cats are stubborn creatures who would love to tell us to F off if they could, so they are known to often resist our efforts to do this.  Personally I’ve always had pretty good luck getting them to upchuck, which is something awesome to be known for–cat vomit-inducer–I’m considering printing up a t-shirt.  They are then administered something orally called activated charcoal, which is a black liquid that is meant to absorb remaining toxin.  Cats don’t generally love coming to the hospital, meeting strangers, or having things given to them orally, so as you can imagine the administrator of this charcoal is usually wearing the bulk of it afterwards.  Then, if their kidneys have not already shut down and stopped making urine, they are started on a high rate of intravenous fluids, which is continued for at least 2-3 days in-hospital,  and often longer if they already have signs of kidney damage based on blood work.  If they aren’t making urine or barely making urine, we typically recommend referring them for hemodialysis at one of the few hospitals in the general area who offer this service.   Yes, I see your eyes widening, this is a big deal.

So many of you already know of this deadly flower and keep it in mind when bringing floral arrangements into the house, or, for those whose cats like to lounge around lazily outside, remember not to plant them in their yard.  And many of you are especially conscious of not allowing possible access especially around this time of year when lilies are everywhere.  And to you, I say very good, please take a bow, Dr. Anna is extremely proud of you.  However, I want to remind those of you who are sending a bouquet or bringing flowers into someone’s home as a guest (assuming eventually the day comes when we don’t have to social distance anymore), please make sure the flowers are not lilies. I have sadly seen the aftermath of this very scenario many times, and it’s the quickest way to make yourself into the most hated guest of all time.

Dr. Anna, you ask, how do I know which lilies are and are not toxic? I don’t know your fancy genera names you mentioned earlier, help a sister out.    Good question–here’s list of definite DON’TS: day lily, orange day lily, early day lily, all Asiatic lilies, Asiatic hybrid lily, Easter lily, stargazer lily, tiger lily, rubrum lily and the red lily, western lily and woody lily.  As much as I detest the urge to search the interwebs, you are safe to google images of these to make sure they aren’t included in your floral arrangement or bouquet, or verify with the florist you’re ordering from.  And just as an aside, two very popular “lilies” the peace lily and the calla lily are actually not toxic but often get lumped in with all the true lilies.  It’s the price they pay for being imposters, I suppose.  I feel pretty self-satisfied about clearing their name here, you’re welcome fake lilies.

With the current COVID-19 quarantine, our cats are all at their wits’ ends dealing with our annoying constant presence in their homes.  The least we can do for them is avoid bringing in a lethal flower that would cause them to lose the ability to urinate on our favorite sweater out of anger.  In all seriousness, Happy Easter, and be well, all you cats and humans out there.  🐱

“take this off immediately or I will eat your face while you sleep” –Hippie