This poisonous plant may kill your cat this Easter holiday | Dr. Justine Lee
As Easter approaches, I want you to be aware of the dangers of Easter lilies. As an emergency critical care veterinary specialist and toxicologist, I’m really passionate about educating pet owners about the dangers of these deadly plants. Why? Because this is my most hated type of poisoning, as my sister’s cat died from lily poisoning years ago. So my mission? To spread the word so all pet owners are aware of this horrible, dangerous poison! After all, a recent study found that 69% of cat owners could recognize a lily, but only 27% knew that they were poisonous!
Here, a brief video I created about the dangers of lilies:
So, before bringing home an Easter lily plant from church, make sure you have a cat-free household. In other words: You can’t bring these plants home if you own a cat! AT ALL!
The more dangerous, potentially fatal lilies are true lilies of the Lilium or Hemerocallis species. Examples of some of these dangerous lilies include the following:
- Easter lilies
- Tiger lilies
- Day lilies (some species)
- Asiatic hybrid lilies
- Japanese show lilies
- Rubrum lilies
- Stargazer lilies
- Red lilies
- Western lilies
- Wood lilies
Of these dangerous lilies, keep in mind that all parts of the plant are highly toxic to cats! Even small ingestions (such as 2-3 petals or leaves) – even the pollen or water from the vase – can result in severe, acute kidney injury.
Clinical signs from the Lilium or Hemerocallis type include:
- Vomiting
- Anorexia
- Drooling
- Hiding
- Lethargy or malaise
- Halitosis (bad breath secondary to kidney failure)
- Acute kidney injury
- Excessive or decreased thirst and urination
- Dehydration
- Painful abdomen
If your cat is seen consuming any part of a lily, bring your cat (and the plant) immediately to a veterinarian for medical care. When in doubt, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for life-saving information. The sooner you bring in your cat, the better and more efficiently the lily poisoning can be treated.
Treatment includes decontamination (like inducing vomiting and giving binders like activated charcoal), aggressive intravenous fluid therapy, anti-vomiting medication, kidney function monitoring tests, blood pressure monitoring, urine output monitoring, and supportive care can greatly improve the prognosis. Typically, intravenous fluids must be started within an 18 hour window for the best outcome – in other words, the sooner you bring your cat into the veterinarian before clinical signs develop, the better the prognosis! Treatment typically requires 3 days of hospitalization.
When in doubt, please keep these lilies out of your feline-household. Please help spread the word to all your cat-loving friends out there!
Dr. Justine Lee, DACVECC, DABT
The picture you have on there is not an Easter Lilly, that is a Casablanca Lilly
Thanks so much Roddy! Any lily in the Lilium or Hemerocallis is considered toxic. Thanks for pointing out!
Hi Justine, Would this include the Peace Lily? (Sorry if that’s a silly question). I have 2 Peace Lilies. My cat (indoor cat) has never shown an interest in them, but I wonder if the pollen causes a hazard, as it probably is present in the air in the room.
Thankyou,
Angela Davies
Hi Angela,
Great question – peace lilies are totally ok to have in the house! These are not TRUE lilies of the Hemerocallis or Lilium species. That said, I’d ideally try to keep your cats from chewing on the peace lilies as they have calcium oxalate crystals and can cause some foaming and frothing at the mouth. If you notice this, you can simply offer a little bit of yogurt, milk or something tasty (e.g., canned tuna water) to get the taste out of the mouth.
Hope that helps!
Dr. Justine Lee
My 3year old cat just at a small piece of one of the leaves from a Asiatic Lily/Lilium Hybrid. It is 5am on Easter Sunday, do I need to take her to an emergency vet? Or should I monitor for signs first?
Yes, you MUST get your cat to the ER vet right away. The longer you wait, the worst the prognosis and now it may be too late to induce vomiting. Calling ASPCA Animal Poison Control which is open 24/7 is ideal, instead of posting to a website that will not yield you a timely response. It’s not worth your cat’s life, as it can cause severe kidney failure!